Just wanted to show some cute pictures I took of Dylan this past weekend. She was very excited to take pictures and show off her new dress.
Of course a couple of weeks ago when we paid to have professional family photos taken she wanted to have nothing to do with it! Go figure. She buried her head in my shoulder and sucked her thumb the entire time. We maybe got 3 good pictures out of 100!
What a glorious night for America!!!!!
I really should be in bed right now but I'm too excited to go to sleep so I thought I would post a cute picture I took of Dylan earlier this evening, plus I am waiting to hear Obama speak.
I have had a fabulous evening. I had some friends over for dinner to watch the election results. Good friends, good food, good conversation, good wine.....can't getter better than that.
Oh wait it can.............Obama is going to be our next president!!!!!
I feel like I have so much to catch up on. A couple weekends ago we took Dylan to a local pumpkin patch. When you first get to the pumpkin patch you get to ride a train around the entire thing. Dylan loved that, she talked about it for days afterward.
I'm proud to say, Dylan has officially been potty trained for about 2 weeks now. Yippee! She also started a new daycare last week. Unfortunately our babysitter went crazy on us (it is a long story) and we had to take her our suddenly. She seems to be adjusting well. Her friend, Whitney, also goes there so I think that helps. Mrs. Debbie said she cannot let them take naps by each other because they continue to get up and try to play.
Last weekend we went camping. I'll try to post pictures of that later.
Tuesday I voted.......GO OBAMA!
I celebrated my 29th birthday on Tuesday. I can't believe how close to 30 I am. Abe and Dylan took me out to eat and Sunday I'm going to lunch with Tobi and Edie. Low key birthday for me, just take me to dinner and give me some cake and I'll be happy!
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This morning I went to the Thin Line Film Festival in Denton and saw Art From the Streets a documentary film by Layton Blayloc.
"Art From the Streets is a feature length documentary about homelessness, art,
community service, courage and hope. The film tells the story of an
extraordinary, grassroots program in Austin, TX for homeless artists."I am the type of person that always gives the homeless person on the side of the road, holding a sign, some money. People always say to me, "Why give them money? They are just going to buy booze or drugs with it."
You know, maybe that is true. Maybe it's not. I don't really care what they do with those couple of bucks I give them. I figure anyone having to stand on the side of the street asking for money needs those couple of dollars more than I do. I really do feel for anyone who lives out on the streets. I always wonder what went wrong in their life? How did they end up here? How difficult it must be to "get back on your feet" when you have lost everything.
I remember as a child, my father having a soft heart for the homeless. One story in particular, we were on our way out to California and had stopped to fill up with gas. A homeless man came up to him and sold him a beaded necklace for $10.00. My Dad gave me the necklace (which I still have to this day) and told me that man needed that $10.00 more than he did.
Witnessing my father give, even small amounts, unselfishly to homeless people has taught me a few things. One, to also give to the homeless. Two, to be tolerant and non-judgmental towards them. Three, to want to instill these ethical values into my children.
This year's art show is coming up in November. I think I am going to have to plan a trip to see my sister in Austin.
So we are headed to K-town this weekend. Abe and I cannot believe our 10 year class reunion is this weekend. I am excited. It will be great to see so many people we have not seen since we graduated. We are meeting up with David and Lori at Kaufman's Homecoming game tomorrow night. I haven't been to a homecoming game in probably 8 years. Our reunion is Sat. night.
Since I have been trying eat less meat or no meat for that matter, I have been having a great time trying out vegetarian recipes. I love taking pictures of food, so for fun, I thought I would post some.
The picture below is vegetarian tacos. They are soooooo good and very easy to make. It is basically sauteed zucchini, onion and corn. You add black beans and then toppings of your choice. We love guacamole, cheese and sour cream. To make it vegan you can easily cut out the cheese and sour cream or use a cheese substitute (haven't found one I like yet).
For the life of me I cannot remember the name of this salad. When I get home I'll have to look it up and update. It has tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, black beans, Great Northern beans, cucumbers and fresh basil in it. The dressing was olive oil and red wine vinegar. I served it with some warm, toasty, whole grain bread. Yummy!
We love to make our own pizza at home. For this one we just used pizza sauce, cheese, bell peppers and onions. I actually made the crust. A friend at church gave me the recipe and it was so easy. I know the pizza looks a little funny. I forgot to take the picture before we cut into it, so I put it back together for a quick picture. Ha ha.
Okay, I know this picture does not look the least bit appetizing but it really was a great meal. The picture just does not do it justice. I made Feta crusted salmon, corn on the cob and sauteed eggplant, onions and garlic.
Overall it has been pretty easy for me to avoid eating meat and let me say it has done wonders for our grocery bill. I could not believe how much we were actually spending on meat each month. We use to spend on average $60 a month, now it is about $20 a month.
Last week we had a fun Labor Day weekend. Sunday the entire Rodriguez family got together at Mario and Mari's house. All the kids (13 of them!) had a blast playing together.
Miss Dylan
Alyssa
Abe, Sam and Nick playing a board game.
Julian, Gabe and Abe
Dylan and me playing Guitar Hero. (I really don't understand how people are addicted to that game.)
Miss Maya
Great-Grandma, Raquel and Valerie
Gregory and Angel
Miss Victoria showing off her new braces.
I did not do as good with taking pictures as I thought. I did not get a picture of Cole, Ellie or Mateo. I'll have to chase them down next time. Let's see I guess our next big get together will be Thanksgiving or my Birthday, October 21st (don't forget!)I know not everyone cares to hear about potty training but all mothers will understand. Dylan pooped in the "big girl" potty for the first time today!!!!!!!! Maybe it was a fluke and may not happen again for a while but we were so excited. I cannot wait to get rid of diapers!
Dylan has been interested in the potty for at least six months. She has been going through the motions for a while without any success. She likes to sit on the potty, wipe, flush the toilet and wash hands. Abe and I have no clue how to potty train. We basically have been following her lead.
When I can tell she needs to use the bathroom I ask her if she wants to sit on the "big girl" potty and she always says, "NO!". Today I asked and she she actually said yes. We made a really big deal about it, hoping this trend will continue. We gave her a treat. She wanted cheese crackers and apple juice. We never give her juice at home so she was supper excited about it. For about an hour she kept saying, "Mommy, Daddy I poo poo in da potty." and we had to call Nana and Aunt Tami to tell them the good news.
Here are a few pictures, just because I have not posted any recent ones in a while. 
So for the last couple of years we have somewhat neglected our yard. Two summers ago, Dylan was a newborn, and it was miserably hot (a lot like this summer). Last summer, although she enjoyed being outside, she only wanted to be held (can't get much done with a 1 yr old on your hip).
So finally this Spring/Summer we decided to dedicate some time and money to getting our back yard back in shape. It has been so much easier this summer to do yard work since Dylan loves to be outside and she wants to "help" mommy and daddy.
The most recent project Abe did was to clean and re-stain our deck. Wow, we did not realize how dirty it was until he cleaned it. It looks brand new.
During the spring we put 500 sq feet of St Augustin sod in our back yard. Half of our yard was mostly dirt because the previous owners did not want to mess with trying to establish grass in that area. We have 6 very large trees in the back that keeps everything mostly shaded.
We have lived in our home for 4 years. We have trimmed the trees twice. Well, I shouldn't say we, Abe and my step-father, Tommy. We decided this year we needed to hire some professionals to really get up there and trim them good. They did a great job trimming and cleaning them out. (I forgot to take a picture.) They assured me it would let in more light to help the grass grow better.
We had the windows in our shed replaced. They leaked every time it rained and were starting to ruin the wood on the inside. We had my Dad replace the door. The previous one was literally falling off the hinges. Abe painted it a nice Moss green, I picked out at Lowe's.
We still have a few bare areas that need some grass; but it is going to have to wait until next Spring.
Of course, any home owner knows your are never finished with projects.When I first started this blog I was trying to decide where to begin. Do I jump back 3 years ago when Abe and I got married, 1 year ago when Dylan turned one or just pick up where my life is now. I wanted my first blog to be about a very special, very memorable, very defining moment in my life; the day my daughter was born and I became a mother.
Because when I had her I was still using my 35mm camera (more like refusing to go digital) I had to scan my pictures into the computer. I finally found time to do that and can blog about her birth. Let me also add that I have since then converted to a digital camera and love it!
The idea of delivering at a birthing center with a midwife always intrigued me. Once I became pregnant I began researching my options. The moment I toured the birthing center, met with the midwife and asked her my zillions of questions I knew it was the place for me.
The idea of a drug free delivery did not scare me at all. A good friend of mine, Cheryl said "It's pain with a purpose." That comment has always stayed with me. I wanted to be as present as possible during her birth. By that I mean, I wanted to feel everything and not miss out on the complete experience. I trusted my body to do what is was naturally made to do without intervention.
Wanting a drug free delivery was not the only reason I chose a birthing center. I truly believe the more interventions you have, only leads to more interventions that could have otherwise been prevented. I do not like the way our medical community views birth. They treat it like an illness instead of a natural process that women have been doing for ages.
There are many things routinely done in the hospital I did not want. I knew if I opted for a hospital delivery I would have to be very vocal about my wishes, maybe to the point of pissing (for lack of a better word) off the staff. Although I feel they should respect any mother's wishes I do understand there are protocols and hospital policies. I felt it would be better for all if I just chose another place to deliver. One that allowed me to design my own birth plan and give me the support I needed to carry that out.
Now I do not want anyone reading this to think I am anti-technology. That is not the case at all. I am very grateful for the medical advances we have to help pregnant women considered high-risk. It is very necessary in some cases. I just believe that for healthy women with healthy pregnancies, less intervention is better.
Most people do not know this but our country has one of the highest infant and mother mortality rates. Why is that if we have all this wonderful technology to offer women giving birth? Hmmm, maybe we are not doing something right.
I really did not mean to go off on such a tangent! This is just something I feel very strongly about.
Okay, finally here are some pictures of Dylan's birth. My sister, Tami drove in to take the pictures. The only people at her birth were Abe, Tami, my midwife and a birthing assistant.
This picture was taken about a week or two before her birth. The birthing center is located in Denton about 5 miles from my house. www.inannabirth.com
I began having contractions around 5pm but it did not occur to me I was in labor until around 9 or 10pm when I called my midwife and told her what was going on. She confirmed I was in labor and to call her when my contractions were around 5 minutes apart.
Abe (working the evening shift at that time) just got home from work. I sent him on an errand on his way home to pick up some Cookie Crisp cereal (I craved it my entire pregnancy). By the time he got there I no longer had an appetite. My contractions were not that bad, just strong enough to make me stop what I was doing and unable to concentrate on anything else. I was trying to watch the season finale of Lost. That was not working out. Luckily we had TIVO.
We filled up our jacuzzi bathtub and I got in to relax. That helped a lot. Abe timed my contractions and when they were every 3-5 minutes (two hours later) we headed to the birthing center. When we arrived at the birthing center I was already 7 cm dilated. Hallelujah! I kept thinking on the way to the birthing center, it we get there and she says I am only 3 cm, I don't know what I'm going to do!
The pain from the contractions came and went but I had back pain the entire time. Abe constantly massaged my back. I did most of my laboring sitting on a birthing ball.
I was not connected to an IV or a continuous fetal monitor, so I was able to move about freely.
My midwife was in the room with us almost the entire time. Here she is checking Dylan's heart rate with a Doppler.
Abe was able to help "catch" Dylan as she was born. I was not sure if he really would do it but the moment was so exciting and fast he just reached down and grabbed her! She was born at 4:10 am.
Dylan having her first newborn exam by my midwife.
7lbs 10 oz, 20 1/2 inches long
Breastfeeding for the first time. We started breastfeeding within the first hour after delivery.
Once I felt up to it we were discharged from the birthing center. We were headed home 2 hours after I had Dylan. My midwife and birthing assistant came to the house a couple of days later to do a home visit. 
