Quick Takes, again

**I am not finding the time to update as I previously promised. So here is one post with all the updates I can muster. Once I'm back on track, hopefully I'll stay that way.**

~~1 ~~

Crash and Burn. Or Burn and Crash.

2 weekends ago, I succumbed to my 9 year old's incessant pleading and took the kids to the pool. It was a pretty hot day. I drenched my two fresh-off-the-boat-from-Ireland pale babies in sunscreen and slathered some on the Wobbs. I put some on my arms, to cover the tattoos, and on my face and neck. I couldn't really reach anywhere else and I wasn't too worried. I am half Puerto-Rican and have only gotten burned twice in my life.

Until that day.

The sun beat down on my back like a broiler melting cheese. I really didn't feel it until we got home and got in the shower. I had a huge, red spot the diameter of a frozen pizza blazing in the middle of my back.

Wobbs laughed. I cried.

To top off the day, I crashed. Literally. I fell over my own foot at a local restaurant and slammed the opposite knee into the ground. As I lay there feeling the pain of my patella shattering into pieces (okay, it didn't shatter, but it sure felt like it) people stepped over me and I heard one person ask if I was ok.

My husband heard someone say, "Who fell?" He looked over and realized it was his wife and came to help me up. I thought it was a little weird that no one else who saw me sprawled across the floor with my face wrenched up like I'd just shoved a lemon into my mouth tried to help.

I still, to the disappointed of my husband and my friends, have not gone in to see a doctor about it. What can I say? I'm stubborn. It hurts but the hassle of taking my kids with me for an appointment for me is just too much to bear right now.

~~2~~

My Lovey only poops once every week. Sometimes a little longer, sometimes a little less. After not having pooped for seven days, he decided to poop while we were at one of Wobbs baseball games.

I had just cleaned the extra changes of clothes out of the diaper bag, to make it lighter, so it was only fitting.

The poop crawled up his back to his shoulders. I had nothing to lay him on. It was a week's worth of poo.

I took a diaper and my teeny-tiny bag of baby wipes with me to the grass. I layed him in the grass and pulled off shoes, then socks, and then pants. I pulled his onsie up over his head. He didn't like the grass on his skin. I picked him up and put him on clean grass since the poo on his back was now on the grass.

I tried not to throw up. I held my breath.

I opened his diaper. I threw it over my shoulder.

I used every wipe I had getting the yellow toothpaste blended with sand mixture off his skin. I put a clean diaper on him and slid his pants back on. I turned around.

The smell of the diaper was so bad that kids were pointing and staring. A swarm of flies (ok, maybe just 3, but they were really big and it sounds better to say "swarm") was hovering over the open dirty diaper and onsie. I saw one of them land AND START LAYING EGGS!! OH NO!! Then another landed. Gross! I hate bugs! And the smell....AH!

I picked up the wipes with a clean wipe and tossed them on top of the diaper-fly-maggot egg-sandwich. The flies now descended upon the onsie so I grabbed the top of it and threw it on the wipes. I repeated to myself, "It's a ten cent onsie from a garage sale. Just throw it away," over and over.

I ran said poo-egg sandwich, complete with onsie, to the nearest trash can. I threw it all away. The trash can was right next to the bleachers. Fortunately, we were sitting in lawn chairs on the other side of the bleachers. Too bad for the spectators by the trash can, who gave me mean looks.

~~3~~

I have a knitting confession to make. If you try and quote me on this, I will deny it all the way home.

I actually like knitting dishcloths and knitting with dishcloth cotton.

It's cheap. You get the satisfaction of finishing something. Dishcloths are useful.

I'm not going to make a habit out of it. I just wanted someone to know that it's not that bad.

~~4~~

As payment for driving the Amish family back and forth to the hospital, I was given 15 lbs. of freshly picked strawberries. I did not ask for payment, nor was I going to say no to strawberries.

I cleaned them, which took forever. I sliced and froze, made jam, and froze whole. It took me 4 days.

By the end I was sick of the strawberries. My hands looked like I had been butchering meat all day. But now my freezer is full and I am happy.

~~5~~

My two babies had the yuckiest, goopiest eyes last week. It started with Lovey. His eyes were all runny and then little green strings started coming out of them. Two days later, Flower got the same thing. It looked like someone had beaten the crap out of them because their eyes were so swollen.

I treated with the best medicine I had, breastmilk. I squirted some in Lovey's eyes twice a day and used a dropper to put some in Flower's. My husband, on Lovey's day 4 and Flower's day 2, reminded me that it's 2009 and I can take the kids to the doctor.

Patience, I told him. Be patient. It won't last more than 5 days and they'll be better.

"Whatever," he said. "If you want them to be sick and go blind because you wouldn't take them in then fine."

Next day, Lovey day 5, Flower day 3: Lovey's eyes are clear. I still put milk in them, kind of like how you finish antibiotics even if you feel better. Flower's got worse before they got better but were clearing by her day 5.

So there. Breastmilk is liquid gold.

~~6~~

God's grace and love are wonderful things. This year, my husband and I made a commitment to God to give His Church a specified amount of money each week. Most of you call this tithing. We prayed about it and choose an amount that was more than we wouldn't miss but wouldn't put us into hardship with our mortgage. Incidentally, we canceled our digital cable to help us pay this amount.

I have been faithful to the amount we choose, even when it has been hard. Last week, I had to write a check for three times the amount we normally give since I had not been present at the last 2 weeks worth of Masses. So I put my big ol' check in the collection basket and prayed for God to do as He intends and bless the givings.

The next day when I went to get the mail there were 3 envelopes waiting for me from the IRS. One was address to me, one to my husband, and one to both of us. Naturally, I opened the one address to my husband first. :)

The IRS wishes to inform us that they believe we have miscalculated our refund.

*gasp*

They believe we qualify for Earned Income Credit.

They will be issuing us a check which we should receive in 2-4 weeks.

*Hurray!*

Are you kidding me??!! I open the other two letters. The one addressed to me is a copy of the one my husband got. The other, addressed to us both - is the CHECK!

Just how much we were short for bills this month.

God multiplies what you give Him. Believe it.

~~~~~

That's all for now. Kids up from naps. Must go.

Quick Takes

I have much to say....but not much to say about each thing. Here are some quick takes from my quirky brain for you.

~~1~~

I love LOL Saints. I can't get enough. Funny saint/religious pics with comments, and not disrespectful either. I love that if you click "read more" you get a little background story on the saint and the art.

This is my favorite. I don't think I'll ever see one this good again.

~~2~~

I know St. Valentine's Day has passed, but I have a complaint comment, okay a few, to say about this.

First, I do not like V-Day. I believe it is a "Hallmark Holiday" complete with all the trimmings.

Next, I am so happy my husband thinks the same as me on this. I already have special days in my marriage, like my anniversary, births of my children, to celebrate the love we share. Not to mention that if I need to think of what we'd "get" each other......I've already gotten so much, and so has he. I have a house, beautiful children, a man who works so I can stay home and be with them. What more do I need?

Finally, our son has *GASP* been in public school. I cringe dread making V-day cards and card holders. At all costs I would like to avoid having to celebrate this "holiday" (and I use that term loosely) with my school-aged child. Little did I know that among the homeschooling world, V-day is something the families, kids especially, get really excited about and wish they could do "just like the building school kids". Also, little did I know, I was on the committee to organize that party this year. Ouch.

~~3~~

Pet peeve of mine: Misuse of the words past and passed.

Past = gone by or elapsed in time; beyond in space or position (the house just past the church)

Passed = having completed the act of passing; past tense of the verb "to pass"; pass, to move on or ahead in position or time (car #4 just passed car #6)

There is a sign off the interstate that gives directions to some business - "It's just passed the A&W". Really people.

~~4~~

My little babies are sleeping and napping at regular house. I don't know how I did it, but I did. Pat on the back for me.

~~5~~

Lent. This is my first official Lenten season as a Catholic. I am giving up cake. I made a 9x13 pan of Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Vanilla cake topped with their Creamy Home-Style Frosting. I frosted it at 9pm. My son had a piece and so did my husband. I also had a piece at that time. I got up in the middle of the night and had a piece, and I also had some for breakfast and lunch. The cake was gone by 2pm today. I need help. And my help is Jesus (meant in a humorous/serious way). I've got to give this up and I know I can do it for Him.

I am also rewarding myself with something to replace the cake - more prayer. I am going to integrate more prayer into our family life during Lent. I can't wait!!

I also have 2 more cake mixes to use up before Wednesday. Shouldn't be a problem.

~~6~~

WTF is President Obama thinking? I know I bring this subject up a lot, but it's really something that is on my mind a lot.

Stimulus Package? There are so many things wrong with this (mainly money allocated for abortions oversees and a $3 million "help" for the CDC to promote vaccines) I don't have the time or space today to talk about them.

My favorite is the $15,000 tax credit for people buying new homes. Um, Mr. President, you have to have $15,000 of taxable income for that to help. Not all of us make $150K a year. (Soapbox back in the closet now.)

~~7~~

Tax Refunds. Is yours spent before you receive it? Does it go to bills, fun stuff, or savings? We are faced with a real exercise in decision making this year with our return. I won't go into details, but I am curious as to what is the most common choice.

Et Tu?

Yeah. I've been busy.

For all of you who keep checking in, I thank you. I'll get back on track here soon. (Is this a repeating pattern?)

Let's see......

Christmas. Check.

I actually got my mother to bring the presents over BEFORE Christmas so that my kids could open them when they woke up. My mother usually insists on being present for the present opening, which makes it very difficult. Last year she held their presents hostage until like Feb./March. It was nuts.

We had a smaller Christmas, present-wise, than normal, and I'm happy about that. Midnight Mass is my absolute (almost) favorite Mass of the year.

Diaper Addiction. Check.

I LOVE WOOL. Love it! I have switched to knit wool covers/longies (pants)/shorties (duh, shorts) instead of PUL diaper covers. I love them. I also have a problem. If you are reading this and you sell wool - DO NOT SELL TO ME! (unless it's really, really cute)

Friends with Crazy Parenting. Check.

I'm not going to comment too much on this one. I myself, have been accused of crazy parenting. (Yes, C., she will sleep in her own bed one day). I don't want to point fingers or call names. I'm just going to sit on my soap box and say this - Don't mess with God's plan. He has a good plan. He designed us this way for a reason. There. Much better. If you'd like your own soap box, blogger is free.

New School Room. Check.

I've decided to create a "school room" in my home. I finally won the debate about kids sharing bedrooms in my house (I love you, honey!) and have been able to combine the children and make a space for school. My dear friend C. came and spent an entire day here helping me move furniture up and down stairs, vacuuming, and cleaning. YOU ROCK.

Family Closet. In progress.

And the family closet idea I had about a year ago is probably going to happen soon too! Woo-hoo!

Spirituality. Check.

Working on my faith journey, I know, will be a never ending process. For now, I am trying really hard to just pray for 5 minutes a day. I know I do well to always serve Him by meeting the needs of my children (He has a PLAN! Stick to the PLAN!) but I do strive for something more. That something more may simply be that once my kids are grown I can be one of the little old ladies who show up early and stay late at Mass to pray the Rosary.

My husband and I also had a wonderful meeting with our friend, Fr. E. He gave us some very basic instructions to growing closer to God in our marriage. We are very excited to implement his suggestions into our lives. We also are looking forward to having our marriage convalidated.

Baptism. Check.

The Baptism of My Lovey was beautiful! As soon as I get pictures (I forgot my camera!!!, but everybody else brought one and they're going to email them to me) I will put some up. The ceremony was beautiful. My son's Godparents are WONDERFUL. And my friends are AWESOME. I love all of you!

And, in an weird kind of ironic thing (meant to be, of course), My Lovey was baptized on the Feast of the Epiphany, which, this year, is also my deceased father's birthday. I found out, after he died and during my conversion, that his ENTIRE FAMILY was/is Catholic. Things that make you go hmmmm.

Reality. Check?

And now, back to the real world. Bills pile up, laundry piles up, dishes pile up. Snow is piled up. Too bad I can't find some motivation piled up somewhere around here.

Happy New Year. God Bless everyone! Have you requested your Patron Saint of the Year for 2009? If not, you should!! I am. (Got the idea from Heather over at "A Catholic Mom in Sweden")

~H

Quick Takes (Vol. 4)

--1--

My friend with the new baby here is very upset about my other friend (who is a closer friend to her than me) here who just lost her baby.

I feel utterly helpless as well. My friend with the new(er) baby is having such a hard time delighting in the joy of her wee one as it has been overcast with the shadow of the death of another baby.

This too will come to pass. And God's love will get us through.

--2--

The assortment of "Sympathy" cards at the store(s) is pathetic. They suck. They're all "so sorry for your loss", blah, blah, blah, "God loves you", blah, blah, blah. Not that God loving anyone is bad or something to make fun of. It's just the cards sound so damn fake.

Of course God loves us. I think that a mourning mother and family need to hear something more real. Like, "I bet you are really pissed at God right now. I would be too. Don't worry, He doesn't mind and He understands."

I really wish there was a card that said this: "I know we aren't really close friends. But as a mother I feel a connection to you and I want you to know that I understand that your pain is unbearable and that no one truly knows how bad you must feel right now. If it were appropriate and if I could, I would pick you up in my arms and hold you until it all went away. I don't know how bad it is. I feel guilty that my baby is OK, and I feel guilty for being so happy that my baby is OK. Please don't hate me for that. Please know and believe that my heart is with you."

Where's the Hallmark for that?

--3--

As a recent convert to Catholicism, I have never attended a Catholic funeral. I am kind of nervous about what to expect. I have also never been to a funeral for an infant, so I am twice nervous.

--4--

Hey God,

Why did you need that baby back so soon?

Sincerely,

H

--5--

I still need to set up my baby's baptism. I feel like it should be done TOMORROW, just in case. But I know it's best to allow for the funeral before I start calling the parish secretary to set up the baptism. Not to mention, I haven't checked with the God-parents for dates yet.

--6--

Hey God,

Is this thing on? Sorry. Just kidding.

Me again. I know that babies die everyday. This was a humble reminder very close to home about how precious these children are. Thanks for letting me have Yours just a little bit longer. I promise to try to not take them for granted.

H

--7--

His timing is perfect.

~H

7 Quick Takes - Vol. 3 (Formerly Off The Top of My Head)

Go visit Jen - the original "quick taker" at Conversion Diary......

--1--

I am glad it is time for "Quick Takes" again. I have been thinking of posts all week but been unable to write anything because I've been so busy with the simple task of being solely responsible for my childrens' care, nutrition, safety, and education. It is overwhelming and I do not believe that past societies did this alone, nor did they have the majority of mothers in the work force.

Anyway. It makes it very hard to find time to one's self for the sole purpose of connecting with an online community.

I'll be staying on my soapbox for just a few more minutes.

--2--

I was talking with my aunt this morning about some of the problems with mothers in the workforce in today's modern society. This conversation came about because we were talking about the elderly, namely my grandmother, grandfather, and her husband's (my uncle) dad.

My grandmother spent the majority of last year in a hospital or long-term care facility (a string of words which I doubt would have been strung together 60 years ago). After about 8 or 9 months of that, her condition worse, she died. My uncle's father died a few weeks ago. My grandfather is still doing pretty well and lives alone in the house my mom and aunts grew up in.

The problem I want to mention is that there is no one left to care for the elderly, or the young for that matter. When mothers were not in the workforce, there was always someone there to help care for those that fell ill or could no longer care for themselves. This also helped to foster a sense of responsibility and empathy for our extended families.

That sense of responsibility is mostly absent in today's families and we tend to cart our elderly and our children out to others for their everyday care.

I will now remove myself from my (rather large) soapbox.

--3--

My children are driving me crazy. I really just want a few minutes to finish this post. I've got one constantly yelling some foreign, two-year-old language I can hardly understand. One is crying and cooing for milk, and another is on the phone with my aunt (Hi!) which is just very distracting.

Maybe I should find a more appropriate time to post.

--4--

Christmas shopping/lists/asking for appropriate kid presents/budgeting is going good, so far. My extended family is going easy on the gifts this year which is very encouraging. I am doing well on keeping the gifts to a minimum also. I decided that since Jesus only got 3 gifts that I am only getting 3 gifts for each of my children. My gift to my husband this year is showing him how little money I am spending on the kids.

--5--

I am so excited this year for the season of Advent and Christmas. I am (hopefully) going to be getting out the Jesse Tree on time this year (since last year, I was still making all the parts for it because it was the first year we had it). Ours is a felt tree, with felt ornaments. I am also hoping to incorporate St. Nicholas' Day and The Advent Wreath into our celebrations.

A lovely thing about the Catholic Church is that "Christmas" celebrations start on Christmas Day and continue for another couple of weeks - unlike secular society that stops celebrating it as soon as the day is over.

--6--

Black Friday. This is a new term for me. Apparently the shopping day after thanksgiving has a name. Do you "Black Friday"? If so, where do you go? What time do you get up? Do you take the kids? I am fascinated by this. I know that I could not handle it. I remember going shopping once with my mother on that day when I was in high school, I think. But can you even imagine going with babies and toddlers in tow, probably half asleep and cranky? Ugh. Not to mention that, as an adult, I now loathe shopping. With a big, fat L.

--7--

I think we've got a few (okay, more than a few, but hey - it's just a saying) things backwards in this country. Yesterday my son watched a show on Animal Planet called "Frog Mania". It was about, yeah, frogs. After that was another show about frogs. I don't remember what it was called but it focused on how the frogs are dying from this fungal disease in their skin and we have to save them. They even have a website.

What gets me is that there was an hour long show on TV about how we have to save FROGS. And human beings are being killed at the rate of 4,000/day in this country and we see/hear nothing in mainstream media.

~H

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes folks. It's my birthday today. I will not tell you how old I am. But I will tell you that I am the age my husband was when we met. Hmmm.

To celebrate my birthday I have decided I am going to do a post somewhat like my last post, giving you quick ideas that have come to mind throughout the day and week. But since it's my birthday, I don't have to do any special sorting or thought arranging whatsoever and can put them in whatever order, going forward and jumping back in thoughts whenever I want to.

Let's get started. My new hair-do. Remember Sally Field in "Steel Magnolias"? M'Lynn? Remember when Julia Roberts a.k.a. Shelby told Annelle to style her mom's hair into a brown football helmet? Well, after much consideration upon waking in the morning, my new do is just like M'Lynn's brown football helmet. Here's a picture of it fresh out of the shower for your viewing pleasure:

What led me to chop of my long locks you ask? Showering. Have you ever tried to shower with a baby in your arms? If you haven't, I highly recommend it if only for the exercise in problem solving. Your brain will thank me later.

Seriously though, I got sick of trying to find time to wash my hair. Washing your hair while holding onto a baby is quite the feat. I had to contort my body in all kinds of neat ways in order to shampoo, rinse, condition, and rinse without getting any in my baby's eyes or even on his skin for that matter (because I'm a little obsessive and ALL MY KIDS have funky dry skin and I am convinced that if a drop of my hair stuff were to touch him it would result in instant bad reaction).

And I was always wearing it up in a pony tail or bun, or something like that. Anyway, it was getting to be a nuisance. I love, love, love my long hair. Really I do. Every time we add a new member to our household I try and hold out as long as I can. Once I hit about 2 months I go crazy and decide to chop it off. My husband, bless his heart, always tells me how beautiful it is - even though I know he loves the long hair too. Thanks dear.

How come the second I sit down to write a post somebody needs me. That sucks.

My son spent the night at a friend's house last night. He called this morning to sing me "Happy Birthday". He sang me the "you live in a Zoo" version. Then he said, "You know you do live in a zoo Mom. You have 5 kids." That was cute and sweet. Thanks little Wobs.

My youngest son has spit-up on me twice since I started typing this. Yuck. Good thing I'm not planning on wearing these clothes later.

One of the homeschool groups my family belongs to has a monthly "Mother's Night Out" or MNO. This month it just happens to fall on today, my birthday. Yippi!! I found myself ignoring these opportunities to get out of the house last year. I thought it was silly and where were all these moms finding time to go out. I had better things to do. But this year, I decided to go to one. After the first one I was hooked and I absolutely decided that I was an idiot and a little pompous for judging the other mothers last year (sorry guys!).

They were onto something good. Getting out of the house once a month without your family (meaning without anyone who doesn't need you for a food source, nurslings are always welcome and mine definitely goes!) is a great way to take a break and recharge. It also gives you something fun to look forward to all month. And for my new venture into frugality, something to save for each month and feel good about rewarding myself with. This month is Japanese.

Frugally speaking, it was suggested to me by a friend of mine and fellow blogger that I add a new category to my blog entitled "Frugal Fridays" where I give you a breakdown of my savings for the week - good deals, good coupons, good garage sale buys, etc. I think she might be onto something.....

Anyone out there have a husband working nights? Anybody? I have a question just for you. Do you, or shall I say, does your husband try to keep on the "night" schedule on the days he has off, or does he stay up and get all screwed up on sleep just to spend time with the family? Which do you think is more beneficial/works better for your family and why? We are having a hard time adjusting to this whole Daddy works at night thing.

Thank you to the commenters from the last post. It is sooooo nice to get feedback and comments. And to know that someone is reading this. :)

I hope I didn't jump around too much for y'all (a little of my Texan beginnings coming out there).

Off The Top of My Head

*Jen's Quick Takes have inspired these posts. There is a link on her website back to this and others with their 7 Quick Takes for the week.......

--1--

The coupon game is a lot harder than I thought. After trying it out this week, I was not as pleasantly surprised as I thought I would be.

Being damned, er, blessed with OCD I took all the receipts from the big warehouse-type grocery store in the "big city" around here and typed up a spreadsheet with prices off all the foods I buy on a regular basis. I printed this out and went to the closer "small-town" store in the next town over. I compared prices and brought a little hand held file-thingie with all my Q-pins in it.

Even with the coupons, I could still buy stuff cheaper at regular price in the "big city". At least I know I haven't been wasting my time (and gas) driving there for the last 2 years to shop since we moved here. And if I use the coupons there, then I can feel like I'm saving even more.

This week's total grocery shopping savings: appx $35

--2--

What part of "Do not make your little sister scream while your father is trying to sleep" is so hard to understand? Can you understand it? It is in English? Right?

--3--

I have a problem with stinky diapers. No, not the regular stinky diapers. My baby's cloth diapers are stinky. They smell fine when the come out of the dryer. But as soon as he pees in them one whiff of it can knock you out. I'm sure there is some really nifty way you can "strip" them, but I've tried a couple of different methods that I found online and nothing is working. Any tips? Anybody?

Oh, and he's still only pooping about once every 5 days. So the poop is not the stinky problem. Except for yesterday, when he pooped and then I took the diaper off to change him, and then he pooped even more all over my hand. In My Bed. On My Side. Yuck.

--4--

Raising Teenagers is Like Nailing Jello to a Tree.

You heard me. I know I've said this before, but it's so true I just wanted to make sure you heard it.

--5--

On the way to the grocery store the other day I decided to take some extra dough my Grandpa had sent for my upcoming birthday this weekend and treat the kids to some drive through at McDonald's. He sent me $10 and I'd already spent $3, so I figured I could feed myself and the three little kids on the 7 bucks left. That was not a problem. 2 double-cheeseburgers for me, a small fry and double-cheeseburger for the Wobs, and a double-cheeseburger for Flower, one small Hi-C Orange for us to share. $6.33, tax included. Not bad.

The part that I must share with you is this: Despite our lifestyle taking a major change to frugality (which I am convinced God is calling us to) and therefore not many a Micky D's trip have we had in about 2 months, my two-year-old daughter spotted the Golden Arches from about 1/2 mile away and starting yelling "Buuur-gerrr!! Buuur-gerrr!!" until we actually pulled into the parking lot.

--6--

Do you ever feel like you just want everyone and everything to be quiet? Today alone I have been asked "Can I.....", "Why not.....", "Mom....." about 50 times. I feel like I am going to explode if one more person asks my permission to do something that I don't feel like talking about. Argh.

--7--

Why aren't there any wholesome TV shows anymore? Remember "Little House on the Prairie"? I have recently found this gem on the Hallmark channel in the afternoons. It's nice. There's no low-cut shirts. There is an actual storyline. Humor isn't just stupidity.....it's actually funny situations, even irony sometimes. The language is appropriate for even my 2-year-old to hear. The storyline does not involve sex, or someone trying to get sex, or someone having gotten pregnant for sex they shouldn't have had, or someone being upset because they decided to stop having sex with so and so and "oh my God! What will everyone think!" crap. It's nice and refreshing to watch something that isn't completely morally questionable - like the shows on ABC Family Channel that are anything but family appropriate.

******Note: The formatting on this post is not working correctly!! And it's driving me nuts!! Sorry for the hard to read, unspaced paragraphs.

Off the Top of My Head

*This is something new I am trying, after getting the idea off of another blog, which she claims to have gotten from another blog. I've seen it titled many things......basically I'm going to give you some quick takes on a few things that I have opinions about, or have been pondering about lately. Take it or leave it, but here it is.

Do all husbands only cook pizza, or is it just mine? When I said tonight that I really didn't feel like making him any food, heating up leftovers or from scratch, he cooked another pizza. He'd already made one for lunch.

Really, I mean, is it that hard?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been almost 12 weeks since my baby was born and I still can't fit my wedding ring on. I almost got it down to the bottom of my finger yesterday. I was going to let it sit between my bottom knuckle and joint so it could flatten out the fleshy part that's holding up this whole thing.....but I thought better of it when my finger started turning purple. Makes me rethink the whole titanium wedding rings. You can't size them. Ouch.

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Why are the "newborn" babies in movies always about 3 months old? Really. No woman has a baby that big. No wonder Americans are afraid of childbirth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love the show "Cash Cab." Have you ever seen it? It's on in the afternoons around 3 or 4 on Discovery Channel. I think all cabs should have a guy asking you trivia questions on your way to your destination, money to be won or not. It would make the whole "sitting in car for 45 minutes while you travel across town" thing more interesting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Am I the only Mama who is "drunk in love" with her baby? Why is it that once I have a baby I want, like, 10 more? I HATE being pregnant. Let me say that one more time - I HATE being pregnant. It is an exercise in penance for me. I am truly happy to offer my suffering up to the Lord, but when it's happening I always tell myself that I am never doing it again. And then the baby, the baby, comes! And then I am so in love and so forgetting and forgiving about the whole pregnancy thing that I pray for the Lord to bless me just one more time.

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How can we, as a nation, turn a blind eye so easily at the genocide happening all around us at the rate of 4,000 lives per day? Just remember that when we start to call a group of humans something other than "men", "women", "children", "people", or "babies" that we probably are trying to think of them as less than human and therefore not worthy of human rights. That's why the pro-death movement likes to call a baby a "fetus" or "embryo" - makes it easier to sell the killing of innocent lives to the masses.

P.S. Fetus is Latin for "offspring" or "child". It is also a word that uniquely is used to describe the human baby. You would never call the offspring of a dog in the womb a fetus.

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Have you thanked God today? Today is a wonderful day to thank Him. He is always there, always watching over you, always giving you everything you need. Remember to say, "Thanks!"

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There you have it. I hope you enjoy the ramblings of my little mind.

~H