Sick!

So Chris' kids (my stepkids) decided to bring a cold with them when they came up for the weekend. So now Chris, Taevyn, and myself are sick. :( There's not much else to say really, because I'll spare you my complaints, but this does illustrate the main reason why I will not be getting a flu shot this year.

Technically, it's supposed to help prevent my son from getting sick, by preventing me from getting sick and passing it on to him. However, I breastfeed him, so it's beneficial to him if we both get sick at the same time. If I get the flu, antibodies produced in my body will be passed through the breastmilk to him, helping him combat the flu. If I get a flu shot, the antibodies from the shot don't pass through the breastmilk in strong enough quantities to help my baby with immunity, so it helps me but not him. And since both my husband and my stepkids can and do bring home a bunch of viruses during the winter, my baby would be exposed to those viruses (whether or not I am exposed to them) and he would have to combat them on his own, something that is much more dangerous to him than if I were sick as well and breastfeeding.

Yes, the flu is a danger to my child. However, getting the flu shot would actually increase his risk of having a severe infection, rather than decrease it. When both the mom and child get sick, the breastfeeding child often gets a milder version of the disease, because the mom's body is giving some protection to her child through breastmilk. By getting a flu shot, I am essentially preventing my child from getting the best medicine possible to combat sickness.

More Pictures

And now that I know how to post pictures here, I will do so more often!

Wedding!

So Chris and I got married yesterday. :) The day definitely did not go as planned but it was fun and special nevertheless. Chris even got choked up reading our vows which is very rare for him. I wrote the vows myself. Mine was,
“I, Crysta, take you Chris, to be my husband, to love you faithfully, honorably, and passionately, and to give you my trust and respect. I promise to be honest and forthright, to stay beside you when life is joyful and when it is difficult, to listen as well as speak, to give as well as receive, and to be your friend, lover, and partner throughout the rest of our lives.”
(Chris' was the same, only with the obvious name and role changes)
The ceremony/feast took place in our house, because it was raining too hard to be done outside, but that was fine because we just had close friends and family over. Overall it was a cozy, comfortable, relaxed feeling. This photo is of me and my husband toasting each other's health with Chris' parents and one of his kids in the background. (the weird white thing is a grape vine decoration in the foreground.)
My sister wrote a really nice blessing for us, which was read at the ceremony. It went...

to me:

may the ship that leaves the harbor find glorious treasure.

may the wind that whispers guide her to quiet waters of love.

may the waves that give life bring her treasures from the deep.

may the wood of her keel keep her sailing strong.

and may her destination be sure, true, and blessed.

to Chris:

may the warrior always find his sword and shield ready,

yet not be hasty to wield them.

may his footfalls be light throughout his journeys

and never take him too far from his doorstep.

may his name be placed in many tales

and his image in the stars.

and may the fire in his hearth always welcome him home.

to the couple:

may the river of love never stop flowing between the two lands.

may the fields always grow beautiful and full.

may the ships that sail from your harbors always return with glory.

and may, in all your days, you find freedom and faith within each other.

your days

your ways

your wealth

and your health

now depend on each other.

many blessings upon you and yours!

Getting Shit Done

OK so in order not to panic about my wedding, I've decided to get as much shit done today as I possibly can. :) I sorted, organized, cleaned the downstairs bathroom (including the tile on the walls!) and am in the middle of my 3rd load of laundry today. :) Taevyn is sleeping in his swing, and he's been a sleepy boy all afternoon... which is what allowed me to get all this shit done. That, and the fact that he let me get some sleep last night so I actually have some energy... now, I do not have even half the shit done that I need to get done, but it's a start. And this keeps me from stressing over the wedding while actually giving me less things to stress over. A good thing all around. I still haven't gotten the swords in the mail yet, and I'm pretty sure the rings won't come in time, plus I need to give my sister money for costumes and other misc stuff, PLUS I still can't find a 2 handed mead cup! AAAAAAH!!!! OK back to more work. Gotta... keep... myself... busy...

Wild Animals

So our goat bucks are in rut and the whole farm stinks. LOL. Bucks are always slightly unpredictable so I need to keep half an eye on them when they're around, but when they are in rut they get a little more dangerous, albeit more predictable. A buck is only thinking about two things when he's in rut: sex, and competition. My husband found that out firsthand when he tried to separate out a few does for breeding. Well the buck didn't like Chris messing with his girls, so he charged him. Thankfully, Chris knows how to deal with bucks and used his horns to wrestle him to the ground (a dominance feat, to "show him who's boss.") I've had to do that with a different buck last year (before that buck died) but as you can imagine he outweighed me and I had a harder time doing it. Now half the time I have a baby with me, so I wouldn't really be able to handle a charging buck and keep the baby safe, so I steer clear of the bucks this time of year.
Last year, Chris unexpectedly came across a deer buck out in our pasture right behind the barn. That buck nearly charged him too, (being all wound up) but thankfully he didn't. Chris backed off and that was that.

Which brings me to my public service announcement: don't be stupid around animals. There are a lot of deer around and, despite their image of being gentle, frightened creatures, adult bucks are dangerous this time of year. Most likely they won't charge you, but you never really know. So if a male deer is standing his ground when you walk near him, don't try to go up and see how close you can get. :P It's not a good idea.

Speaking of wild creatures, I've become sort of panicked now that the date for our wedding celebration and dedication ceremony is drawing near. I still don't have tables and chairs, food, a guest list (aaah RSVP people!!), an organized idea of how it's going to go, and I haven't cleaned the house yet. Great. Not to mention they didn't have our rings in stock so we don't even know if we'll have rings by our wedding day! AAAAHHH! And I can't get much done with a 6 week old fussy baby...
Cross your fingers. September seems to be a wild ride so far.

Lately...

I've been writing more on my other blog, http://eveandiktomi.blogspot.com/ , which contains more musings and less updates on my life. So if you've wondered where I went off to, now you know. ;)