Getting ready for a baby

jarome | Uncategorized | Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

As I blogged about recently, Felisha and I are very excited to be adopting a baby boy from Vietnam in December. With one month to really prepare, and two weeks before we leave, we’ve been getting our home and our lives ready for the new addition we’ve been waiting for.

We’ve found Consumer Reports a great resource to find the safest products at the best deals, as well as some very generous friends like Joanne and Erika. I’ve built a crib, got some cool safari removable wall decorations, and lots of stuff we need for Evan and the trip ahead.

I was amazed by the amount of stuff they have for babies, everything you can think of, including a bear that when moved makes the sound of the mothers womb. Much of it one really doesn’t really need and is just taking advantage of new parents desire to stop at nothing to take care of their baby.

This has to be one of my favorites:

Peepee Teepee

I’ll share some of the great books we’ve found in a future blog.

Adopting a baby from Vietnam in December!

jarome | Uncategorized | Monday, November 16th, 2009

We’ve been on quite a roller coaster ride over the last 4 years in our attempt to adopt a baby. Things have not gone so well, but recently, we were proposed a baby from Vietnam. We debated whether or not to go through the pain of completing huge amounts of paperwork and preparations, not knowing if anything would come out of it, but thought we should take advantage of this opportunity and give it one more try.

We were told to expect the process to complete next year some time in Feb or March, but got the news last week that the baby is ready and we need to go to Vietnam on Dec 7th, 2009 to receive! We’re extremely excited and frantically making preparations that couples often have 9 months to do in one month (we didn’t feel able to prepare properly in the past not knowing what would happen with our previous attempts at adopting from Canada, China, and Korea…)

He is a boy and his name is Ut, but we will also give him the Western name Evan. He will be four months old when we get him and we expect to stay in Hanoi, Vietnam for at least 3 weeks to complete legal and immigration paperwork once we receive him.
He is a real cutie, have a look:

Evan Ut Mong

At this point, any number of things could happen to change this adoption or prevent it from happening, and until the baby is back home in Canada, it is in no way official. So please keep us in your prayers.

More info to follow, just check back here soon.

The Ongoing Vaccination Debate: A Good Thing

jarome | deep thoughts, society | Sunday, November 8th, 2009

The ongoing debate about whether or not to go along with the push to vaccinate has got me thinking, maybe people are actually waking from their comfortable slumber. It’s a very heated and complex issue, so I hesitate to blog about it but felt compelled.

For ages we humans have been used to getting our information from others. Long ago it was the kings and bishops, now priests, ministers, politicians and doctors. We listened obediently without questioning to those who knew better than we did. In the past this was understandable, most were illiterate for the most part and required scribes, holy men, and sages to enlighten us.

Today, although these practices have our instincts in a highly weakened state, people are literate and highly capable of figuring out things through their own research. They are finally starting to embody Baha’u'llah’s recent teachings encouraging the ‘independent investigation of truth‘, emphasizing the fundamental obligation of human beings to acquire knowledge with their “own eyes and not through the eyes of others.”

A great example of this is this debate about vaccinations. Over 40% of people now refuse vaccinations despite great pressure to do so. It sparked my interest when one of my favorite magazines, Wired magazine published a very opinionated front cover stance encouraging vaccination ‘in the name of science’ Which I found very disappointing.
Doctors insist you get them, but then traditional medical doctors have to because they work hand in hand with drug companies to band aid symptoms, rather than studying diet, allergies, and nutrition, and trying to deal with the root of the problem. (My apologies for my bias here with medical doctors, but if my mother had listened to doctors when I was a baby, I would be very ill right now if not dead, being the survivor of 5 miscarriages who’s health problems got worse in the hands of MD’s)

The Wired article tries to show the kingpin of vaccinations, Paul Offit in a positive light, without really giving any solid fact or reasons doctors and governments should be insisting we get vaccinated. It’s written by someone without any credibility in the field.

Another article in the Huffington Post shows Paul Offit in a very different light and gives the opposing perspective. What is telling about both articles are the 500+ comments on them. People are getting tired of being told to do something potentially damaging without a good reason, so they are doing their own research. And the medical profession doesn’t like it because it means they’re losing control over doing things the way they want to and have been for centuries. It’s the same issue that is overturning the music industry. The People are winning the battle, and it is a very good thing.

The interesting thing is how the comments shed far more light on the truth behind the vaccine debate than the articles ever can. Did you know that the last time many of the diseases babies are vaccinated for were a concern was in the 1920’s?

When those who should be caring for us insist we subject ourselves to potentially damaging substances that have now been shown to potentially do more harm than good, how can we trust what they tell us to do any longer?
When the best interests of humanity have been left in the hands of those who primarily aim to profit from it, we need to build up our instincts again and rely more on independent investigation of truth to see through the veils that have been quietly and subtly placed all around us. Not that we shouldn’t listen to professionals, just do your research as well before making decisions.

I personally feel the lack of solid research makes it hard to make a confident decision. But I’m hesitant to get injected or inject my future children with poisons that could cause serious health problems to possibly fight some diseases that were primarily an issue in the 1920’s and represent little threat today, but that is just my own opinion, and I’ve learned enough about health to feel confident in healing anything.
Read the articles and all the comments and links therein, and see what you feel to be the right decision for you.

The End Of Control: Waking Up From Life’s Illusions

jarome | Uncategorized, deep thoughts, society | Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

For most of my life, like most people, I’ve gone to great lengths to control my things and make sure everything turned out the way I wanted.

Things never really turned out the way I wanted though at all, and I realized that my desire for control over life was exactly why I wasn’t receiving all the benefits I deserved!

I decided to start doing something totally different: Let a higher power have control, recognize and trust my instincts, and just accept things that come into my path. And amazing things started to happen! Amazing people and opportunities I never could have imagined started coming into my life, and they still are. My life is taking a very different path, and I’m heading towards fantastic things and a new balance and happiness that never would have been possible without relinquishing control, and waking up from the illusion of needing to be in control of everything in my life.

So you want to try it? I read a great blog post that will help you with this if you feel your ready to make some big changes in your life to have the amazing things that elude most people.

Zen Habits: “How to Give Yourself to Whatever the Moment Brings, and Forget Stress”

Here’s another great post about changing your life:
Derek Sivers: “Doing The Opposite Of Everyone Is Valuable”

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