We Have a Walker!

For the last couple of weeks, Dan has been able to take a couple of steps here and there on his own. Most of the time is when we "tricked" him to walk unassisted. As of last night, I think it's safe to say that Dan is getting more and more confident with walking on his own! As you can see in the video, Dan needs to work on his listening skills (as does Trooper!).

Other than this exciting news, not a whole lot else to update. We are very close to finalizing the sale of Jason's Grandfather's house out in Las Vegas. We also purchased a half season worth of tickets for the Milwaukee Bucks. For those of you who don't know who the Bucks are, they are the professional basketball team here in WI. Hopefully they do well this year. This last year they were bottom of the pile. Only direction they can go is up!  So along with a few pictures from the open house at the arena, I'll leave you with this video of some great belly laughs from Dan. Take care!

Trying on a Bucks player shoe.

Playing with the streamers.

Picture with Bongo, the Milwaukee Bucks Mascot.

Dan is 10 Months Old!

Man has time flown by! Dan is now 10 months old as of Saturday. Here are is current stats:

He's 29.5 inches long and weighs in at a whopping 25.4 pounds! He now has 4 teeth, is getting better feeding himself finger foods, and has now taken 4-5 steps on his own on a handful of occasions. He still prefers to hold on to objects (hands, furniture, walkers) when he walks, but given a bit of encouragement he will walk on his own. Give him a couple more weeks and I bet he'll have the confidence to let go of the furniture and cruse everywhere.

Dan is also in the "I must be by Mama at all times" stage. While leaving him with the sitter in the morning seems to be going well still, when I'm at home and there is an inkling of me leaving the room he starts crying. He sure loves his Mama! While it is rather frustrating at times, it does lead to many cuddles and kisses :)

Checking out the moose after it fell over.

Making it difficult to get a picture of him.

Trying to distract him to sitting still with my phone.

Other than that, there isn't much to report. Football season is just about to start. I'm teaching a prenatal yoga class starting tomorrow. Plus, I have my first client as a doula!

I hope everyone is doing well. Take care!

What's in a Name?

As some of you may know, I have been venturing out into several different directions outside of my job in the lab. One of them I have been attacking for over a year: yoga. When I first tried yoga I was still dancing competitively. Honestly, I didn't like it. With how fast-paced dance was - even doing adagios in ballet - yoga was just too slow. I didn't appreciate the different asanas - or poses - and what they can do for you mentally and physically. It wasn't until Jason and I had decided to start a family did I look into yoga again. I wanted to do prenatal yoga for exercise while I was pregnant. I had heard so many good things about it so I searched out a local studio that offered it. While in the process of waiting to get pregnant, I fell in love with the practice. So starting in September of 2012 I began my teacher training at Copper Tree Yoga Studio.

Right before we had our first class I found out that we were pregnant! I couldn't have been more overjoyed! Unfortunately, within a week of finding out we lost the baby. If it wasn't for the yoga teacher training - which had us learning the philosophy behind yoga and keeping a daily journal - I know that my emotional recovery from our loss would have been a lot more difficult and taken much longer.

Anyway, this little divergence leads me to the title of the post. After I graduated from my teacher training, I needed to set up an LLC so I could begin teaching. The purpose was to protect my personal life from any potential (and unlikely) lawsuits from students. With some help from one of my fellow cop wife, and a few revisions of the name so it wasn't too similar to other LLCs that were already taken, I settled upon Peace and Balance Yoga, LLC.

With the name of my LLC, I wanted it to encompass as much of my philosophy and teaching style with as minimal words possible.

Peace - to highlight the calming nature that a yoga practice can bring to an individual physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Certain asanas can bring on a wide range of benefits that are not limited to the physical aspect of yoga. Different breathing techniques also have beneficial effects upon your body, mind, and spirit.

Balance - to highlight the ability of yoga and the various aspects to help bring balance to your life. We live in a fast-paced, stressful world where we constantly need to put our feelings, emotions, and even well-being aside in order to do our job both at work and at home. We lose ourselves, the connection with our self, on a daily basis. Yoga gives us the opportunity, even if you only practice for 15 minutes, to come back to our self, come back into balance and harmony with our surroundings.

So with my other endeavors that I'm venturing in will need names. One of my new endeavors involves selling some of the pictures that I've been taking over the years. Jason has told me on numerous occasions that I should not only send some of my pictures into competitions, the state fair for example, but that I should also sell them. I'm becoming more and more comfortable behind the lens and having a lot of fun taking pictures. While my favorite subjects are nature scenes, I also enjoy taking pictures of events and people. I'm planning on sticking to selling nature-inspired pictures at this point, but I wouldn't mind expanding into doing side jobs of events as well. I already take pictures for the yearly golf outing for the Fraternal Order of Police lodge that Jason is a member of, so expanding from there would be fun. In my opinion, I got some really nice pics this year. Check some of them out...

Not bad in my opinion.  I haven't even photoshopped them. A bit of tweaking may make them that much better! Anyway, I'll stop tooting my own horn. So my plan in selling the pictures involves setting up an Etsy site so I can target a large audience. Each site needs a name. Again, I want something that has meaning. Currently, I'm leaning heavily towards "Portview Photography" due to a few factors. Here is the thought process. I like "Portview Photography" because my Grandma Croswell was big into photography. She even sold some of her pictures to some small magazines if I remember correctly. When I think of my Grandma, I automatically think of Portview and the summers that I spent there. A quick search so far has shown up with nothing that is exactly the same. I did however find a "PortViews Photography." In further inspection, the lady who owns it is merging her business with another photographer, and changing the business name in that merger. I sent her a message in regards to the name so I hope I can keep with my original idea.

Now on to one of my most exciting adventures! I am currently working on my certification to become a doula! A what? A doula. What a doula is is essentially labor support. They are mainly females, although I haven't heard of any males being a doula, but I don't like working in absolutes. They meet with the mother before she goes into labor to discuss what she expects from this support. What a doula can offer varies according to their additional training, but they are there to help educate what can go on during labor, what options they have according to where they labor and deliver the baby, what kind of support the mom would like (aromatherapy, massage, etc.), and so on. A doula will come to the laboring mothers house while in labor and offer support before going to the hospital or birthing center. If the mom has chosen to deliver at home, the doula is there prior to the arrival of the midwives. The doula will then stay with the mom throughout labor and delivery, providing constant attention as needed. After delivery, the doula will visit the mom within a week to check on how the mom felt about her labor and delivery, how breastfeeding is going (if mom decides to breastfeed), and check to see if there are any concerns.

I decided that I wanted to become a doula based on my own experience during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. I want to provide the education and support to women who may not feel they have it from their spouses, family, or care providers. I'm still working on a name for this new business, but one thing I am sure about is that I want to use the word "empower." An educated woman is an empowered woman. No matter how labor and delivery goes, when a woman feels she has made decisions on her own without being forced into situations that were considered undesirable before going into labor, she has empowered herself with the knowledge before anything happens, she will feel more satisfied with the outcome of her experience. That is a gift that all women should have. That gift should not be taken away by family or caretakers because of preconceived notions or policy. So for those of you who read this, do you have any ideas of a business name for my doula work? Any suggestions are appreciated!

Take care and have a great weekend!

4th of July Weekend

Happy Independence Day!

This was Dan's first 4th of July. I must say that it is probably one of my favorite experiences since moving to Wisconsin. My first 4th of July living here was a bit rough for me. Mom's birthday is on the 4th so we always had lots of fun doing things with family. I moved to WI June of 2007, and the 4th fell on a Wednesday that year. I had just started working so I had no vacation available. Jason did an amazing job making that first 4th of July memorable for me. He came home from his shift with burgers to grill, potato salad, chips, and even margarita glasses to enjoy our drinks in. We watched the fireworks from the house in Watertown and I distinctly remember the field behind the house being lit up by hundreds of fireflies. It was perfect and beautiful.

This year was just as spectacular because I got to share the day with Dan and experience everything again for the first time. Jason had to work, so Dan and I spent the morning and afternoon together. West Bend's parade started at 9:30 that morning and I walked over to main street with friends of ours. They have two little boys, one who is only 2 weeks old! You forget how tiny they are right in the beginning. They grow so fast!

Yummy - toy cellphone.

Waiting for the parade with the Heaney's.

The parade was a huge hit with Dan. He loved watching everyone go by. He was dancing with the bands and was waving his arms up and down in excitement. I wish I had gotten more pictures, but you can only do so much when you have a little one in your arms!

Jason came home on time from his shift. Well, at least I think he did. Dan and I took a 3 hour nap that afternoon! While Dan and I were napping, Jason got supper ready. Grilled corn on the cob, burgers, pasta salad, and chips. Oh, and dutch apple pie for desert! Yum! Soon it was time for Jason to get ready for his shift covering the fireworks. Dan and I got lucky and found him before it got dark so we snuck in a family picture :)

Happy 4th of July!

Dan and I found a spot on the grass to play around on while we waited for the fireworks to start. The blanket we brought is his Great-Grandpa Solarz' blanket. He was a Packer fan just like Jason is. I'm a Packer fan as far as enjoying watching them play. While I love it when they win, I'm not heartbroken when they lose. That goes for most sports anyway. I digress. 

Enjoying the beautiful weather waiting for sunset.

Selfie with Mama :)

 We didn't last too long at the fireworks, though. Dan got scared within the first minute of them being lit off. Poor kid didn't like the noise. He watched for a moment and quickly turned into me and tried climbing up higher and higher to get away from the noise. So after a minute, I packed us up and walked back to the car. I knew Dan wouldn't want to be let down so I carried him all the way back. I had to park quite a ways away because of all the people there already, so needless to say, it was quite a workout! Silver lining, it was SUPER easy to get out and back home! Dan fell asleep on the walk back and didn't hardly wake when I transferred him into his car seat. All the excitement of the day plus all the fresh air makes for one tired baby!

Out cold.

 Saturday we ventured down to Indiana where most of Jason's family lives. Each year over the 4th of July weekend, they hold a family reunion. Jason is the 5th generation out of the family we get together with. This was my 3rd time going. Apparently when Jason and his brother Joe were younger, close to 90-100 people attended the reunion each year. Lots of kids to play with, games to play, etc. Now there is anywhere from 15-30 people who show up each year. I only know Jason's immediate family, which is the same for Jason. He knows names of some of the other people, but because he hardly sees them, there is very little recognition. Regardless, it is nice to get together with family.

With Great-Grandma Pollard

The picture below is the best one we got. One of Jason's relatives took the picture for us. It was either this one where everyone but me is looking at the dogs, or one where nobody is ready for the picture. I guess that's what you get when you have someone else take a picture for you.

Pollard Family.

Jason and I stayed with his Aunt Janelle and Cousin Austin. Everyone lives very close to one another, which is super nice. I miss having family minutes away vs. hours.

Playing in the basket that holds the dogs toys.

He loves his remote controls!

Before we left on Sunday, we stopped and had breakfast with his Grandma and Grandpa, and visited with his Uncle and Aunt Kevin and Kathy before hitting the road.

Great-Grandma Pollard, Dan, and Jason

Great-Grandma telling Dan secrets.

Dan and Great-Grandpa Pollard

Jason, Dan, and Great-Grandpa Pollard

Dan with his Great-Aunt Kathy

Kevin, Kathy, and a tired Dan

It was a wonderful weekend celebrating Independence day and visiting family. By the time we got back, we even had the opportunity to start getting the family room downstairs put back together! I'll soon be able to post pictures of the renovation. We were able to watch TV down there for the first time since Easter Weekend. It was very strange. Jason made the comment it felt like we were just moving in for the first time into a new house! I can't wait to share :)

Happy Birthday Mom! Happy Independence Day!

When a thing becomes a person...

I may get flack for this, but this is how I see things, and I will not apologize for my feelings or viewpoint. Any comments must be courteous and civil.

Back in elementary school we learn many things. I remember distinctly learning in grammar about nouns: is it a person, place, thing, or idea. What was the noun in one sentence or another? What category did it fall under? With the SCOTUS ruling on the Hobby Lobby case (and with Citizens United several years ago), a thing (businesses and companies) are now persons. Because these things are now considered persons (Citizens United), these things can now exercise religious freedom under the constitution. At least this is what was the result of the ruling - in the most simple terms. David Green, as owner, is now able to refuse providing 4 of the 20 approved birth control methods under the ACA for his employees at Hobby Lobby because he believes that they are a form of abortion.

If you are unaware, Hobby Lobby is a craft store. It's not a person. It's not a church. It's not affiliated with a church. Hobby Lobby is a craft store.

But what about the first amendment and freedom of religion? First of all (I just learned this), the first amendment really only applies to Congress, but it is generally applied to all US citizens. That being said, Congress cannot declare any religion a religion of the United States of America. We are to remain without a state religion. This is one of the reasons why the early settlers came to America in the first place - to be able to practice their own religion without persecution. Second, Congress cannot favor one religion over another.

So what if a person doesn't have a religion? What then? In this case with Green and Hobby Lobby, religion trumps non-religion in closely held companies. Huh? Isn't this favoring one religion over another? Yes and no. Things get tricky when there is an absence of something when comparing two groups to one another. If you would go back to the last paragraph where it says that Congress can't declare a religion of the United States of America, one would hope that non-religion would "win" over religion.

While we were founded upon Christian values, we are not a Christian nation. We are Catholic, Lutheran (and the various sects there of), Presbyterian, Mormon, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Islamist, Sikh, Scientologist, Jehovah Witness, Atheist, Agnostic...the list goes on. While some religions hold very similar beliefs, holding one belief over a non-belief in a country where there is no national religion doesn't sit quite right.

If Hobby Lobby were a Christian store, like Green's Christian book store, catering to Christians, promoting Christianity, etc., then maybe he has a leg to stand on when wanting to not provide coverage for the 4 contraceptives in question. Like I said above, Hobby Lobby is a craft store that just happens to be owned by a Christian.

The ACA was written to be a baseline for health insurance coverage. If a company wanted to go above and beyond that, they were more than welcome to. However, a baseline was needed so those with health insurance were guaranteed basic health coverage as determined by medical science for the overall good of public health. Other countries understand that access to basic healthcare is a human right, and they provide basic healthcare to their citizens. Why America doesn't is beyond me.

Individuals keep on saying we are a "Christian Nation," but how "Christian" are we when we deny a basic human right, such as basic healthcare - which includes contraception. Contraception that isn't necessarily meant to "abort" a fetus (I put that in quotes because not everyone believes life begins at the moment a sperm meets an egg), but to regulate irregular periods, control severe menstrual cycles, or any other issue that can cause severe discomfort or infertility in a woman.

When you own a non-religious business, whether or not it is privately held (and falls under the ACA rules), your religious views should have zero say in what kind of healthcare your employees are entitled to. When you incorporate, your religious views on healthcare no longer have merit. If you impose your views upon your employees, you are now infringing upon their religious (or non-religious) views. Unfortunately with this ruling, business owners can do just that. We are now sliding down a slippery slope until this ruling is reversed. Your religious views are your own and they end at the tip of your nose. That is the same with my religious views. When it comes to healthcare, we need to be tolerant of religious and non-religious alike, keeping medical decisions between the patient and their doctor. In that office is where the final decision on how to proceed with care can be based upon the patients religious views and not those of their employer.