Life with the Lin Family

Yesterday I went and met Landon Jacob for the first time. Darrel and Julie brought him home from the hospital on Wednesday night. He is another angel on earth, just perfect! It was very emotional. We have waited so many years for our son’s to play together and it so exciting that the time has finally come.

Jimmy has been out of town again this week and comes home tonight. We are very excited. I know Carter misses him just as much as me, because every night when it is near dark he turns towards the garage door, waves and says “Dada?” Jimmy sent him a video message on my phone last week. Several times a day Carter points at my phone and says “Dada”. As soon as it comes on he immediately smiles and points at Daddy. It is the cutest thing but a little sad for Jimmy. Thankfully the travel with this job is very minimal, he would have never lasted if he had kept contracting with his company in California.

I have to say I would not have lasted either. I have alot of respect for all of the single moms cuz it is so hard even for just 2 weeks. I also realize how wonderful it is to be married to the father of my child. There is such an added bond that exists between us because of our joint love for our son. I know our family and friends love Carter immensely, but the love that we share for him is on SUCH a deep level. I realize with Jimmy being gone I miss sharing in that with him. There have been several times that Carter will make a new noise, make a silly face, or react to a new discovery and I finding myself laughing or celebrating with him alone. I want Jimmy here to be in awe of him with me.

He is learning all the time and his current favorite pastimes are cruising around the living room, immitating noises and picking up every little speck of anything on the floor, who needs as vacuum when you have a cruiser!

Jimmy is out of town for work this week so Carter and I are on our own for Valentine’s Day. I wanted to give Jimmy something on this special day away from his family. So after I dropped him off at the airport on Sunday I went to the craft store to start my “project”. I have spent all of Carter’s naptimes since on making an oversize candy box for him. I finished it yesterday and Julie came over to get Carter to smile big for the camera. Here are the pictures I sent to Jimmy with his Valentine’s Day cards from Carter and I. Don’t worry I’m not spoiling the surprise. He rarely ever checks our blog.

Carter started crawling last Thursday while we were at Grandma and Granpa’s house. I am now officially living life on my toes. He is everywhere and everywhere FAST so now I really only have nap times to get online and post.

Last night Jimmy was back in the office studying and I said “Carter call Daddy!” And he turned towards the back hall and said “Da-da” as clear as day. It was the cutest little sound ever. I thought maybe it was a fluke so I asked him again to say Daddy and again “Da-da”. So sweet :0) It was so cute that I am not even mad that he didn’t say Momma first.

Since Carter’s birth I have tried to de-toxify our home one product at a time. It hasn’t always been cheap and it hasn’t been easy, but it has been rewarding to know in my gut I was doing what I felt was right for my family despite what the world around me was doing. It is very frustrating to have knowledge and read the research and studies that show the dangers and toxins of these common everyday products and then see them in the aisle of all the stores I shop at. I realize 90% of Moms don’t have the time or the patience to do the daunting research and sort through the legitament and not so legitament stuff on the internet. It is very easy to assume and trust that these big corporations who monopolize the baby care industry are selling safe products for our children. I also realize that some parents may be aware of the warnings out there and just feel they are over the top because they don’t come from conventional sources and the price and availability is greater than the risk is of harm. I was very encouraged when I opened my email this morning and saw this article from a very mainstream baby website…”Dangerous chemicals in Baby Products? Study raises red flag on baby powder, lotions, shampoo”.

More and more items are being offerred organic, paraben free, fragrance free and natural. I believe the green movement has been instrumental in this, but I also think society as a whole is starting to put 2 and 2 together. Statistics now show that 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Childhood respiratory disease and adult infertility are at an all time high and the levels of pesticides found in human blood continue to increase drastically. It is very encouraging to me that maybe the demand for these clean products will put pressure on these companies to remove the nuerotoxins and chemicals found in their products.

Ok enough from the soapbox for now :0)