public service announcement

Jan 292008
 

Anyone who knows Merritt’s and my story knows the mailbox played a big part in our relationship. I still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes thinking, oh no, I haven’t written Merritt in weeks! What a terrible friend I am! He must think I don’t care. Then I realize he’s sleeping right beside me…


Even though I don’t get letters in the mailbox from Merritt any more, I still enjoy the walk (er, slide, in this snow and ice!) down the driveway to see what’s waiting for us each day. But it’s disappointing when a promising stack of envelopes turns out to be only credit card offers.

If we had applied for every credit card we’d been offered since we got married, we would need countless wallets to hold them all! Instead, each envelope was ripped in half without even being opened, and tossed in the woodstove or garbage can… (If only the credit card companies knew that we paid off our credit card bill each month, they wouldn’t spend money sending us mailings–they don’t make interest on people like us!)

It sounded too good to be true when I heard about an official website that would take our name off the credit card offer lists permanently. But I tried out optoutprescreen.com anyway…

That was a couple months ago. Now there are days I walk down to the mailbox and find it shockingly empty! But it’s nice to know that if there is something in the mailbox, it’s probably something I want to open…

Check it out: www.optoutprescreen.com (Fill out the online form to take you off the list for five years. For permanent removal, print out the form and stick it in the mail.)

And while you’re at it, enter your home number at https://www.donotcall.gov/ It used to be that every time I answered the phone at my in-law’s, it was a telemarketer! But they registered with the do not call list. We just spent a weekend house-sitting for them, and guess what? No one called trying to sell me something!

Let it snow…

Jan 292008
 

You never know what the snow will bring! This time, it brought us a kitty. A girl kitty. Wooster, Ooffy, and Motty don’t like her very much. And that’s just fine with us. She’s such a friendly, tame little thing, we think she must belong to someone, and just got lost in the snow and couldn’t find her way home. Hopefully she’ll find her way back before the snow melts and turns into spring… Because the boys might feel a bit more friendly by then…


It’s been snowing a lot in the past few days. It’s so pretty… It makes the road a little icky, but at least it’s not quite so cold as long as it snows. And we so needed a good snow pack this year.

So I look out my window at the beautiful snow-covered trees and mountains, and thank God for a woodstove, lots of firewood, hot cups of tea, the snow boots my husband bought me, down comforters, wool socks, and my big picture window that frames the beauty of God’s creation…


A Fear of Needles

Jan 292008
 
My husband doesn’t like needles.  I don’t know if it stemmed from his childhood encounter with his mother’s sewing that left a pin sticking him in the foot all day…or if he’s just adverse to being poked.  But he informed me that if our daughter got shots, I would be taking her to that appointment alone.
I got all the recommended shots growing up.  Merritt didn’t get many of them.  I think my mother-in-law was one of the early ones to feel that putting all those toxins in little bodies was not wise.
They’ve added a few more shots to the list since she had researched it, however.  And no matter what any other parent has decided, it’s still something each has to decide for their own.  With a little baby girl quickly approaching her two-month checkup, we had to decide quickly.
Thanks to the Samaritan Ministries newsletter, I knew my mother-in-law wasn’t the only one with concerns about the Pertussis vaccine.  But when I mentioned it to our doctor, she talked about the whooping cough cases she’d had in this winter. The doctor was ready to give our little almost-2-month-old girl her shots then and there, but I said we’d wait and come back.  The Pertussis vaccine comes in a combination DTaP vaccine that is provided free by the state health department.  If we wanted to deviate from that, the doctor explained, we would have to pay for it on our own.  It seemed to be all or nothing.  So I made an appointment for our little 2-month-old to get her shots, but I still wasn’t at ease about it…
I scheduled a day in town to research immunizations on the internet.  But that wasn’t easy.  All the search engines bring up the state and medical websites, which encourage all the shots.  Just like our doctor did.  And I don’t blame her.  She naturally trusts the medical research that is placed in front of her.  Maybe she hasn’t heard of or seen any problems with reactions, and only has for reference “those homeschoolers” who come in with whooping cough.
“Diseases are just a plane ride away,” the state health brochure liked to say.  I’m sure that’s very true, but I’m not raising missionary kids in another country (if I were, I’d probably think differently about vaccines), I’m raising farm kids!
I knew the pros.  I wanted to hear some cons.
I finally found anti-vaccine info on the ‘net by searching for “homeschoolers AND immunizations.”  Imagine that.  We homeschoolers are the counter-culture.
But everything I read just made me more confused than ever.  With just a week left before my baby’s appointment, I emailed some other moms I trusted to ask what they had done.
Mrs. Smith’s email was full of wisdom: “My recommendation to you would be to cancel the doctor appointment and spend some quality time researching what you are being asked to inject into that little tiny body of sweet Ruth.  You won’t regret taking the time to thoroughly study such a big decision either way you decide, but this is not something to enter into lightly or quickly.”
I knew instantly she was right.
If you’re wondering why anyone would not want to immunize their children, visit http://thinktwice.com Just a quick perusal of its pages on DTaP and Hepatitis B was enough to convince me that even if only half of those stories had some truth in them, the risk was more than I wanted to expose my precious daughter to.  “‘We can treat Pertussis,’” said a doctor quoted at http://thinktwice.com/dpt.htm. “‘We can’t treat a baby who is no longer with us because of the DPT shot.‘“
But what if I wanted her to get some of the vaccines?  I called our county health department to ask how much just the DT shot would be, afraid it would be expensive as the doctor had suggested.  No, I don’t have insurance, or medical cards, I answered.  The lady said that we could be evaluated based on our income, and the shot might possibly be free–but the most it would cost was $20.  That’s less than a visit to the doctor to get shots!  I breathed a sigh of relief.  We could make our own decisions about this.  We are not yet in a Hillary-run country.  We do still have options in healthcare, and are not required to abide only by the state or doctor recommended guidelines.  It’s still a parent’s choice.  Thank You, Lord.
Rachael’s email seemed to sum it all up for me: “Vaccinating her would be actively taking a risk, whereas not vaccinating her is only potentially taking a risk.“
I’m cancelling the doctor appointment.  We’re going to wait and prayerfully do more research before actively exposing our beloved little girl to the risks of so-called “immunizations.”
So now I have a list of books I want to read:
Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parent’s Guide: How to Make Safe, Sensible Decisions about the Risks, Benefits, and Alternatives by Aviva Jill Romm
A Shot in the Dark by Ann Coulter
I want to spend more time at http://www.909shot.com, which provides information about each disease and the corresponding vaccines–the risks and benefits and each.
As I shared my latest findings with Merritt over dinner, he said the more he reads, the less he wants to immunize our little girl.  And it has nothing to do with his fear of needles…

from a proud lil’ big sis

Jan 262008
 

Everyone knows I like to brag on my big little brother. The thing is he gives me so many opportunities to do so! This last weekend, Will competed with his teammate Rebekah in a national moot court tournament. Four out of the five teams in the semi-finals were teams from Patrick Henry College (where Will is about to graduate from in May)…and Will and Rebekah got second place!

Congrats, big little brother. I’m proud of you.

(For those who don’t know [and I don't really know either, because I've never seen it!], moot court is a lot like debate, except that the teammates each pretend to be lawyers arguing opposite sides of a case.)

Baby Equipment Dad and Mom Love

Jan 242008
 

From the day we knew we were going to bring a baby home to our little pink house, I knew we would have to get by with the bare minimum of baby toys and equipment. Finding room for a crib among the bookshelves in our 700-some square foot home was fairly easy. But clothes, more books (for the baby, of course), and toys? It was going to be a puzzle.


Starting out with a cradle (handmade by a family friend) helped with the space issue at first. But our little girl is quickly stretching out to read both ends of the cradle, and will be ready for us to move the crib in. Which means I can organize the clothes, blankets, and diapers–that are spilling out of their precarious stacks–into bins under the crib!
I wouldn’t trade our little one-room (plus a bathroom) house. It has enabled us to live rent-free in a house that’s paid for. It’s just made us rather selective about what kind of baby equipment we bring home. But when Ruth relaxed in the swing at Grandma’s house…and stared wide-eyed at the toys hanging from the baby “gym” that used to be her aunt and uncle’s…her daddy was easy to convince. Especially when we found a collapsible baby gym and folding mini swing at a consignment store for a fraction of the retail price.

Our other favorite baby equipment?

Kiddopotamus’ SwaddleMe is great. (Thanks to that lady sitting on the plane next to my mom for telling us about them!) There’s nothing like velcro to make it easier to put those centuries-old “swaddling clothes” on your baby! And, swaddling helps babies sleep better by guarding against the “startle reflex” that often wakes them up. SwaddleMes come in all colors and sizes, and make a great inexpensive shower gift. The seamstress mom could easily make her own, too!

Having a baby born the day after Thanksgiving meant lots of cold weather for a very little girl. I don’t know what I would have done without the J.J. Cole Collection BundleMe a friend gave us. (And she had two girls, so it was even pink!) The bottom part stays in the carseat, providing a warm, cozy seat for the baby. The top zips up over the lower half of the baby to keep them warm. All without excessive layers making baby too fat to buckle up!
And of course, last but not least, is the Boppy nursing pillow, that saves mom’s back now, and will help support baby’s back when she learns to sit up later on.

That’s all for now, folks. Stay tuned as we approach toddlerhood, for more favorites from this dad and mom…

Smiles!

Jan 232008
 

I was beginning to get a complex because the only time I’d seen my daughter smile (other than while she was eating and sleeping), was when I’d had a camera in my hand. I mean, I appreciate her being photogenic, but to only smile at the camera, and not at Mommy?

Her first smile was at Uncle William, as she was saying goodbye to him…but a camera had just flashed! We got home from our trip that night, put her in the cradle, wound up her cribmobile with Winnie the Pooh in friends, and she smiled so big. It was a “I’m home!” realization smile, I think–so cute. She smiled once more at the mobile the next day.

Then when I was taking pictures of her on her 8-week birthday, she started smiling away. And a few days later, I was taking pictures of her on the cell phone, and she gave me a great big smile for my cell phone wallpaper.

But no smiles just at me…until this morning! She smiled away while I was changing her diaper…and then when Merritt and I were sitting by her cradle, she looked up at me and smiled, and then looked at her daddy and smiled…
It’s so fun to have my little girl smile and coo at me!

A day in the life of…

Jan 232008
 

Now that I have my own personal blog, without a thousand readers a day, I find myself spending random moments throughout the day thinking about what I could write. I was so used to putting my day into words in letters to Merritt each night, that it’s easy to get back into the habit. Of course, the rest of the world is not as interested in what I do each day as Merritt is… But maybe this will help my far-away family to feel a bit more in touch with our busy corner of the world.

Ruth woke up with lots of smiles at 6 this morning! I fed her and put her back to bed. The poor girl should have been born in the summer–she would have credit for sleeping through the night much sooner. As it is, when she wakes up at 10, 2, and 6 I say she’s been up three times in the night. In the summer, it would just be one, because Daddy would just be cleaning up after irrigating a bit before 10, and he’d already be up at 6. We relish the winter opportunity to go to bed early and sleep in–if only we could really store up all the extra sleep so summertime didn’t find us exhausted.
I’m afraid Merritt’s and my cold has finally gotten to Ruth. She had a runny nose this morning. But so smiley! Even though I can tell she doesn’t feel well, she’s still trying to be so happy. What a good little girl we have!

I just finished de-boning some chickens. We rarely buy whole chickens–it has to be a pretty good sale to make me feel like I’m getting any better deal than buying leg/thigh pieces, by the time I throw away all that carcass. But Costco’s coupon was too good to pass up. So after cutting off the pieces and putting them in freezer bags for later, I boiled the backs all night on the wood stove. What a treat to have some more yummy broth! Dry bouillon cubes don’t even come close.

And now it’s off to make a spinach salad for dinner at the in-law’s. Merritt’s poor parents live closest to Ruth, and so far have spent the least time with her! So we’ll try not to pass up too many of those dinner invitations…

Happy New Year!

Jan 212008
 


Dear Ones Near and Far,

As I type this New Year’s greeting with one hand, I’m holding our little daughter with the other. God sent us a very special blessing last year, arriving the day before Thanksgiving. Ruth Ann was born November 21, at 6:42 p.m. She weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces, and measured 20 inches long. Ruth has long fingers and feet, and her daddy’s eyes, but her dark hair has hints of her mommy’s red. She has been a very content baby, who loves to eat and sleep. As the first grandchild on the Glaser side, and the fifth but only close-by grandchild in the Acheson family, Ruth Ann has been a very popular, much-loved little girl! Her mommy loves being a mommy. And her daddy? He reads her books, burps her, changes her diapers, and helps Mommy with the housework and dishes.

That was our headline news of the year. But it was a full, busy year even before Ruth Ann arrived on the scene.

The first part of the year found Merritt putting siding on our house (I still miss the cheery pink Tyvek sometimes), in addition to helping with multiple other building projects. Two trips to help with his sister’s remodel, two trips to help with a garage for Gretchen’s grandparents, and extra time at home spent building a house next-door for a longtime family friend.

Gretchen spent the early spring helping Mom plant the garden. Then, when our family store opened for the summer, Gretchen was there five days a week until the week before Ruth was born. It’s been a blessing to watch the business grow. The hay sold in record time, and some days it was so busy at the store it took three of us!

Merritt was everywhere doing everything this year. Early mornings and late nights changing irrigation pipe; cutting, raking, and baling three cuttings of hay; helping pick in the garden, helping run the store; maintaining vehicles and repairing everything that broke; and helping his increasingly tired expectant wife out around the house. In his spare time, he fixed up a Ford 9N tractor to sell, and a John Deere lawn tractor for when we have a lawn. And, when we were given chickens in the middle of the summer (we wanted chickens, just not then!), Merritt made them not just a chicken house, but a Chick Inn. It is now home to 13 chickens, 1 duck, and 3 cats.

We celebrated our first anniversary in May. A few days later, Merritt had surgery to remove the screw in his knee. In October, 1 year and 3 months after the welding accident that broke his leg, Merritt got a clean bill of health from the doctor. No bone graft necessary—just lots of time to loosen up that ankle! We are so grateful for all the prayers on Merritt’s behalf.

The three of us finished out December by ringing in the New Year at Gretchen’s grandparents, then spending time with her family. Ruth loved her first airplane ride—and slept through most of the many hours in the car!

It was fun to have so many family and friends stop by our farm throughout the year. We look forward to more visits in 2008.

Counting you among our blessings,
Merritt & Gretchen and Ruth Ann

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