Isolation as a mother in this country is a very big and real issue. It is such a blessing to stay home with the babies of our world but what a lot of work it is and sometimes just trying to make a meal is a real feat. I can see why there is post partum depression here in the U.S. and wonder if this issue is as great in other countries where the mother and parents are supported by the whole family especially the female members. And I also wonder as those countries become more industrialized and more big city oriented if post partum depression increases. This is the scoop, there is no real community set up in the U.S. for stay at home mom's unless you live in the same city or area as your family. And even then, depending on the way the supporting family members live life, it may not be that supportive. There is very little time for community oriented activities without a time limit. Even if you can meet up with some friends, many times there is a time limit because they work 40-60 hours a week and they work hard so their time is really precious. Our society is just busy.

This contrasts drastically with the Tanzanian culture of you have time to talk to anyone even if you will be late for work. And you can get off of work for funerals, weddings and many other happenings without getting fired if you stay beyond your expected time off. I really like the idea of having time for people and miss that kind of thinking.

There must be a middle ground between these two cultures. I know that in Japan, it is way worse in terms of time especially for the father in the family. I hope one day that we can work but not work ourselves to death. I hope that we can actually have time to volunteer to help others that may need our help. I hope that we can have time to help ourselves in a more person to person community building type of way in the near future. This means not worrying that we only have an hour to spend with a friend and if we go over the time then our whole world is off kilter.

Jamila is 3 months old.......
And she has been having lots of adventures in her life. I have been behind the last 3 weeks in posting because I became so tired I started going to bed early around 8 or 9 and I usually post after that time when Jamila is sound asleep. This is one of the first times I have had time to post some pictures.

One of our weekly family outings to the beach. We go in the late afternoon early evening when it is not as hot. She was bearing the hat mom put on her.
Dominic and Jamila in the warm Gulf of Mexico. It is like bath water and the color is gorgeous.



Sometimes Jamila is not so sure she likes her carseat but eventually she can sit in it for an hour without too much fuss.


Our self portrait while at home in the nice cool apartment.
Our sleeping angel. She looks like she is meditating. This is the look she gets in her carseat when she is not wanting to be in the carseat but is tired enough she can fall asleep.
Mom taking pictures of me and that flash always makes me surprised.
This is Jamila's front carrier which she loves to be in when you are walking. She usually falls asleep in the evenings when nothing else works.
Our friends Martin and Carmel visiting us.

















Some action shots of Jamila in motion. I can never quite get the shot I want but these are fun.