The summer is flying by. I mean seriously, where did it go? I love fall and winter (until about early March) so the upcoming season change is just fine, but along with fall comes homeschooling, piano lessons, just more stuff.
We are leaving later today to go camping again. It should be lots of fun and the weather is suppose to be really nice, not too hot. A couple weeks after we get back, Ryan and I are taking the kids to Gatlinburg to camp for a week. That will be tons of fun! We have never gone on a week long vacation with just our family, so this will be cool/interesting. I reserved our campsite, but I haven't put too much thought into what our week will hold. I am sure lots of trails, bike riding and relaxing. Can you tell we are really enjoying our new camper?
Anna and Gee are really doing great. Anna is started to get really upset when we leave her (like at the church nursery or with the babysitter). She often will cry when we leave her, but lately she will literally scream and throw a fit. Within 5 minutes she is completely calm and fine, but it sure puts on a show. Besides that Anna is really doing well. We had/have a problem with her putting her fingers in her mouth. She never had any fingernails when it was nail clipping time, well I am happy to say that this has gotten better. I actually clipped her fingernails the other day. I am proud of her because she got into a bad habit and now she just does so much better. She still does it occasionally, especially when she needs comfort, but we are making strides.
Gideon is talking more also. He is just repeating everything now. I think he is just getting to the point where he can form word properly. I actually think he speaks more clearly than Anna, but Anna knows more words and it putting words together better. Gideon's circumcision is scheduled for late September (maybe the 23rd?). Poor guy. I do feel bad for him but I am sure he will heal quickly and be better in no time. Ryan and I did debate a little about circumcision and whether or not we felt it was necessary. We did some research and came to slightly different conclusions, but in the end I really feel like we are doing the right thing for our family and for Gideon.
Oh, all three of the kids have discovered cartoons. I guess I realized a couple months ago that the kids never really watched cartoons. I think that is just fine because I am sure many kids these days over watch the tv, but it has become a good distraction for them if I need to go do other things around the house. Right now their favorites are "Go Diego, Go," "Dora the Explorer," the "Backyardians" and "Yo Gaba Gaba." Let me just say that "Yo Gaba Gaba" is probably the most annoying show I have ever watched. I think it even tops "Barney." But, the kids love it. If your kids have yet to see this show, keep them far, far away. It came on after Dora one day and our kids were hooked!
Well, until next time!
Julie
4 comments:
hello...
You seem to have a lovely family...
Honestly, I came across your blog when researching circumcision...
I wish you would continue to question why it could/could not be necessary for your dear son, as there is no national or international organization that actually recommends circumcision.
It is not covered by many states' medicaid programs as the procedure is increasingly becoming viewed as cosmetic surgery (non-therapuetic surgery).
I'm sure you would want to do what is in the best interest of your child, so please take more time to consider allowing him to make the decision to have permanent body modification performed on himself, once he is old enough to give informed consent. More than likely, he will want to keep his body whole, as it is meant to be (there are special nerves that are in the foreskin that once cut away, severely impact a child/man's penile sensitivity).
Also, please consider that regardless of whether an anesthetic is used or not, they are NEVER 00% effective (and usually, not used), but even to administer a penile dorsal nerve block (which is considered the MOST effective anesthetic), requires painful injections into the penis. After the procedure, the open-wound most certainly will be stung by urine and possibly contaminated with feces (in a diaper).
I am one of the directors of NOCIRC (National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers) and would be glad to give you additional resources to understand the full function, purpose and development of the penis. I certainly wouldn't want you (or Dad) to live with the regret and guilt of making a decision to permanently mark your son with something that only our culture sees acceptable. (85% of the world's population, including most of Europe, and many other developed countries, feel we are as barbaric for allowing this to happen to our boys as the Africans are barbaric for female genital mutilation...)
Some thoughts to ponder before you make a very serious decision that in fact does not need to be made in the first place.
If you have read this far, thank you, on behalf of your son, a complete stranger to me, for your consideration to respect his bodily sovereignty, his genital integrity.
I want to leave you with this thought one last time... there is NOTHING you are risking by leaving your son INTACT.
There are MANY risks if you consent to this life-altering procedure for your son, some of which may take years upon years to surface.
Warm Regards,
Colleen
http://www.nocirc.org/
I have NO idea why in the world you would take this perfect little boy and put him through a horror of an amputative cosmetic surgery on his genitals! OMG!
I’m originally from Russia and I’ve heard that one of the reasons why Russians aren’t happy about Americans adopting their orphans is because USA is the only country in the world that circ for non-religious reason. 85% of the world do NOT circ their boys just as they don’t their girls, considering circ Male Genital Mutilation. Foreskin performs multiple functions and IS there for a GOOD reason. By the way, did you know that circumcision started in North America in the Puritan 1870s as a cure for masturbation? Masturbation was considered to be evil and sinful and was blamed for all sort of illnesses including blindness, paralysis and mental retardation http://www.noharmm.org/docswords.htm
My son is 3y.o. and whole and perfectly healthy. His buddy across the street is 2.5y.o. boy who was adopted from Guatemala as well and was too left whole with no problems what so ever.
This is an excellent movie (done by doctors opposing circumcision) about foreskin’s
purpose and harm of circumcision.
http://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/video/prepuce.html
Please do not mutilate this little boy, he’s been through enough as it is! Let him know that you love him just the way he is. He isn’t broken—he’s whole and perfect, just like it should be—so nothing needs to be “fixed”. How in the world will he ever trust you if you put his through this horror???
You do NOT need to retract his foreskin and clean under it; in babies and young boys it's fused to the glans with the same tissue our fingernails fused to fingerbed. It will retract on it's own later, most of the time by 16 years of age (which is totally normal). Just wash/wipe it as a finger from outside ONLY and make sure no one--including doctors-- (exept for the owner of the penis)trys to retract it. It NEEDS to be fused to the glans in order to protect it, not letting bacteria in.
And one more thing: circ is a personal decision by which I mean it's a decision of the person who owns the penis.
Family decision...hm...may I ask who else in the family intends on using Gideon's penis???
Amputating a healthy body's part of someone else's body without their concent is NOT ok by any means!
If his father is cut, and IF he ever notices the difference(which rarely happens anyway...ask your husband if he remembers how his dad's penis looks like, I bet he will have NO clue, just like most men), there is nothing wrong with explaining that when daddy was born doctors thought it was a good idea to cut this part of the penis off, but now doctors know better
Good luck to your family!
Julie,
I'm visiting your site because of the circumcision comments and wish you and your family the best as you work out your health choices for Gideon.
I have two sons who were circed and we are expecting our third son who will not be circumcised. I have learned a lot about the topic, and think I made mistakes by choosing it twice.
I know that circ can be a very difficult topic and I wish you and your family the best no matter what. I do want to suggest that if you choose to circumcise Gideon that you research and request a "loose" vs. a "tight" circumcision (how much skin is removed). One of my great fears about my circed boys is not having enough skin to grow into as they mature and also potential problems with loss of sensitivity, etc. A loose circ will have more skin covering the glans and will probably not show the coronal ridge, it doesn't really look as circumcised. But I'm worried about losing function and sensitivity for future mature adult sexuality -- I worry when my boys are grown and married and in their 40's and 50's about losing function (I suspect and would love to know if there is a correlation between circ becoming popular with Baby Boomers and now so many men needing/using ED drugs like Viagra.)
Anyway, that's a big ramble. One Web site that had a huge impact on me, but is a little zealous about the negatives of circ... is www.sexasnautreintendedit.com, which explained adult male sexual function and effects of circ in terms I could personally relate to as a woman. (It does have some b/w photos of penises, so know that prior to visiting.)
As a mom of circed boys, I felt I made a big mistake by altering their bodies but I also hope and pray that they still have happy healthy lives despite my mistake, and I do believe there are millions of circed men who are still happy -- there's more to life than sex organs. At the same time, I feel God and nature made our bodies perfect and that there's no reason to change that, and that in fact, altering a boy or man's genitals could harm his and his wife's marital relationship and enjoyment.
I am sorry for this long ramble and I wish your family all the best. If you would like to chat via email, please do.... I hope this is useful and doesn't cause you extra stress. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts.
Post a Comment