It seems like a rather blustery day

Last Friday night, we were chatting with the newly-arrived Whitney, when suddenly the Creepy Wind started up. The kind that whips around the house (which is impressive to do in a townhouse) in ghostly noises, and shakes the trees from side to side. Then the lights started to flicker. Then the lights went out. For 27 hours. I am very grateful we got our power back as quickly as we did, and that it was a limited outage, which meant many restaurants 15 minutes away were open.

The storm was incredible to watch. Not only did we have winds of more than 60 mph and pelting rain, but we had near-constant lightning for at least 40 minutes.

The next day, we found this as we drove down one of the back roads.

It's a tree branch. Lying on the power lines. Suspended above a road. So cool!
(The desert rat in me is still amazed the east coast tree branches are as big as southern Nevada's trees.)

We slept in the basement the second night. The temperatures were up to a muggy 100 degrees, which made for very hot nights. Nadine enjoyed wearing my headlamp, so of course I got pictures, which are on the Nani blog. Nadine was a very good trouper through the entire outage, even though she didn't want to sleep in the basement (mmmm, I'm grateful for basements).

Freeeeeeedommmmmmmm!

Todd and I just spent two wonderful, fun-filled weeks away from Nadine. His parents are fantastic and they flew out to watch Nadine for us. It was really great to be a couple again and, at least for me, to selfishly enjoy a vacation (seriously, when we got to the airport I wanted to cry out, a la William Wallace, but without the torture).

We joined my parents and sisters in South America and crossed two things off Todd's bucket list: we visited Machu Picchu and Iguazu Falls. We also got to spend a couple days in Buenos Aires, where Todd served his mission, which was fun too. (We didn't actually see the areas where he served; he said they're far too dangerous. Missionaries are incredible.)

Souvenir shopping in Peru was fun and colorful.

These cute girls posed for a picture . . . then asked us to pay them for it. "Un sol" became our vacation joke.

My sister ordered, and my dad and Todd ate some of, guinea pig ("cuy"). They had it on most menus in Peru. This is the head. See the teeth? And the ears? It nearly goes without saying, but I did not eat the guinea pig. I could barely look at it.

The Incas were incredible at fitting the stones together. The stone behind us is one massive stone. I'm amazed they moved all the stones (this is in Cusco, which was the capitol of South America during the Incan reign).

Machu Picchu!

We hiked to the Inca Gate. It was a bit of a hike, but very fun and had a great view. This is Kelsey, me, my dad, and my mom.

And us again. Todd was nice to make sure I wasn't always behind the camera.

We had just hiked straight up the peaked mountain behind Machu Picchu, Huayna Picchu, which involved lots and lots of stairs for about 45 minutes. It was grueling (especially at 8000 feet), but so worth it. Luckily you can't tell how sweaty we were.

There were several llamas around nearly all the time, but we were rarely close to them. For some random reason I really wanted a picture of a llama.

Say it with me: "Llama face!"

This is the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires. It's where their president lives. The balcony up top is what the president uses to address the people; Evita famously waved from it.

Iguazu Falls.

The falls were actually dry, but still stunning. And the dryness allowed us to see the plants and rocks around the falls.

We went to the Argentina and Brazil side of the falls. You get completely different views from each. This is the Brazil side.

Argentina side.

And of course we got pictures of bugs. This ant was bigger than a penny.

The Caminito in Buenos Aires. It's basically an area with wonderfully bright colors, tango dancers, shops, and weird statues.

And there you have it, a sampling of the 670 pictures I took during our trip.

Annie Get Your Gun (or, A 'Slate'-worthy Rant)

At a recent book club, the topic of conversation turned to giving birth (why, in groups of mothers, does the conversation nearly always devolve into birth stories? I enjoy telling mine, but my goodness! I also enjoy a break from talking about children.).

I started thinking about birth stories, different ways of giving birth, the fact women judge each other about their birthing choices, and women judging each other in general. Why do we do this to each other? Why do some women enjoy patting themselves on the back, engaging in one-upmanship, and smugly humming the song, “Anything you can do I can do better”? I wish women would be supportive of each other and celebrate any success in the very difficult job that is motherhood.

For me, the most frustrating “debate” is epidural vs no epidural.

I had an epidural. I loved it. I will have one again. Me having an epidural doesn’t make me any less of a mother. I still carried a baby for nine months and then propelled her from my body. I don’t expect judgment or praise for doing what I did; it is what it is. I made an educated and informed decision, and other women make their own (hopefully) educated and informed decisions to have a baby at home, in a hospital without having an epidural, and via cesarean section (collectively, my favorite people have used all of these methods).

Drugs, no drugs (I can’t stand the term “natural;” the very act of removing a baby from your body is natural, as is taking drugs to alleviate pain), C-section—all are valid ways to have a baby. No method is superior to the others, and no woman should feel less of a mother because of the method she chose or what was deemed medically necessary for her. Carrying and giving birth to a baby is tough and painful, and for that alone we should support each other (and when I say "don’t judge," I also mean do not militantly recruit others to your way of doing things; scare tactics are nasty).

Some women have babies in a hospital, some women don’t have epidurals, and some women are unable to naturally have babies—all methods are valid and deserve no judgment. We’re all in the same boat, ladies! We’re trying to raise children to become responsible, productive, interesting, non-annoying adults. Why can’t we all just get along?

I truly don’t understand this phenomenon. Do some women feel diminished if another woman has a different birth experience than hers? This doesn’t happen in any other area of medicine. When someone has her appendix removed, the following exchange never happens: 

Oh, you had surgery? Did you go natural?

WHAT?! How selfish of you to use anesthesia. Your experience was so diminished.

Don’t you know hospitals are dangerous?

When my appendix was removed, I didn’t have any drugs. It was removed at home. By my neighbor.

I’m going to give you some web sites full of anecdotal evidence about why your choice is wrong.

I’m also going to show you a video full of anecdotal propaganda about why your choice is wrong.

Next time you have an organ removed, you really should do it my way.

Seriously. Isn’t that an odd exchange? Yet a variation of the above conversation happens every time women discuss giving birth. Some women smugly insist their way is superior than another way, and this is incorrect and unfair. There are many ways to do a good thing.

Why do we judge the choices other moms make? Except in the cases of child abuse and smoking around children (and other practices that have actual scientific, verifiable evidence of their negative effects), we shouldn't question what other parents do. Most women are doing the best they can do, and we should support that. There are many different, effective, positive ways to give birth to and raise children. My way of doing it is no less valid than yours, even if it is different.

Stop judging. Stop it.

Nani blog updated

I added what is honestly one of my favorite Nani videos ever. Ever. And lots of Easter pictures.