Yet again while I was reading this book, I found another story that I need to pass along. These quotes are all from the same segment, yet I've skipped some of the entries.

And this is how I ended up participating in the blessing of a baby who had reached the age of six months, and who was now ready to touch the earth for the first time. The Balinese don't let their children touch the ground for the first six months of life, because newborn babies are considered to be gods sent straight from heaven, and you wouldn't let a god crawl around on the floor with all the toenail clippings and cigarette butts. So Balinese babies are carried for those first six months, revered... more

I am in the process of reading the book eat pray love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I just finished reading the following passage that I thought was too beautiful to not pass along.

Ketut went on to explain that the Balinese believe we are each accompanied at birth by four invisible brothers, who come into the world with us and protect us throughout our lives. When the child is in the womb, her four siblings are even there with her - they are represented by the placenta, the amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord and the yellow waxy substance that protects an unborn baby's skin. When the baby is born, the parents collect as much of these exraneous birthing materials as... more

Over on Adrienne's blog, she reviews a book called The Family Book by Todd Parr. Although I haven't read it, it caught my eye, because it looks a lot like one of our family favorite books here at home, called, It's Okay to Be Different also by Todd Parr.

This book is one of my favorites because Chris picked it up and bought it for the kids before there even were kid(s). He was at Costco one day and saw it and brought it home. It sounds like our family philosophy but when I saw one of the pages that reads "It's okay to be adopted" my heart soared. Typically male, yes, I know this is sexist of me to say, Chris was... more

I am an avid reader and when I got this job, I was so excited to start adding fertility books onto my reading list. I soon found out that I was continuing to make choices, of course, based on my own experience and also along with my own taste. I love memoir and non fiction works, so that is what I have been reviewing mostly for this blog.

I then started to think about all of the other books involving fertility that I am not reading that my readers might benefit from. I found this list on www.about.com.

1)... more

To get myself in the mind set for a better week, I thought that I would remind myself of some things to try to even out the recent thoughts of miscarriage and death from cancer. Let's see what I can find.

slow snowfalls: This past week has been very warm but on certain mornings you can smell fall in the air. Autumn is my favorite season for many reasons, but I also love snow fall. Not necessarily being in the snow, but watching it is so beautiful. tomato gardens: Although our garden did not do well for tomatoes this year, I have friends... more

I can honestly say that this retreat and I did not get along for the full twenty minutes. During the times that I was supposed to be focusing on the past, I was thinking about the future or the present. During the times that I was supposed to be thinking about the present, I was thinking about the future. I just couldn't seem to focus my attention on anything besides things that I needed to get done. My mind would race with little details that needed tending to this weekend and also more in advance, everything that needs to be done for next week. Appointments... more

Right Here, Right Now

This retreat was calling to me today. As I have posted earlier this week, we are getting ready for Bec's 3 month visit from his case worker and we are doing small things around the house that have turned out to be a late summer/fall cleaning. Everyday we are snowballing our efforts. On Monday, we had the carpets cleaned. By today, we were putting in new flooring in our bathroom and hallway, and working on getting our second bathroom in working order. All for a meeting that is scheduled for next week!

Step 1: Entering into Retreat: Sit comfortably in an upright position, with back support if you need.... more

Tonight's retreat needed to be fast one. First of all, I didn't have much time to devote tonight to this, since both of the kids are still up and Chris just headed to bed. Lastly, I have someone in my life, actually 2 people who I need to work on forgiving. But I honestly am not ready one bit to even think about forgiveness at this point. I'm still in the thick of the emotion, haven't had the time or the space to think about forgiveness for them at all. In fact, just imagining that I'm thinking about forgiving them, gives me the creeps.

So, since... more

Last night after I wrote here, I took the book, The Bridge of Stars: 365 Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations from Around the World into the tub with me. I randomly skimmed through the different prayers and came to one that I wanted to focus on. This was the prayer that I felt drawn to:

Mention of God Blessed is the spot, and the house. and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land,... more

I'm talking all of us! For the rest of the week we will be retreating as needed. What am I talking about? This new obsession of mine titled, 20-Minute Retreats: Revive Your Spirits in Just MInutes a Day with Simple Self-Led Exercises by Rachel Harris, Ph.D. Don't have time to do these? Well, guess what? There are also 5 and 1 minute retreats as well.

When I need a retreat, I have a pajama day. I haven't had a full one of these in forever. Before the kids, I would take pajama weekends! I really needed these times while recovering from D&C... more