My Awesome 3 Year Old

Do I really have a 3 year old? Like, I can meet someone on the street and say, "Yes, I have a child, I'm the mother of a 3 year old." That makes me feel old, yet wildly fabulous at the same time. Isaac James is 3 today!

I have to take this day to brag about my beautiful boy. He's just one of the sweetest, smartest, cutest little kids that I've ever met. (And his mother is a bit biased)

Isaac has been reading these books for weeks now. READING. I know it's mostly memorization, but that's how I started reading, except I was like 4 or 5. Big props to my dear Fiona, homeschooling super Mom of FIVE children, who recommended I get this set of Bob books at Costco. I can now also highly recommend them. Isaac LOVES them. Here he is reading 2 of the books.

I must also brag about his writing. Here are some examples. I wrote the letters in black marker and then he wrote his version underneath those. I think they're pretty darn good!

And THEN of course there's the issue of his unbearable cuteness. I mean really. Would you just look at this face? I can't get enough. I know this kid needs to start sleeping in his own bed soon, but as much as I love waking up to my husband's face, I'm not willing to give up waking up next to this little kissable face! One day he'll be a teenager and probably won't dare sleep in my bed, or be as stinkin cute, and maybe he won't even let me kiss him, so I'm soaking it all up while I got it.

Happy Birthday Isaac James!

Why We Choose NOT To Take The Shot!

If there's anything I'm as passionate about as natural birthing/non-circing/lactation, it's definitely vaccines. It's sometimes met with more resistance than my views on homebirthing. Because ya know, my kid will DIE of some horrible disease because of my negligence in not getting him vaccinated...get DYFS on the phone...

Let's just start with Exhibit #1: (Click on it to make it larger)

I have been asked why I am so concerned about vaccines effecting my child when I received all the same vaccines as a child and I'm fine. This is not the case. As you can see, in 1983 (the year I was born) there were 10 mandatory injections. Now there are 35+.  While I have objections to vaccinating at all, if I were forced to vaccinate my son and it was a shot or two a year (though even that thought makes me cringe), that sounds a whole lot better to me than 4-6 shots at a time totalling more than 35 shots over the course of his childhood...gag!

New Jersey is the current record holder for mandating more vaccines than any other state. The following information is taking from njvaccinationchoice.org

The four new mandatory shots were added to the already crowded schedule of vaccines as a requirement to attend daycare or school in New Jersey. NJ requires more shots than any other state. The new mandates are as follows along with reasons to question their mandatory status:
1.Annual influenza shot for children 6 to 59 months


■Where are the studies comparing vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of administering annual flu shots to children as young as six months old?

■More than 90% of the flu shots given in the 2007-08 flu season contained high levels of thimerosal/mercury. [FluLaval (Glaxo-Smith Kline), Fluvirin (Novartis) and Fluzone (Sanofi Pasture) all contain 25 micrograms (mcg) of mercury per .5 ml dose. Fluarix (Glaxo-Smith Kline) contains trace amounts (less than 10 mcgs, however, mercury remains toxic even in miniscule amounts)]

■The amount of mercury in a typical pediatric dose of flu shot, which will be given each year, exceeds the safety limit established by the EPA for a 550 pound person. (EPA standard for “safe” mercury levels in the human body; point 1 (.1) microgram of mercury per 2.2 pounds of body weight.)

■The first time flu shot for anyone, including 6 month olds, is a double dose, 2 shots

■Flu shots contain egg albumin and egg protein. There is potential for anaphylactic reaction if a child has an egg allergy, which is not commonly known at 6 months of age.

■According to package inserts for various influenza vaccines, no formulation of the flu vaccine has ever been tested for 1) Carcinogenicity (ability to cause cancer), 2) Effect on reproductive capacity, 3) Safety in pregnant women and fetal harm, 4) Safety in children under 4 years of age


2.Pneumococcal (Prevnar) series shot for children aged only 2 months! to 59 months


■Is a “7-in-1” containing at least 7 viruses in one dose

■This genetically engineered vaccine has been poorly tested, is ineffective and unusually prone to adverse effects. There is also growing evidence that this shot’s effectiveness is rapidly diminishing due to changes in the ecology of pneumococcal organisms; it has been linked to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of pneumococcus.


3.Tetanus-Diptheria-Acellular Pertussis (Tdap) booster for sixth-graders


■In addition to the attenuated viruses, the vaccine includes formaldehyde and high levels of aluminum, both are known neurotoxins.

■Adverse reactions include encephalitis, convulsions, facial palsy, diabetes, and death.

■This is now a 5 dose series requiring continual boosters since NO long-term studies have ever been conducted to confirm the length of effectiveness.


4.Meningococcal vaccine for sixth-graders


■Adverse reactions include Anorexia, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, myalgia, facial palsy, and encephalomyelitis

■NJ Dept. of Health recommends the conjugate version (Menactra) which is not effective against the meningococcus strain B that comprises 55% of meningitis cases in the US
New Jersey is the first jurisdiction anywhere in the world to make flu shots and meningococcal shots compulsory.
Many in this Coalition believe it is medically and scientifically irresponsible to mandate such vaccination.


No clinical trials have EVER been done to study the collective effects of all these vaccines!


This information is chilling...and these are only 4 of the vaccines that were recently added in the last few years.
 
I know most of the uproar these days is the question of whether or not vaccines cause autism. I'm not hardcore on the idea that vaccines are solely responsible for autism and other neurological/developmental disorders. I'm more on the Jenny McCarthy bandwagon of beliefs-that we are exposed to many many toxins through the air, pesticides in our foods, toxins in our plastics that we eat and drink from, clean with, homes we live in, and a child's body and brain can only take so much...vaccines can sort of push some children's brains over the edge of what it can handle. She and her team also believe that autism is occuring so much more in boys because they naturally hold on to toxins more than girls. The estrogen in girls actually helps cleanse the system of toxins, so they are less likely to be "pushed over the edge".
 
However, it does baffle me that because a judge decided that there is no "scientific" evidence that ties autism to vaccines, we are expected to just keep vaccinating. A mother's instinct is not to be taken lightly, and when thousands of mothers (and fathers) stand up and say that their child was developing perfectly normally, and then one day not long after a vaccine the child stopped talking, making eye contact, smiling, etc..I am going to take that very seriously. Parents know their children, regardless of "scientific" evidence. You can read some of those parents stories here http://www.thinktwice.com/dpt.htm and if you search for "vaccine injury" or "vaccine reaction" on YouTube, hundreds of videos will come up...real stories of real families, of childen who were forever changed. Here is just one example, of a boy named Charlie, that broke my heart.
 

Now of course an autism diagnosis isn't the end of the world. There are 2 beautiful young men in my family who are on the spectrum and I know God has great plans for their lives, but we cannot just push aside the countless evidence that autism and vaccines are linked. Furthermore, autism is certainly not the only side effect tied to vaccines. According to package inserts developed by vaccine manufacturers, side effects of vaccines include: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDs), encephalitis (brain damage/autism), seizures, paralysis, arthritis, diabetes, asthma, multiple sclerosis, and anaphylactic shock. Other known vaccine-related side effects are attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity, arthritis, hydroencephalopy (fluid buildup on the brain), meningitis, ulcerative colitis, crohn’s disease and chronic fatigue syndrome. Some of these diseases may not surface for up to forty years. As with any medical procedure or product which inevitably involves risk, parents deserve the right to evaluate the information provided and make an informed decision for their children.

 
In case you think "What the heck does she know?!" I get it. I'm not a doctor. I'm just a mother that thinks she knows stuff. Heck, I only went to Bible college, not to a "real" college. (Ha!)  Here's some really compelling quotes from Doctors themselves who realize the gravity of what we're doing to our children. They are all from this website http://njaicv.org/The_only_safe_vaccine.pdf and if you are a parent it is long but it is a MUST to read it. So much good information.
 
My suspicion, which is shared by others in my profession, is that the nearly 10,000 SIDS deaths that occur in the United States each year are related to one or more of the vaccines that are routinely given children. The pertussis vaccine is the most likely villain, but it could also be one or more of the others." Dr.Mendelsohn, M.D.


"Crib death" was so infrequent in the pre-vaccination era that it was not even mentioned in the statistics, but it
started to climb in the 1950s with the spread of mass vaccination against diseases of childhood. Harris L. Coulter, PhD.
"Only after realising that routine immunisations were dangerous did I achieve a substantial drop in infant death rates. The worst vaccine of all is the whooping cough vaccine... it is responsible for a lot of deaths and for a lot of infants suffering irreversible brain damage. In susceptible infants, it knocks their immune systems about, leading to irreparable brain damage, or severe attacks or even deaths from diseases like pneumonia or gastro-enteritis and so on". Dr Kalokerinos, M.D.


"Every day new parents are ringing us. They all have the same tragic story. Healthy baby, child, teenager, usually a boy, given the DPT (diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus) or DT (diphtheria and tetanus), MMR or MMR booster followed by a sudden fall or slow, but steady decline into autism or other spectrums disorder." -The Hope Project (Ireland)


"There is no evidence whatsoever of the ability of vaccines to prevent any diseases. To the contrary, there
is a great wealth of evidence that they cause serious side effects. Dr. Viera Scheibner


"My data proves that the studies used to support immunisation are so flawed that it is impossible to say if immunisation provides a net benefit to anyone or to society in general. This question can only be determined
by proper studies which have never been performed. The flaw of previous studies is that there was no long term follow up and chronic toxicity was not looked at. The American Society of Microbiology has promoted my research...and thus acknowledges the need for proper studies." John B. Classen, M.D., M.B.A.


Jonas Salk, inventor of the IPV, testified before a Senate subcommittee that nearly all polio outbreaks since 1961 were caused by the oral polio vaccine.

"This..forced me to look into the question of vaccination further, and the further I looked the more shocked I
became. I found that the whole vaccine business was indeed a gigantic hoax. Most doctors are convinced that they are useful, but if you look at the proper statistics and study the instances of these diseases you will realise that this is not so . . . My final conclusion after forty years or more in this business [medicine] is that the unofficial policy of the World Health Organisation and the unofficial policy of the 'Save the Children's Fund' and ...[other vaccine promoting] organisations is one of murder and genocide. . . . I cannot see any other possible xplanation. . . . You cannot immunise sick children, malnourished children, and expect to get away with it. You'll kill far more children than would have died from natural infection." --Dr Kalokerinos MD


"I think that no person would permit anybody to get close to them with an inoculation if they would really know how they are made, what they carry, what has been lied to them about and what the real percent of danger is ofcontracting such a disease which is minimal."---Dr Eva Snead

"I've been practicing for 40 years, and in the past 10 years the children have been sicker than ever."--Dr Doris J.Rapp, paediatric allergist.
 
 
It kills me how much evidence there is that the pertussis vaccine is harmful, and yet J-Lo is all over the internet and TV with her commercials (like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkeUynJIeoo) about how SAD it is to hear a baby's cough who has pertussis and we all need to run to the Dr. to get ourselves and our babies vaccinated. What is SAD is that the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies have J-Lo and half the country convinced that your child having pertussis is going to kill them, but the vaccine won't. That is sad. When Isaac was born the Rotovirus vaccine was somewhat new and I had to vaccinate him within the first couple of months of life if I was going to at all. My pediatrician knew my stance on vaccines and that I wanted Isaac to have none, but she insisted that I be well informed. I promised her I would research everything. You know what I found out about the rotovirus? It's a stomach virus that everyone and their mother has had, multiple times over the course of their life, that produces diarrhea. The danger for an infant is that if they get this virus and get too dehydrated they can end up going into the hospital for IV fluids. So what the pedatrician is telling me is rather than watch for signs that my child has diarrhea and is dehydrated (which should be detectable by any parent that isn't in a coma) I should just vaccinate him against it and not worry about the detrimental side effects of the vaccine that are FAR worse than going to the hospital for IV fluids. What am I missing here?? Oh, that's right. The billions of dollars behind it.
 
"Vaccination is expensive and represents a cost of one billion dollars annually. It therefore benefits the industry; most notably, the multinational manufacturers. One sells the vaccines. The other then provides the arsenal of medications to respond to the numerous complications that follow. Their profits increase while our expenses go through the roof. To the point where we have simply had it up to here and are ready to accept the unacceptable, such as socialised medicine in the United States, for example."--Dr Lanctot MD That is sad.
 
The pharmaceutical companies have so much money to back them that they have no problem propaganding the whole country into believing what they want them to-the same way Monsanto convinces many people that high fructose corn syrup is healthy, (afterall it's made from corn), their pesticides aren't harmful and their genetically modified and processed foods are all natural and good for you. It will take billions upon billions of dollars to ever change Monsanto and the same goes for the pharmaceutical industry. These companies do NOT care about your children. You have to make informed decisions. There are also delayed vaccination schedules where you don't have to overload your infant with so many immunizations in such a short period of time, but can extend it over a few years.
 
My final point is one that is the most important to me. More than any of the reasons for boycotting vaccines that I have stated above, the main reason is the origin of them. Even if every vaccine was remade to not contain toxins like mercury, aluminum, aspartame or MSG (to name a few), I would be boycotting them due to the repulsive way they were created. The following is taken from the http://www.cogforlife.org/ website, and as they stated, it's just the tip of the iceberg! (They also have loads of information and resources on their website to back this information up.)
 
During the 1964 rubella epidemic some US doctors advised rubella infected pregnant women to abort their children, in fear their child might be born with birth defects. Working with the doctors, Wistar researchers (Philadelphia) collected the live fetal tissue. Ultimately, they extracted the virus from the 27th aborted baby’s kidney, labeling it RA273. (R=Rubella, A=Abortus, 27=27th abortion, 3=3rd tissue explanted)

This virus was then cultivated on a WI-38 cell line produced in their labs from the lung tissue of a 3-months gestation female baby, electively aborted in Sweden, then exported to Wistar. There would be over 70 elective abortions before perfecting the rubella vaccine. Ten years later UK scientists developed MRC-5, from the lung tissue of a male baby aborted at 14 weeks gestation. These two fetal cell lines and others are used today to cultivate weakened virus strains of several diseases to produce vaccines.

This is horrific. I had no idea that this is how vaccines were created until Isaac was an infant. I don't think many people do, especially not many Christians since almost all Christians I know vaccinate their children. There are some "ethical" vaccines now being made, that are not made with fetal cells. You would have to request the specific brand from your doctor. They can be found on this list. (Though my personal feeling is that there is no such thing as an ethical vaccine considering all the harm they do.) http://cogforlife.org/vaccineListOrigFormat.pdf If you are a Christian parent, you really need to take a long hard look at the facts. There are religious exemptions for schools, so you don't have to feel that your child cannot attend school if they are not vaccinated.

Even if you were to take the Christian or pro-life aspect out of it, how could anyone think that you are going to take human cells from a female and male baby, inject them into millions of other humans (multiple times), and there aren't going to be repercussions?? It seems so absurd to me. We're gradually changing the genetic make-up of our race, and with that will come genetic disease epidemics, which I think we are already seeing.

I think if we can just learn to trust our instincts more and not so much of what medical professionals tell us (though they of course have the best of intentions), we would be much better off. When I was a few months pregnant with Isaac, before I had fully decided to go the midwifery/homebirth route, I was seeing an OB for my routine prenatal checkups. Since it was wintertime the doctor brought up the flu shot, insisting that I needed to get one. Immediately a red flag went up and I thought, what?! I've been driving myself crazy reviewing every little thing I put in my body to make sure it wouldn't be something that would harm my baby, but you now want me to get injected with God knows what!? I pushed it off for another month and then ended up switching to a midwife, so thankfully the idea never came up again. It kind of boggles my mind that thousands (millions?) of mothers are getting vaccines while pregnant and this is viewed as normal. While their child's DNA is being created in their womb, they are being injected with aborted fetal DNA as well as toxins...

Now, I'm not naive. I know that just because my child isn't vaccinated doesn't mean he won't have autism, ADHD, or a myriad of other disorders that children can have. I also know that there is the slightest chance that he will contract tetanus or measles, but I have enough faith that medical professionals will know how to treat him should that occur. More importantly, I have enough faith in God to know that my child is in His hands, and His love and protection for my son far outweigh my own, and any kind of false protection that a vaccine can provide. There's SO much info out there on this. Do your research. Be informed. Carry on. :)

Why I LOVE My Boy!

• You are the sweetest little face that anyone can wake up to, with a big "Hi Mama!" and a hug and kiss. You put a smile on this supergrumpyinthemorninghateswakingup Mama's face every morning.
• Your giggles and belly laughs bring the whole room to life. They will never get old!
• Your curiosity and excitement over life's simplest things remind me of the joy in the little things!
• You are the greatest motivation for me to be the most loving, kind, giving, merciful, God-loving woman I can be.  You make me want to be a great mother and a great example of who God created us to be. 

I love you more than words can say! Happy birthday #2!

Why Boys Should Remain "Intact"

Warning: I will use the words penis, foreskin and genitals in this blog post. If you are uncomfortable with that, feel free to go watch "Leave It To Beaver" and have a nice day :)


Do you know what a circumcision is? Like, do you REALLY know? Up until I was pregnant and faced with the decision of "to cut or not to cut", I was under the impression that circumcision was a very simple procedure where a teeny tiny piece of skin was cut off from a newborn boy's penis. I assumed that it was only slightly painful and that it was really no big deal, just a quick clip and snip. Well boy (no pun intended) was I WRONG!

I am not going to post videos here, but if you Google around or search on YouTube you will come across videos of the procedure. I believe that if every mother in America would watch one of those videos prior to their son's birth, the circumcision rate would be down to 5%, assuming of course that 5% of women are viably insane. I got through about 30 seconds of a video before the blood curdling screams brought me to tears and I left the room. I'm not going to go into too great of detail, but the first step of circumcision is strapping a soft, squishy newborn peanut who just spent nearly 10 months in a warm, velvety cocoon near his mother's heart, went through a very long, stressful transition to this world (labor)and strapping him down spread eagle to a cold, hard plastic gurney, so that he cannot move his arms or legs. Every parent knows that when a fresh-out-of-the-oven baby pops out from being in the fetal position for so long, they want to stay that way. That's why we swaddle them into little burritos, because they don't like to have their arms and legs extended right away. So strapping a fresh little bundle to a plastic board spread eagle sounds like torture to me. If I saw my son on one of those, that alone would be enough to make me punch the doctor and run away screaming with my son, and that's the best part of the whole procedure.

The foreskin is attached to the glans the way a fingernail is attached to a nail bed. That separation must occur before the actual cutting of the foreskin begins. HELLO?! Can we say PAIN?! I don't even need to describe how they do that. You can figure that one out. The foreskin is then clamped lengthwise to crush the blood vessels and minimize bleeding. Three clamps are left on for a moment to make sure this occurs. The middle clamp is then removed and scissors are used along the resulting "crush line", splitting the foreskin. A metal or plastic bell is placed over the glans to protect them from the actual removal of the foreskin, the foreskin is pulled over the bell, a clamp goes around it and is tightened to stop all blood flow to it and then it is cut off in a circular motion around the bell with a scalpel or scissors. The clamp is left in place for at least 5 minutes to allow the blood to clot along the cut line. Then the clamp and bell are removed and the penis is wrapped in plenty of Vaseline and gauze to prevent it from sticking to the diaper and/or getting urine and feces in the wound.

Does this sound absolutely barbaric to anybody else?! Well, surely there must at least be anesthetics used for this procedure, right? In the past they believed that infants didn't feel pain, so there was none, but the GENIUSES of the medical world eventually figured out that this is not true and now try to use some type of anesthetic. Most doctors will tell you that your baby will be numb and won't really feel it. This is not really the case. In the research I've done on it, it seems there are 3 options for the pain. One is a topical cream (EMLA) put on about an hour before the procedure to help numb the penis. This method is not very effective at all. We're talking surgery here. Surgery that is akin to ripping off your fingernail. A topical cream isn't gonna do diddly. The other 2 options are an injection of a local anesthetic, either in the foreskin or in the base of the penis to block the major nerve. However, because a 2 day old infant is so tiny, they cannot use an amount that is really going to be effective, for obvious reasons, and the injection itself is painful. To any men reading, would you like a needle stuck in your penis? I didn't think so. Well, your son doesn't either. No pain control method is 100 percent effective. Your baby will suffer during and after the procedure. But it's okay, because they'll just give him Tylenol...don't get me started on that one.

I remember watching on Oprah years ago about the atrocity that goes on in Africa and the Middle and Far East with female circumcision. The outpouring of anger and disgust at this practice was (is) enormous. Yet, in America we are doing the same thing to our boys and it is just routine. What we actually call female circumcision is genital mutilation. Yet we don't call it this for boys. The definition of mutilate:

–verb (used with object),-lat·ed, -lat·ing.
1.to injure, disfigure, or make imperfect by removing or irreparably damaging parts.
2.to deprive (a person or animal) of a limb or other essential part.

Circumcision should be called mutilation, because that is what it is. We take a perfect, whole, complete baby boy (the way God intended him to be), and remove an essential part of his body. Why it is essential? Well, I'm glad you asked.

When a newborn boy's penis is mutilated it seems like such a small piece of skin. But everything on a newborn is small, that's why we marvel at their tiny toes, tiny nose, tiny ears. When that penis is fully matured a foreskin makes up 10-14 square inches of skin! Roughly the size of an index card. It makes up 50% or more of the skin system of the penis. Not only that, but it is filled with between 10,000 and 20,000 nerve endings! The glans, which were intended to be an internal organ, are now external, and over many years as it is "exposed to the elements" the glans gradually becomes toughened and callused and a lot of the sensitivity that is supposed to be there is lost. Now, if you are a circumcised male, how would you know that?! You wouldn't, because it's gone. There's a lot more info in this area, but I'll keep it PG.

So, why on earth are American parents told this is just a routine procedure with great benefits? Of course we know that for some it is done for religious purposes, but I'm not going into that now. I'm talking medical reasons, which is the reason the majority of parents decide to circumcise. There have been lots of studies done in the past of the decreased risks of foreskin infection, UTI's, HIV, even cancer, but in recent years it has been shown that these studies were fatally flawed, yet no one passed that knowledge on to the public.

I think there is some subconscious fear among American Moms that either they or their son is going to fail to wash him properly, he is going to get some crazy foreskin infection and have to have his penis chopped off. This does not happen. The foreskin needs no more washing than warm water. Every boy figures out how to wash it just like every little girl figures out how to wash herself. It is extremely rare for infection to occur, and in the unlikely event that it does, we are medically advanced enough to handle such infections these days. It's like saying that giving double mastectomies to every girl will 100% ensure that she will not get breast cancer, so we should do that to every newborn girl. That sounds ridiculous, but in effect that is what is going on. 82% of the world's men are intact. If there were such problems with infections with all the billions (literally) of men worldwide who aren't circumcised, don't you think we would know about it?

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued statements saying that "the data on potential benefits were insufficient to recommend the practice of neonatal non-therapeutic circumcision." This has led to many insurance companies no longer paying for circumcisions because it is seen as an "elective" or "cosmetic" surgery. So, why are we still doing this?

Now that we've see that this is optional surgery, has no real benefits and does much more harm than good to a man's body and sexual relations, I'm going to get to what bothers me the most about it. If someone were to take your daughter, strap her down and mutilate her genitals, the person who did it and all who stood around and watched would be seen as psychotic criminals and be locked away. The public would wish harm and death on them and they would forever be segregated from society. Yet, U.S. parents willingly sign a paper and hand their son off to be mutilated. There is something terribly wrong with this picture. The child is the patient. Neither the doctor nor the parent has the right to remove a perfectly working and essential body part from the patient without their consent. Under international law, a child "has the right to security of the person, freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, and the right to special protection during his minority. The child has a right to be consulted when decisions are made regarding his welfare." It just is so unethical and wrong. I don't get it. I am sad for all the circumcised men that I know who are missing 50% of their manhood, for the trauma they endured and the rights to their own bodies that were taken away. Most men in the U.S. are circumcised but because they do not realize exactly what it is they have lost, and the only other option they have is to express anger at their parents for making that decision, they ignore this issue.

Thankfully, the major trend of circumcising male newborn boys is on the decline. It is down from 80-85% in the 80's to around 60% and hopefully will continue to fall. Mothers should really ask themselves "What would my son want?" I don't believe there is any intact man on this planet who would wish that he was mutilated, but there are many activist groups of men who are extremely angry that they were not left intact and are trying to spread the word.

Hey, if your son is circumcised, it's all good. There's nothing you can do about it now so there's no use fretting over it. But at least do what you can to spread the word that male genital mutilation is not beneficial, it is harmful.

Bottom line: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

P.S. Isaac, if one day you read this (which I hope you will), I expect a large bouquet of flowers for this one ;)

Why We Rear-Face

To be perfectly honest, I am amazed that parents can know about this information and still choose to not rear-face as long as possible. If someone tells you that something could make the difference between life and death for your child, why wouldn't you do it? Aren't we smart enough to get past the "It won't happen to me" mentality? Oh well. This video explains why we choose to do so.

Why I Breastfeed

Yes, the topic everyone hates to talk about, because God forbid you should insult someone who didn't breastfeed. Any woman who is passionate about breastfeeding knows whether a woman breastfeeds or not these days has very little to do with the Mother, but with the support and resources she has during those first hellish (and blissful) days of her little one's life. Therefore there is no shame or blame needed for any Mother who wanted to breastfeed and couldn't, the blame lies on our society and it's lack of good breastfeeding resources and support.

If I wasn't so darn stubborn I surely would have stopped when Isaac was 3 days old, hadn't stopped screaming practically since birth, I had no milk yet, and on his first doctor visit I was told he had lost a pound and I was "starving" him. I was handed a can of formula and told to supplement, but something in me told me to keep trying. It was not easy. I think harder for me then labor was, but it did eventually get easier, and it has been a truly rewarding experience. Isaac not only survived his "starvation", but thrived, and the greatest reward of all, for both him and I is that he has hardly had more sickness than a runny nose and cough for almost 2 years, and hasn't had to be on antibiotics as of yet. Granted, if he was in daycare, I'm sure it would be a different story, so I count my blessings.

READ THESE 2 PAGES. Best pieces I've read on this issue thus far. Thank you to those who shared them with me!

http://thefeministbreeder.com/when-it-comes-to-breastfeeding-we-cant-handle-the-truth-clean-version/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-bartick/ipeaceful-revolutioni-mot_b_536659.html

Why I Had A Homebirth

Preface: This post is the 1st in a series of "Why" posts. I don't feel I need to "defend" choices I make in my life, however, I know some of you wonder why, and usually I'm not articulate enough in person to tell you my reasoning when asked for it.

The link I'm about to share with you is pretty much everything I would ever say about why I had a homebirth (besides what I'm about to say ;). When I was pregnant and got asked the question "Which hospital are you giving birth at?" my stomach would turn to knots as I knew the blank stare of disbelief was about to occur-upon my utterance of "I'm having a homebirth." Following the blank stare would be "WHY?!" No, I didn't do it to be "different", to be "stubborn", or to be "brave." I did it simply because the most important thing to me during birth is my life and that of my child. "Isn't the safest place to birth a baby in a hospital?" No, it is not. Most of the "emergencies" that occur in a hospital were brought on by the interventions/inductions that were never truly needed in the first place. Pregnancy and labor is not a sickness or medical emergency that needs doctors and hospitals and medicines. It is a natural bodily function, as natural as going #2. Yes, really. While there is always exceptions to every case, the vast majority of women can give birth perfectly fine on their own (or with the assistance of a midwife).

I certainly don't feel that I am superior to any other woman on the planet who has given birth in any way she has chosen to do so, so please don't take any of this as an attack of any sort. Every mother cares about her baby and does the best she can with the knowledge she has at the time. I would know ZERO about everything you're about to read if my dear husband hadn't shared with me what someone had shared with him. So I may talk about birth a lot, but that's because my life was changed with the information and hopefully someone else's will be (sorta like the gospel, huh?) I was already more than halfway through my pregnancy, knew hardly anything about what lied ahead for me in the hospital and thought my dear husband was OUT OF HIS MIND if he thought I was going to give birth without an epidural. Well our journey of knowledge and the truth about birth in America began, and we never looked back.

The link is a tad long, but not unbearable, and well worth it in my opinion. :)

http://bringbirthhome.com/home-birth-safety/home-birth-brave-has-nothing-to-do-with-it/

Spring Has Sprung!

A flower knows when it is their time to bloom. Not even snow can stop them.

Snow Days

Bread in a Pot! Who woulda thought!?

I've tried making homemade bread a few times over the past couple of weeks, and they tasted good, but I wanted GOOD. REALLY GOOD. When it comes to bread, good usually has to do with 2 things: The crispness of the crust and the texture of the inside. So I searched for a good crusty bread recipe and found http://www.serenejourney.com/2009/03/quite-possibly-the-best-homemade-crusty-bread-ever/ . It definitely lives up to it's name. It also quite possibly could be the best bread I've ever tasted. Period. At least fresh out of the oven, which can make all the difference. It's an absolute miracle that I've only had one slice.

When I told my Mom how excited I was about this bread she informed me that her grandfather used to make bread in coffee cans and such. For some reason this wealth of knowledge about pot and can bread-making in my Italian family was not passed on to me! Shame! Oh well, now I know.

I would have liked it to puff up a little more, but I think I should have baked it for 5 more minutes. I was too afraid that the bottom of the bread was burning so I took it out.



You can see the thick crust and the chewy, soft middle..mmm. Yes, these things excite me. More than you will ever know.



Who's coming over for some? This one is not leaving the house.

Orange-Lime "Cinnamon" Rolls

There are VERY few things I like about wintertime in NJ besides the first snowfall, Christmas, and a hot cup of tea with a dear friend. But one thing I do enjoy is wintertime baking! I love waking up to a cold house, turning on the oven to warm up the kitchen and whipping up something yummy. I definitely don't get to do it everyday, so when I do, it's lovely!

Found this recipe here: http://www.amandascookin.com/search/label/breakfast (2nd recipe down) and decided to try it out this morning. So glad I did! It's AMAZING! They're not actually "cinnamon" rolls, since there is no cinnamon, and I made them Orange-Lime instead of Orange by just adding lime zest and juice to the filling/frosting.

I certainly wouldn't recommend eating these for breakfast every day, but they would be awesome for a special occasion or Christmas morning or something. If you're looking for something warm and yummy to bake this winter, try these!

Before Baking


After Baking


After Icing


YUM!

Dear Isaac

Oh Isaac. Sweet Isaac. I love you. And I know that you love me. But I think that your love for me is rivaled by your love for these things known simply as "cookies". Goya Maria cookies to be exact.

In the world of cookies, they're really not half-bad for you. They even have a little protein in them! Perhaps you somehow know this and that is why you love them so. You stand by the drawer where they make their home, contort your face and point your finger in a way that can only mean one thing: "I want cookies!"

If you've eaten some decent food that day, you'll usually get 1...or 2...or 3. When that cookie is in your hand, birds are singing, flowers bloom, and all is right with the world. However, if you approach that drawer, signal for a cookie, and the answer is "No", WATCH OUT WORLD! You will scream until the cows come home, throw yourself on the floor 83473847293847 times in a row and promptly throw any non-cookie food offered to you straight to the floor! The first time it was entertaining. I guess you could even call it "cute", but now, not so much. You'll have to do something about that, ok?

Right now you're sleeping peacefully, probably dreaming of "Maria."

Until tomorrow, sweet dreams and all my love my little cookie face!

-Your jealousofcookies Mama-

Gotta love it

And he officially calls me MAMAAAAAAA!!!!! Woohoo!!! (After months of calling Diego Da Da, it's time! hehe)

Happy Spring!

Want to know the effect the economic crisis is having on a working mom who sells foreclosed homes?!!? I am busy out of my mind! And it is only going to get crazier as the eviction moratorium instated by the government was lifted as of April 1, and we start taking possession of all those homes too, so I’m holding on for the ride! I’m thankful that business is good for us and that I have a job to go to, and a pretty fun one at that! God is good!

We’ll know in the next 3 months or so if Wells Fargo will decide to keep us on, but it’s looking very good right now, so we’re hopeful. If you’re interested in buying a house, let me know towards the end of April, when we should hopefully have quite a selection!

I’m taking a vacation this week before the craziness ensues, and I am BEYOND excited about it! I just want to do some crazy spring cleaning, plant a garden and flowers with my momma, spend time with my 2 favorite boys and take afternoon naps with the littler of the 2. (Or both! If the bigger one happens to be home!) ;) I'm bummed that the weather isn't supposed to be great, but we'll make the best of it.

Speaking of little boys, ours is not so little! I feel like he’s gonna turn 5 tomorrow…I don’t know where the time goes! His face is changing (to me) and he looks older and more boy-like, yet he’s still my beautiful baby.

He’s up to 6 teeth (Ahh!) He’s having a very hard time with these last 2….major grumpiness, screaming fits, not sleeping, running a fever, runny nose. I was convinced he had his first ear infection, but the doc was quick to give him a clean bill of health and told us to get some Motrin, as if we hadn’t already tried everything under the sun. Now we just wait it out and hope that he stops growing teeth for a little while!!

He can now pull himself up onto things and walk along anything that he’s holding onto. His favorite is to sit on the couch and pull himself up to look out the window over the back of it. And of course the big accomplishment of the week, he's CRAWLING! Woo hoo!

Here's a short video of him crawling~

And holding on to walk~

He’s still saying Da-Da, and I think he’s starting to get WHO he’s talking about when he says it. He’s also making the B, G, V, and sometimes Z sound…no M yet, but I’m workin on it! ;)
We’re desperate for spring and summer around here, and can’t wait to get out in the yard to play and plant a garden, and down to the beach for a stroll! I don’t really have a green thumb, but my mom sure does, so with her help, hopefully we’ll grow some nice organic veggies (and maybe strawberries?) this year. I feel like an old lady for wanting to plant a garden, but oh well, we always buy organic veggies, so we might as well save some cash!

Diego decided to give him the camera and see what would happen, so here is Isaac's handywork with the camera, which involves mostly chewing on it! Enjoy!

TGIF

It's been a crazy busy month!! So busy infact, that my bosslady let me leave 2 hours early today because she said I "deserve" it for all the work I did this month....isn't that lovely?! I got to get home in time for Diego to not have to drop off the babe to his mom's house before going to work for the evening. Also lovely! AND I was home early enough to have a baby in a good mood who I took to Cottontails to get him some adorable clothes and sandals for this upcoming summer, all at wonderful prices. Lovely yet again!

Time is flying...I'm already thinking about Isaac's first birthday party! It's gonna be here before I know it!

God is being good to us, as always.

I made some homemade baba ghanoush last night. Sooooooo delicious! I suggest trying it. It's healthy, and it's super-expensive in Wegman's so it's also more economical to make your own.

Here's a recipe:

1 eggplant
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil



DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
Place eggplant on baking sheet, and make holes in the skin with a fork. Roast it for 30 to 40 minutes, turning occasionally, or until soft. Remove from oven, and place into a large bowl of cold water. Remove from water, and peel skin off.
Place eggplant, lemon juice, tahini, sesame seeds, and garlic in an electric blender, and puree. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer eggplant mixture to a medium size mixing bowl, and slowly mix in olive oil. Refrigerate for 3 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

This makes me happy :)

6 MONTHS!!

This beautiful little boy turned 6 months old today! I can't believe it! We had a little "Fudgy the Whale" cake on Sunday. The most Isaac got out of it was sticking his arm to it, but the rest of us enjoyed it. :)

As I reflect back on the last 6 months, I think that I have not cried more tears in my entire life. Tears of happiness, sadness, frustration, anger, joy, and utter disbelief that God would entrust Diego and I with such an amazing blessing!

I have never been so exhausted in my life to the point of delirium as I have been at times, and never so overwhelmed by life itself, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

I have "pumped" in 3 different offices, countless bathrooms, Madison Square Garden, Living Waters Theatre, Cracker Barrel, and even while driving down the Parkway, in order to try to give my son the best nutrition possible, and will continue to do so.

I have learned that sometimes you just have to go on your mama's instincts and not listen to anybody else. No one knows their own baby like a mama.

Daddy took this picture of baby boy today while it snowed on Isaac's half birthday! What a sight he is!


Happy Half-Birthday to my beautiful boy!

Dah Dah Daahhh

We have lots of Dah Dahs and Bah Bahs these days............I'm so in love.

God, avocados, and MLK Jr.!

Our God is truly amazing and really, really, really does answer prayers. He is a GOOD God. I have been praying for a man that was an old boss of mine, who I haven't seen in a year in a half. He has been on my heart and I have prayed for him often. I was thinking last week how I miss working night shift with him and laughing about his tales of his 5 children and listening to him yell at people. He was sort of a grandfather-ish figure for me. We lost touch and though I have his number, it's not appropriate to call. So for some reason he popped in my head on my way to work last week ("some reason" being God), and I prayed for him that God would keep him well and show him His love. And I said "God, if I could somehow run into him to say Hi, it would bring such joy to my heart. I know there are millions of people in NJ, but if you want, you can make it happen."





So around noon on Friday my boss asks me where I want to go to lunch, and as per my usual, I was quick to reply "I have no idea, wherever you want." She said, "I think I want to go to a diner, but not the one here (by my new office), I want to go to the one in Warren (by our old office)." So off we went, to a diner I haven't been to in a year, that either him nor I live anywhere near, and guess who walks by me in my booth?!





Yes, our God is awesome. I don't believe in coincidences, only God-incidences. We got to chat for a couple minutes and I got to tell him about married life and Isaac and such (who he didn't even know existed!) It was lovely. Thank you Jesus!








In the land of Isaac, not too much is going on...his tooth is continuing to come in, enough that he has bitten his lip and erupted in tears 3 times. And I think the other bottom tooth is right behind it, since he cannot go 5 minutes the past 2 days without something in his mouth, and he's not very happy about it...he's pretty cranky. But we're having a blast nonetheless. We tried the avocado, but he definitely wasn't a fan. Once he's introduced to bananas, I'll try it again mixed with bananas. So we tried peas instead and he seemed to like them!





Diego got to use up the leftover avocado to make a Brazilian favorite of his-mashed avocado and sugar!

I tried a bite, but can't say that I really enjoyed it. (Sorry babe!) However, another way to do it is to make it into a smoothie of sugar and milk, and I think that might be on my list of things to try soon!

And last but certainly not least, Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!! I always always always have loved his "I Have a Dream" speech, and greatly admire him in general, so I thought I'd post his speech for your reading pleasure.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”2
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

:)

Heavy Heart

My heart is aching today for Janet and her family.

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090112/NEWS/901120358

Her sister Carolyn's 2 children were one of the families that I nannied for a few years ago. "Auntie J" was very dear to their hearts. She came over to visit them often, and they adored her. She was also the "mother" figure in Arianna's life, the daughter of the third sister who died 10 years ago of melanoma. Deanna found out she had cancer when she was pregnant, and died a year after Arianna was born. Janet stepped in and tried to be as close as possible to her to support her as she grew.

My heart just breaks for this family. For the parents who have lost 2 children in 10 years, for Carolyn, who is now the only child left of the 3 daughters, and for Arianna who has lost not only her mother, but her "second" mom. They are all followers of Christ, and their parents are exceptional and strong people, but I can't imagine the pain they must feel losing a second daughter 10 years and 1 day after the first.

Please join me in prayer for this family as they go through this difficult transition.

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."~John 11:25-26

Sweet Potatoes

YUM!

Isaac had his first real meal yesterday, which consisted of Sweet Potatoes! He's been grasping for his life trying to grab the food we've been eating lately, and he just hasn't been very satisfied, so we thought we'd try giving him some solids and see how it went. We skipped the rice cereal all together, as it basically has no nutritious value whatsoever (and can be constipating :X), and went straight for the good stuff! He LOVED it! The first video got cut off after his first bite, and the second video is towards the end where he was dying for more! His hands were all over it, so it got everywhere, but today he was much better, he just sat and opened wide! Towards the end of this week, or on the weekend, we're gonna try some avocado, which are awesome for his tummy and his little growing brain, and maybe add in a little oatmeal cereal next week. He's growing up so fast!!

AND, if that wasn't exciting enough, Isaac must have loved eating real food and is looking forward to more, because this morning he awoke with his first little bottom tooth popping through his gums!!! I can't get a picture of it yet since it's just the tip poking out and for some reason he doesn't like me putting the camera in his mouth...I dunno why......but I'm hoping it will grow in quick!

Videos, Isaac, and Blogging, Oh My!

I think Isaac has the most adorable laugh on the face of the planet (I'm sure every parent thinks likewise of their kids). Sometimes I'm literally moved to tears by the adorableness (is that a word?!) and sweet sound of it. This video wasn't exactly one of those moments, but I thought it was pretty darn cute! The laughs were more intense before the camera started rolling, but as in true Isaac fashion, as soon as the camera is turned on, he likes to stop entertaining us. ;)



Isaac finally got his feet to his mouth, after lots of practice. He seemed to enjoy it!

Isaac in his "Around-We-Go". He's been stumbling around in it for a couple weeks, but a couple of days ago, he finally "got it". Notice how Diego has to hide every time Isaac seems him, because he stops in his tracks.

Living My Dash

I heard about the "Dash" poem on 99.1 today. It's about when you die, and your tombstone is imprinted with your birth date and the date of your death, with a dash in the middle. But the most important part isn't your "birth" day or your "death" day, the most important part is the dash in the middle, that's where everything that means anything happens! Here's the poem:

The Dash

copyright 1996 Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak

at the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

from the beginning...to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth

and spoke of the following date with tears,

but he said what mattered most of all

was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time

that she spent alive on earth...

and now only those who loved her

know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;

the cars....the house...the cash.

What matters is how we live and love

and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard...

are there things you'd like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

that can still be rearranged

If we could just slow down enough

to consider what's true and real,

and always try to understand

the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,

and show appreciation more

and love the people in our lives

like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,

and more often wear a smile...

remembering that this special dash

might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read

with your life's actions to rehash...

would you be proud of the things they

say about how you spend your dash?

This poem reminds me of the quote that says,

"Only one life, 'twill soon be passed. Only what’s done for Christ will last."

That quote is so short, but pretty much wraps up everything it means to live as a believer.

Makes me really think about the choices I make throughout my day, and if they really make a difference...do they really make a difference for Christ or am I just doing whatever I need to do to get through the day....I'm sorry to say, it's usually the latter.

We're only here for such a short time....who knows if I will be here tomorrow. I need to make today count. I think of my stepfather that died suddenly at 38. THIRTY EIGHT!! That's me in 13 years!

I'm sure he never thought he would die that young...and we have no idea how long we will be on this earth.

James 4:14 (New King James Version)
"whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

So, all this to say, live your dash! Make it count!!

In other news, Isaac was screaming at me tonight because he wanted to pull out the bottom rack of the dishwasher and though he tried with all his 5-month-old might, suprisingly enough, he just couldn't do it!

The attempt.

Aaaah the frustration!
Booo hooo!

"I think I'll just look at Mom and blow bubbles instead...."

"Or just let her take pictures of me!"

:o) Good Night!

It bit me...

Yes, the blog bug bit me. For some reason I am compelled to share with the world my random thoughts throughout my day, as boring as they might be to anyone who reads this.

If nothing else, perhaps this will still be around when I'm gone for my kids to read...I can't imagine the internet is going anywhere, right? January is a good time to start this type of thing, ya know? New year, new beginnings, new blog....

Right now I'm watching my dear husband eat leftover shrimp and spaghetti after just getting home from work. He thinks I'm watching TV with him while surfing the internet, but he will soon find out that's not the case ;)

Sweet baby Isaac is in dreamland, where I'm praying he will stay until about 7am tomorrow...chances are, it ain't happenin.

I guess since it's New Year's, I should mention some resolutions. I can never decide on one, I always seem to want to progress/change in all different areas of my life. So in no particular order, they are:

1. Lose the rest of my "baby weight", and hopefully more.
2. Save some serious cash to put down on a house.
3. Begin managing my own properties, and selling them completely by myself by August 2009.
4. Connect with all the people in my life that have gotten lost in the shuffle of married baby life.

And now I'm off to dreamland myself, cause hubby just discovered what I'm doing!! ahh!