Not Bluetooth Compatible

We really do our best talking at bedtime in our house.

Mama- So, it really bothers you that I keep calling baby Isaac "Zacky" in my head?

Hubby- Yes, I hate the name "Zack." His name is not going to be Zack. If you have to call him Zack, then we have to have a new name.

Mama - OK, I can deal with that. How about "zacky poo baby boo?"

Hubby- Ha. Ha. I guess there really aren't too many good nicknames for Isaac.

Mama- Well, we thought that about Natalie, too.

Hubby- Awww. Our little Natterbeetle. Hey, he can be iBaby!

Mama - He is not an electronic device!

Hubby- [now ignoring the Mama and talking only to the "iBump"] Hey there little iBaby! It's your daddy! My little iBaby.....

I do not like where this is going, people.

Then & Now

Natalie’s first fall pictures posted last month here. I can’t get over loving pictures of kids and pumpkins. I really love them.
Last fall at the pumpkin patch:
This year at the pumpkin patch:

It's amazing what 12 months can do with a pumpkin.

Baby Einstein

As Mama to a preschooler, I have learned that people judge your child continuously. It’s not enough to judge the accomplishments of adults, to make others feel small for their decisions about what is important in life, to convince one another that we aren’t pretty no matter what we look like.
When they are unborn babies, children are apparently judged by how pretty they make their mommies look, as if they have some control over that. As newborns, it’s all about how well they sleep. As toddlers, babies are called “so smart” and praised for how well they can walk, run, jump, etc. Next, it’s how well they can or can’t speak. I am guessing that when they get to school, the kids who don’t sleep, run, jump, or talk too much are the ones judged “smart.“ I might sound like a bitter mother whose child has been slighted by lack of some ability, but really I’m just a mom who is overly aware of what people say about my kid. Natalie has been called “very smart” most of her life. I always tell her how proud I am of her and that she is my genius, but I confess that I have spent even more time down-playing her achievements to others because of my own aversion to the competitiveness of childhood.
I'm starting to think maybe I have been overcompensating a litte too much, and that I owe her a little more limelite. So, I’m going to put her latest accomplishment right out there for all The Internets to see how proud I really am of my little smartie. Last weekend, she totally surprised us all by writing her name on the sidewalk- proof below: (photo editing by Picnik- thanks Jenny)


And wasn’t it nice of her to write in chalk so I could take a digital picture and properly display it, rather than using a sheet of paper that I would inevitably have to shove in her baby “book” (read: shoebox) with the last 18 months of stuff I haven’t gotten around to preserving yet? Smart and considerate. Who could ask for more?

Baby Update - 10 weeks and counting

For those who know me in real life and read this blog for baby updates, and to the pre-ecclampsia survivors who are getting me through this pregnancy with prayer and support – I went to the doctor today and got a little scare. He was worried from the feel of things in my belly that baby wasn’t growing as he should. I know this is a common road bump in pregnancy, but I’m a worry wart and it freaked me out. He re-checked my blood pressure ( 128/ 68 – normal), reviewed the urine test stuff (no protein – excellent), took a good look at my feet and hands (puffy), and sent me for an ultrasound. After a long wait, the ultrasound revealed that baby is in fact not small at all. He is actually measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule. My doctor isn’t worried about him being too big, so I’m reassured. The ultrasound tech also pointed out that our little big man has quite a bit of hair on his little big head.

Isaac - I can't wait to meet you, but please stay in there for a couple more months!

Potter Publicity

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/10/22/books.potter.dumbledore.ap/index.html



I have to be honest - I do not like this one bit. To me, it says one thing if you write something like that into the story and create the character that way. It says something different if you decide to hold a press conference and make a statement that you know is going to stir up folks.

You know that if she had written that into the story people, there are plenty of people would have thought twice about buying the book - but coming out with it afterward is only going to drum up publicity. It's just low, in my opinion.

Now Playing at the Chron.com

Porn and slasher flicks, apparently.

This is the news?

A cord of 3 strands is not easily broken

Baby Isaac had his baby shower this weekend, and I am just really touched by the girls who gave it for him. I’ve known all these ladies for about 4 years, and they have been through “it all” with me. When I met them, they were all struggling quietly and alone with infertility. I came along as a newly engaged kid, and they welcomed me into their group with open arms. Eventually, everyone’s private struggles were brought into the light, and we prayed and cried for one another. After 4 months of marriage, I showed up one night unable to hold back the tears after finding out I was pregnant. I didn’t want to be pregnant – it’s not that I didn’t want kids, but I wasn’t ready for it. These loving women who spent so much of their hearts yearning for babies of their own not only bothered to go after my true feelings about my own pregnancy, but they supported and encouraged me through what must have seemed like the most selfish problem a person could have. When my pregnancy was rougher than expected, they were there with strength that I didn't have and meals Iwould have otherwise just gone without.

Ladies, you are awesome, and I can’t contain my joy that we were all able to celebrate Isaac’s coming birth together as mothers. Yes, they are all mothers now. Through in-vitro fertilization, overseas adoption, and just plain unexplained miracles, God has given them all children of their own.

Melinda – You are the person who knows how to make food into a meal and a house into a home. When I met you, I was intimidated by your “perfect” housekeeping skills, but now I know that everything you do is not to impress others but to share what you have with them.

Jessica – You have the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known. You might think that you don’t express it that well, but you don’t have to speak to let your heart be known because it is a part of everything you do. Your faith and your unwillingness to compromise your principles are inspiring.

Sonia – You are so honest. I love the way you make us all feel normal for being the way we are. I love the way you would do anything or go anywhere for a friend. You are a dear friend and one of the strongest women I know.

Thank you, precious friends, for sharing motherhood and your hearts with me.

Chicken Soup for the Infant Cold

The big headline today on CNN was that drug makers are pulling cold medicines for babies from retail shelves until the medical community can make up its mind about them. Apparently, if you mega-overdose your child on cold medicine, your child can be harmed. What I don’t get is that they are only pulling the ones marketed for infants and leaving the ones that don’t specifically say “Infant” on the packaging. In case you haven’t purchased OTC cold medicine for a baby, they all say “Consult your physician” for dosage under 2 years. Even Children’s Tylenol says that. All I can think is that if you were willing to give your baby drugs that had no recommended dosage for your baby’s age without calling your doctor to find out how much to give them because it said “Infant” on the label, I doubt you are going to have a problem doing the same thing with a drug that says “Children’s” on the label instead, especially if there are no “Infant” drugs on the shelf to make you suspect that “Children’s” does not include infants.

Meanwhile, the esteemed Dr. Sanjay Gupta, physician to the media masses, is advising that “parents of sick infants can use vaporizers or hydrators, saline nose drops, rubber nose bulbs, and chicken soup” to cure their children instead of the OTC medicines. I don’t know about your kid, but Natalie just loved it when I loaded her bottle with chicken soup.

Update - since people keep finding me by searching for "Infant cold," I'm adding some actual information here. If you are looking for what to give your child for his cold or dosing children's medicine, I recommend that you ask Dr. Sears.

Again with the Fat Comments?

OK- Enough. ENOUGH!

Today in the bathroom, a co-worker that has been here for all of two weeks started a chat with me by asking when the baby is due. I answered (Jan 8), making this the longest conversation we have ever shared. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow and said "Only one baby?" I answered her and could have gotten over that part, but she felt compelled to follow up with "Well, hopefully you won't get too much bigger."

Who says these things?

I'm not done talking about boobs

Now that I have your attention…

Last month I wrote a marginally dissenting opinion on the Facebook issue, and I still haven’t spent the time to find out more about what they did or didn’t do, so I’m not talking about that anymore. I have spent time reading other people’s blog entries on this topic, and I am really moved by the level of controversy that is out there over breastfeeding. The argument that gets me the most is over whether nursing is sexual or not. I have a strong opinion on that one, so I’m diving into the pit here.

Breastfeeding is sexual.

Just to be clear, I do not feel sexually aroused by breastfeeding my child, by watching someone breastfeed, or by looking at pictures of breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding is not kinky or lustful, and it is not obscene. Kinky and lustful are part of sex, but they are not all of sex. If you think breastfeeding is not sexual, I will not claim that you have an incorrect view of breastfeeding. I would claim that you are taking a sadly limited view of sex.

Any woman who has been in a healthy sexual relationship can attest that physical intimacy (in and of itself, apart from the orgasm or whatever else) is a part of sexual satisfaction for a woman. Breastfeeding is physically intimate. Breastfeeding a child produces chemical and emotional responses in a woman that help her feel attached and close to her child in much the same way that sex makes her feel attached and close to her husband. The problem is that most of us have not been in a healthy sexual relationship, and even if we have, we are carrying the scars of past abuse. Last week, so many people wrote to Stop the Abuse. It is astounding how many people have been touched by abuse, and this should give us a clue as to why breastfeeding makes so many upset. It’s not an excuse - but you can’t solve a problem without a full understanding of the causes. Even aside from abusive relationships with others, we live in a world where nearly everyone has an unhealthy relationship with her own body. We worship and sacrifice our own bodies everyday.

The bottom line is that breastfeeding cannot be separated from the aspects of woman that make her WOMAN, and that has something and everything to do with sex. It is no more obscene than a beautiful dress that showcases a lovely feminine body and no less intimate than a husband and wife’s wedding kiss.

Bring Your Fetus to Work Day

I remember this feeling from my first pregnancy, but I thought it came later on. So, I'm just sitting here at my desk, and there is totally a baby squirming around in my lap, and nobody seems to think it is odd. OK, I know the baby isn't born yet, and it's not like he requires my attention like a "born" baby would, but he's still just RIGHT THERE in my lap - and I'm at work just going about my business like everything is normal. And I think I just set the record for run-on, bad-grammatical-structure sentences (so here's one more.) Did I mention that my husband studied print journalism in college and actually corrects people for misusing "your" and "you're" in their text messages?

Bring out the Good

There hasn't been much to say lately- the creativity and introspection have just not been flowing. The doctor checked me out, and I'm doing well. I still have to stop myself from adding "for now" to that sentence.

Our A/C was broken all weekend, and I think I'm still sweating from that. I've been so crabby that I yelled at my poor daughter for throwing a fit (as in, let me just yell at you about how you are yelling and that will surely teach you to stop yelling), I criticized my husband for wanting to take a day of work to work on house projects (again, what?), and the first thought through my mind this morning when I saw a co-worker who is relocating to another office area was "Today's the last day I'm going to have to see you first thing in the morning," (and I actually like the guy.) I am just a big ole crab these days. In an effort to be more positive, here is a post about an organization that I think is doing good in the world:

Top Five Reasons that Operation Christmas Child, by Samaritan’s Purse, is a charity that I look forward to supporting every holiday season:

5. I get to go shopping and I don’t have to bring any more “stuff” into my house.

4. Buying Christmas presents for kids is more fun in October when I haven’t already spent my entire Christmas budget

3. I can turn a shoebox into a treasure chest without feeling like a dork.

2. I don't have to think about how noisy or annoying a toy might be before I buy it.

1. In all seriousness, I get to do something that impacts a child’s life, and I don’t have to just send off a check and wonder how it was spent.