books of inspiration and peace when it comes to childbirth

I have been doing some reading lately. If you are pregnant or interested in childbirth, I would highly recommend these. Now I am not downing the What to Expect When You are Expecting books but I feel those are limited and only breed the mentality that all women experience pregnancy the same. Lets face it, we are all different and there has not been one birth replicated by another.

"As a Birth-Warrior
What do you look like?
What sounds do you make?
What's your battle cry?
How do you show your fearless, fierce nature?
Find the place within yourself where this courage lies."
- Pam England

3rd trimester...what?!

You know what they say...time flies. Why do we say that anyway? I thought I would update the last several weeks of belly shots. We have been keeping busy with traveling, finishing school, and all the other day to day rhythms. I have come to accept that I tend to process things slowly and typically after something has occurred. It is hard to keep up with this growing belly! Some days I wake up and think...oh my gosh did I grow overnight? It is an incredible gift to be chosen to carry this lil' boy. I feel him moving daily and he is already surprising me with his somersaults and kicks. Every once in awhile I will feel a hard body part protruding from my belly and I attempt to communicate with him by pushing back or following this unknown body part around until it disappears. I am already enjoying getting to know him, even if I have never seen his face! Your family awaits you with joyful anticipation lil' Leet. Even your furry sister, Durango, is excited to give you kisses!!

23 weeks

24 weeks

26 weeks

27 weeks

28 weeks

Traditions of Pecan Pie

Tradition. A custom passed from generation to generation. I married into this one and can't wait to pass it along to the Leets that have yet to experience the world. I remember the first time I experienced this tradition. I was dating James at the time and we were having a birthday dinner for Sally (James' mom) at Brian and Angela's house (brother and sister-in-law). It came time to sing happy birthday with a cake, and before I knew it there were tears and laughter and I wasn't sure what was going on. I had heard about this tradition and it wasn't until I saw the look on both the grandparents to be faces, that I realized what was going on. The PECAN PIE...the first announcement that a little one is on the way. This is a tradition that was passed through the Craig family, Sally's mom. The day we announced our little bean was around Christmas time. Now I have to let you in on a little secret. The Leet family, they are witty and intuitive. One little touch of the belly or refusal of a glass of wine and you become suspect. So with that said, we had to be sneaky and creative. We were in Portland for the weekend and celebrating the holiday season with going to the Gospel Choir Christmas production. The family had planned to go to dinner beforehand and this is where our plotting began. We thought if we had the waiter bring out the dessert, than no could suspect. So earlier in the day we brought the pie in to the restaurant and gave special instructions to our waitress. We barely made it through dinner because of our bursting excitement. I was even poured some wine and had to sneakily keep switching glasses with James who took one for the team and sipped both glasses to make our story legit! Dessert time came, which everyone was expecting tiramisu. As the pie came, disappointed looks (because no tiramisu) quickly changed to puzzled looks (which my brother in law looked at his wife thinking, uh are we pregnant?), and finally the gazes turned to the couple at the end of the table. With grins from ear to ear we could not resist but to announce that there was a bun in the oven. It was a moment that brings me to tears even now as I type. The joy of celebrating new life was expressed with hugs and kisses and of course pecan pie. The rest of the night we thanked God through the beats and praises of gospel music. I love tradition.