A Love of Books

Despite the fact that Audra has over 30 books of her own, we regularly make trips to the library near us for new books.  

Typically our stack of library books will look something like this...

It may seem excessive to let a 18-month-old to have 50+ books to choose from.  However, since we spend time reading every day, this ensures that we don't read the same books over and over.  

And even when I'm unable to read to Audra, I often find her "reading" by herself.

Sometimes she'll sit on her bike to read her books, 

but more often I find her sharing her books with Sophie,

and then possibly laying down to snuggle with Sophie when she gets done reading.

Day Trip

Audra and I took a trip to Severna Park, MD (about 15 minutes north of Annapolis) today.  We went to visit my friend, Karen, who has lived there for the past year.  

Karen had to work until 3:30, but she graciously allowed us to arrive at lunchtime so Audra could take a nap in the early afternoon (which she thankfully had no trouble doing, even though she was in an unfamiliar place).

When Karen got home we took a walk to a park that's just down the street.  Audra enjoyed the playground and walking next to Severn River (which, in my opinion, looked more like a bay than a river).

We had a delicious dinner at a Irish pub in town and then Audra and I headed home.  It had been a great day visiting Karen!

Audra's 1st Pedicure

She was watching me paint my toenails and she asked me to paint hers, too.  I just couldn't resist!  

Sprinkler Fun

David and I were outside weeding the gardens and Audra was "helping".  After only a short amount of time she was covered with dirt and I didn't want to give her a bath before dinner.  

So we set up the sprinkler and both of our girls (human and canine) loved playing in the water.  It was a fun way to clean up our messy baby girl!

Taking Sophie for a Walk

Audra's been wanting to take Sophie for a walk by herself for the last couple months.  Until this afternoon I hadn't allowed such a thing.  I was too nervous about Sophie walking too fast for Audra's little legs.  

But as I carefully monitored them this afternoon I soon discovered that I had nothing to be nervous about.  Sophie was content to walk at a slow pace, and Audra was so happy to be walking with Sophie all by herself!

If I Had a Facebook Account...

... I'd have to post this article that I received from the farm where we get our milk (in addition to our beef, some chicken, some eggs, raw honey and occasionally some cheese).  For those who wonder what's the deal with raw milk, here's the answer!

Hey... It’s The Raw Milk Tipping Point! The safety and sensibility of raw grass-fed milk is finally hitting the consciousness of mainstream Americans! People are talking about it everywhere. In Canada the CDC is open to the subject… in NY the Wall Street Journal is publishing it… in WI the jurors from Vernon Hershberger’s trial not only acquitted him but are now signing up to buy raw milk from his farm. Unbelievable!  But that’s not all! Local medical doctors have become Family Cow farm store customers… the GI specialists at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore MD are (covertly) sending patients our way for raw milk kefir to help their Crones, Ulcerated Colitis, or IBD… Registered Nurses, MDs and other mainline health professionals are joining our drop points and referring clients. And as if that is not enough… next week, specifically at the request of Penn State University educators, I start a series of four presentations on raw milk safety. Penn State has been conducting educational seminars for the 160 permitted raw milk dairymen of PA and Dr. Ernest Hovingh asked me to present the logic and practicality of other raw milk farmers operating their own raw milk laboratory. I look forward to demonstrating The Family Cow’s ground-breaking, on-farm raw milk test and hold protocol. Of course early adopters have been aware of the health and healing of raw milk for a long time. But you educated, awake folks are so far above the average that we weren’t sure when mainstream America would wake up! Looks like that time has come. This is exciting! We have made so much progress since we started selling raw milk 5 years ago that it is actually hard to grasp how far public perception has changed. We are obviously winning the information war. It reminds me of Gandhi’s wisdom on fighting for self-evident truth. He said, "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Raw milk is entering the winning stage, folks!  (There is still a bit of fighting to do, but that will soon pass.)  At the Family Cow we are gearing up to mentor a lot of new raw milk farm families to learn the ropes. They will be needed to meet the coming demand!  :) Keep up the good work, friends, in spreading the news, opening minds and helping your friends get on board. They will forever thank you. Looks like we are reaching the tipping point!  :) All the best ~ Edwin and Dawn Shank and Family www.yourfamilyfarmer.com

Raw Milk is Acknowledged as a Low-Risk Food The Scientists are Coming Around! My Prediction: It will take the Government longer to admit it! A few weeks ago, researcher Nadine Ijaz made a well-received evidence review on unpasteurized milk at the British Columbia (Canada) Centre for Disease Control (BC CDC). Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessments (QMRAs) recently published in the Journal of Food Protection have demonstrated that unpasteurized milk is a low-risk food. The Wall Street Journal ran the full story. Ijaz is an independent researcher with expertise and training in the transdisciplinary analysis of integrative health care issues. She has taught at professional schools in her field since 2001, including courses in scientific research methods. She was previously staff nutritionist at Canada's premiere integrative medical cancer care centre. Ijaz has pursued a scholarly interest in questions around unpasteurized milk and industrial dairying over the last fifteen years, and her current work represents a synthesis of this research. Her work on unpasteurized milk is currently under consideration for peer-review publication.

Link to the website can be found HERE.

Sliding

Audra and I took a trip to NY this last weekend to attend the Bigham reunion (my mother's family reunion) in Arcade.  Sadly, I didn't take many pictures, but I did get this video of Audra on the Loucks's slide.

Brackman's Visit

My friend, Carla, along with her sons, Trey and Roman, visited us last weekend.  Here's a few pictures of our days together.  We all had a great time!

Mirror, Mirror

Since we're (finally!) moving Audra's furniture out of our bedroom and into her room (more about that soon), Audra had a chance to walk up to a mirror for the first time in months.  She seemed to enjoy the baby that she found in the mirror. 

Toy Story

This doll was given to me when I was 5 or 6 years old.  Sadly, I don't remember who it came from (probably my parents?) or why it was given to me (Christmas? my birthday?).  But I held onto this doll thinking, "maybe someday I'll have a daughter who likes dolls".  Looks like that day has come!

p.s. The doll is wearing a newborn outfit that Audra once fit into.