This blog list is just a list of blogs that people have recommended that I intend to check out. This entry may change or be deleted in the future as I go through them.
http://finniansjourney.blogspot.com/
lovethatmax.blogspot.com/
http://pudgeandzippy.blogspot.com/
http://gardenofeagan.blogspot.com/2010/07/camp.html
http://communicationskillsforlife.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/wordless-wednesday-summer-fun-with-the-family/
http://bridgets-light.blogspot.com/2010/07/four.html
http://ndssnationalpolicycenter.blogspot.com/
http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2010/07/26/ada-workplace-29891/
http://downwithoz.blogspot.com/2010/07/60-upon-further-review-my-last-post-was.html
http://imdownwithdowns.blogspot.com/
http://tomylittlesis.blogspot.com/
http://kenzcolumn.blogspot.com/
http://patti-riceroom.blogspot.com/
http://babynumber10.blogspot.com/
http://theblessingofverity.com/
http://sarahely8989.blogspot.com
http://wwwourunexpectedjourney.blogspot.com
http://anextra21.blogspot.com
http://www.theamicks-angela.blogspot.com
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/parenting/index
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Nerdlet is fine
The nerdlet is fine. She has a little bruising in her pelvic area but it should heal without any intervention. Everything else checked out.
We also took the bear cub in for her thyroid blood work. What a complete pain. I really hate Lab Corp. After waiting for at least an hour, it turned out that the clinic had sent the orders under the nerdlet's name instead of the bear cub's. I understand that it is not your fault, but that doesn't make it my fault and you certainly have no right to treat me like I'm inconveniencing you while it is straightened out. After they got the correct orders faxed, they put me back at the end of the line so we ended up being there over 2 hours. At least they got the blood they needed on the second try, which for the bear cub is a record low. I expect the blood to come back with no issues as I haven't seen any signs for her and I'm hypersensitive to the symptoms as I keep expecting one of the girls to have gotten it from me.
We also took the bear cub in for her thyroid blood work. What a complete pain. I really hate Lab Corp. After waiting for at least an hour, it turned out that the clinic had sent the orders under the nerdlet's name instead of the bear cub's. I understand that it is not your fault, but that doesn't make it my fault and you certainly have no right to treat me like I'm inconveniencing you while it is straightened out. After they got the correct orders faxed, they put me back at the end of the line so we ended up being there over 2 hours. At least they got the blood they needed on the second try, which for the bear cub is a record low. I expect the blood to come back with no issues as I haven't seen any signs for her and I'm hypersensitive to the symptoms as I keep expecting one of the girls to have gotten it from me.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Darth Baby is a ...
Today, I had the level two ultrasound. I was fairly worried about the possibility of trisomy 13 or 18 or the possibility of some horrible heart or other kind of defect. I sort of felt like we were pushing our luck having the two perfect babies that we have and so was a bit anxious.
The tech did the first set of scans and would tell me nothing about what she was seeing other than the babies weight and heart rate (14 ounces and 163 beats/min). She answered all my questions by saying that Dr. McFarland would come in and answer those questions. It was frustrating, but understandable. Then when she left if felt like forever until the perinatalogist came in.
When Dr. McFarland finally came in, she did what seemed like most of the same measurements. She told us that she isn't seeing any signs of health problems. She also mentioned that some problems might not be seen at a 20 week scan, including duodenal atresia or very small VSD or ASDs. The technician and the doctor both mentioned that the baby was moving a lot, but to P and me after seeing the nerdlet move inside it seemed like this baby hardly moved at all, and when they put the DVD in to record some video for us, the baby decided to stop moving and go to sleep. The baby is measuring at 21 weeks for all measurements.
Shortly after we got home from the appointment, we got a call from my MIL who was watching the girls for us. My MIL and the nerdlet were in a car accident, but they both seem to be fine. We had just purchased a new taller rear facing car seat (a Britax Marathon currently on sale at Target) and I'm so glad that we did. There is a lot of debate in various parenting communities that I'm in right now as to when to turn their toddlers and young children around and I'm definitely going to keep my children rear facing until they reach the max height and weight recommendations (for the Marathon that is 49 inches and 35 pounds). P and I went immediately back to Target to buy a replacement car seat. My MIL and FIL kept telling us the impact wasn't that bad, but the car apparently has frame damage, so it wasn't as minor as they were making it out to be on the phone. The nerdlet mentioned that it hurt at the time and has been talking about groin pain where the seat belt sits, and I have an appointment first thing in the morning to have her checked out.
Oh, and Darth Baby is a girl.
The tech did the first set of scans and would tell me nothing about what she was seeing other than the babies weight and heart rate (14 ounces and 163 beats/min). She answered all my questions by saying that Dr. McFarland would come in and answer those questions. It was frustrating, but understandable. Then when she left if felt like forever until the perinatalogist came in.
When Dr. McFarland finally came in, she did what seemed like most of the same measurements. She told us that she isn't seeing any signs of health problems. She also mentioned that some problems might not be seen at a 20 week scan, including duodenal atresia or very small VSD or ASDs. The technician and the doctor both mentioned that the baby was moving a lot, but to P and me after seeing the nerdlet move inside it seemed like this baby hardly moved at all, and when they put the DVD in to record some video for us, the baby decided to stop moving and go to sleep. The baby is measuring at 21 weeks for all measurements.
Shortly after we got home from the appointment, we got a call from my MIL who was watching the girls for us. My MIL and the nerdlet were in a car accident, but they both seem to be fine. We had just purchased a new taller rear facing car seat (a Britax Marathon currently on sale at Target) and I'm so glad that we did. There is a lot of debate in various parenting communities that I'm in right now as to when to turn their toddlers and young children around and I'm definitely going to keep my children rear facing until they reach the max height and weight recommendations (for the Marathon that is 49 inches and 35 pounds). P and I went immediately back to Target to buy a replacement car seat. My MIL and FIL kept telling us the impact wasn't that bad, but the car apparently has frame damage, so it wasn't as minor as they were making it out to be on the phone. The nerdlet mentioned that it hurt at the time and has been talking about groin pain where the seat belt sits, and I have an appointment first thing in the morning to have her checked out.
Oh, and Darth Baby is a girl.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Happy Birthday, P!!!
August 4th is P's birthday. I made a list of 10 major reasons that I love him.
10. I love that you don’t take me for granted. I love that you appreciate the fact that I am direct and straightforward enough to brag that I don’t play those subtlety games and expect you to guess what I want and that you appreciate that I don’t nag and try to actually do the things I ask for. I love that you recognize that we are individuals and what I bring with me good and bad.
9. You lost the picture of me in the belly dancing outfit (and to the best of my knowledge never showed it to anyone). You always try to be considerate of my feelings and even when I'm a major pain, make sure not to intentionally embarrass me.
8. You’ve kept your word about doing the dishes for the rest of our lives. I know that has to be one of the harder things to deal with, especially during the pregnancy phase when I go through so many.
7. You put up with my split second decision making. I love that even though it often makes you uncomfortable, you go with my quick decisions, like when I decided to buy a used mini-van while you are at work and made you drive with me to the dealership to purchase it when you got home.
6. You understand when you come home and the entire house is a disaster, there is no food prepared, the dogs are hiding under the desk in the studio, and I pass the girls to you to go upstairs and pass out.
5. You let me keep my sewing machine, serger, and my latest projects on the work island in the kitchen, even though my studio is only 20 feet away. I love that you prefer it there to out of the way so that you can spend time with me while I craft.
4. You are the least selfish person that I know. You are willing to give up your time, money, and energy to those that need them. I love that it doesn’t phase you for me to talk about anything from adopting more children with special needs to working on houses for Habitat for Humanity in the middle of August.
3. You are so confident in secure with yourself. I love that it doesn’t bother you to be the nerd and enjoy the things you enjoy without worrying about what other people think. I love that you will dance to dance and will dance with me wherever we happen to be without being self conscious about it.
2. You are silly and enjoy kids movies. I love that we ditched the girls with my mom and went to see “Despicable Me”. I love that you will dance around doing the Hot Dog dance for Katie Bug at the end of an episode of “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”. I may not always appreciate the depth of your silliness, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
1. I may have taken a long time to figure it out, but you are so obviously the perfect man for me. You are the best husband. Even when you are really, really tired, you almost always turn down the opportunity to take a nap in order to let me get more sleep. I love how comfortable I am in your arms. I love the way you make me feel. I can’t imagine my life without you and am so glad that I don’t have to.
Thank you for everything and happy birthday!
10. I love that you don’t take me for granted. I love that you appreciate the fact that I am direct and straightforward enough to brag that I don’t play those subtlety games and expect you to guess what I want and that you appreciate that I don’t nag and try to actually do the things I ask for. I love that you recognize that we are individuals and what I bring with me good and bad.
9. You lost the picture of me in the belly dancing outfit (and to the best of my knowledge never showed it to anyone). You always try to be considerate of my feelings and even when I'm a major pain, make sure not to intentionally embarrass me.
8. You’ve kept your word about doing the dishes for the rest of our lives. I know that has to be one of the harder things to deal with, especially during the pregnancy phase when I go through so many.
7. You put up with my split second decision making. I love that even though it often makes you uncomfortable, you go with my quick decisions, like when I decided to buy a used mini-van while you are at work and made you drive with me to the dealership to purchase it when you got home.
6. You understand when you come home and the entire house is a disaster, there is no food prepared, the dogs are hiding under the desk in the studio, and I pass the girls to you to go upstairs and pass out.
5. You let me keep my sewing machine, serger, and my latest projects on the work island in the kitchen, even though my studio is only 20 feet away. I love that you prefer it there to out of the way so that you can spend time with me while I craft.
4. You are the least selfish person that I know. You are willing to give up your time, money, and energy to those that need them. I love that it doesn’t phase you for me to talk about anything from adopting more children with special needs to working on houses for Habitat for Humanity in the middle of August.
3. You are so confident in secure with yourself. I love that it doesn’t bother you to be the nerd and enjoy the things you enjoy without worrying about what other people think. I love that you will dance to dance and will dance with me wherever we happen to be without being self conscious about it.
2. You are silly and enjoy kids movies. I love that we ditched the girls with my mom and went to see “Despicable Me”. I love that you will dance around doing the Hot Dog dance for Katie Bug at the end of an episode of “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”. I may not always appreciate the depth of your silliness, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
1. I may have taken a long time to figure it out, but you are so obviously the perfect man for me. You are the best husband. Even when you are really, really tired, you almost always turn down the opportunity to take a nap in order to let me get more sleep. I love how comfortable I am in your arms. I love the way you make me feel. I can’t imagine my life without you and am so glad that I don’t have to.
Thank you for everything and happy birthday!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Allowance
Growing up my older sister S and I had a pretty structured allowance for chores. My dad made a list and it was very detailed on what we earned for each chore. Some of the pay was fair and some was not (even in the early 80s it was not right to pay your daughters 25 cents to mow the lawn). I think for a week we even got paid to read books. He quickly took this off the list when he realized we could bankrupt him before he knew what hit him.
When I was around 7 and S 9, we would be charged quarters for watching 30 minutes of tv. At this same time, the movie Flash Gordon came out. It was the only time in my childhood that we had a movie channel, and this movie may be the reason why we never had it again. My sister and I loved this movie. We scoped out the tv guide and made sure we had our quarters ready every single time it played. I've seen this movie as an adult and it has to be the worst movie ever made. The only thing it had going for it were the costumes. It had bad music, bad acting, bad plot, bad directing, etc. I can only imagine the agony my mom went through every time it played. Parents that hate Barney or Dora or Wonder Pets (my personal irritant) don't realize how good they have it.
I think my parents had a great idea in making us pay for tv time. I think it would be a great idea for video games when the time comes there also, but I'm going to have to figure out a way to mitigate the pain of being subjugated to a particularly annoying show constantly.
When I was around 7 and S 9, we would be charged quarters for watching 30 minutes of tv. At this same time, the movie Flash Gordon came out. It was the only time in my childhood that we had a movie channel, and this movie may be the reason why we never had it again. My sister and I loved this movie. We scoped out the tv guide and made sure we had our quarters ready every single time it played. I've seen this movie as an adult and it has to be the worst movie ever made. The only thing it had going for it were the costumes. It had bad music, bad acting, bad plot, bad directing, etc. I can only imagine the agony my mom went through every time it played. Parents that hate Barney or Dora or Wonder Pets (my personal irritant) don't realize how good they have it.
I think my parents had a great idea in making us pay for tv time. I think it would be a great idea for video games when the time comes there also, but I'm going to have to figure out a way to mitigate the pain of being subjugated to a particularly annoying show constantly.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Independence Day
Today, we here in the United States celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I'd bet a lot of Americans have never read the document even though it isn't long, but I'm sure every American knows the second line, though they might not know it is the second line: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
We aren't really celebrating our separation from the British monarchy but freedom and what that verse says. What it doesn't say is that some of us really are more free than others. People of color, homosexuals, and those with disabilities are not free to be considered equals and are not given the rights that the declaration claims that they are endowed with. There is no life if one's parents abort when they discover you have a disability, and I'm sure if there was a genetic test for homosexuality the abortion rate for that would be high also. There is no liberty when an individual is blocked by others from buying property for one of these traits. There is no pursuit of happiness when you don't have the freedom to love or have a family or to have to deal with the fact that people use words that are used or were used to describe these attributes as an insult.
I hope on this day of freedom that you think about those not as fortunate in receiving the freedoms they deserve and have a basic right to experience, and if you are presented with a situation to help us move towards an America where people of a slightly different skin tone, those with an attraction to people of the same gender, and those that are differently-abled that you will choose the path that helps them to feel the equality that the rest take so much for granted.
We aren't really celebrating our separation from the British monarchy but freedom and what that verse says. What it doesn't say is that some of us really are more free than others. People of color, homosexuals, and those with disabilities are not free to be considered equals and are not given the rights that the declaration claims that they are endowed with. There is no life if one's parents abort when they discover you have a disability, and I'm sure if there was a genetic test for homosexuality the abortion rate for that would be high also. There is no liberty when an individual is blocked by others from buying property for one of these traits. There is no pursuit of happiness when you don't have the freedom to love or have a family or to have to deal with the fact that people use words that are used or were used to describe these attributes as an insult.
I hope on this day of freedom that you think about those not as fortunate in receiving the freedoms they deserve and have a basic right to experience, and if you are presented with a situation to help us move towards an America where people of a slightly different skin tone, those with an attraction to people of the same gender, and those that are differently-abled that you will choose the path that helps them to feel the equality that the rest take so much for granted.
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