First Haircut AND baby belly!

Today was the day we finally cut off Baby Bear’s little Baby Mullet.  He is a Billy Rae fan no longer.  It actually wasn’t so much a mullet as it was a double rat tail.  (Classy!)  Long in the back, but only on the sides… shorter in the middle.  It does look so much better (which we were expecting) but he also looks so much older to us (which we were also expecting and is why we held off).  He barely knew what was happening.  I only trimmed up the back, so I did it quickly during his dinner.  Sneaky Mommy!

Our little boy is so cute.  Look at that face!

Also, here I am ending my 17th week and leaving the 4th month behind.  There really is a baby in there!  I look like a real pregnant lady now.  We still can’t believe it!

Good News!

Test results are finally back! And they’re good!!!

Protein is about 300, which is good for a pregnant woman. They would be concerned if it was over 1000.  Blood tests all look normal – good platlette counts, etc.  Yahoo!  This is how I feel right now:

(I apologize for any nightmares after seeing that picture.)

Thank you for praying and thank you, Lord!

Some ADHD Resources

For Jr’s ADHD we’ve tried looking into doing a behavior modification group to help develop solid social skills, but for whatever reason here in Austin it seems to be more for kids 10 years and up.  Not sure why.  Maybe that’s when differences really start to be obvious to the parents.  Or maybe when the kids will really learn and take things to heart.  Who knows.  But dt and I know that Jr needs extra guidance with certain social areas.   He is such a good kid, but he has all of those typical ADHD traits that can be wearing on other kids (and even us at times) and can hinder creating lasting friendships.  

So awhile back we found some books that are really great for him!  He loves to read them and it’s been really good for him to have someone besides mom and dad telling him why certain things might not be the best thing to do.  We have:

 

Dude, That's Rude!: (Get Some Manners)

 

How to Take the Grrrr Out of Anger

 

How to Behave and Why

I also found a video series (at ModelMeKids) meant for kids with Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome, but think a couple of them would really benefit Jr, too.  So we may look into that further.  We’ll see.

Just thought I’d pass them along in case they could help anyone else out there!

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Also, I think I love this lady.

Pray Today!

For those who don’t know, we have had some concern about this pregancy due to protein in the urine at my last checkup.  It could indicate the beginning of preeclampsia.  I developed HELLP sydrome with Drew which is basically the most serious form of preeclampsia.  You can read the short version about it here.  So this naturally makes us very concerned, especially considering I’m only in my 17 week.  If things were to get worse fast, the baby really wouldn’t stand a chance being born.  The doctor wants at least another 10 weeks of pregnancy – as do I!  Usually preeclampsia will present itself in the 3rd trimester so this is really early and extremely sucky.

I am doing a 24 hour urine test today which will give them a better idea of what is going on.  It could just be a bladder infection or something.  I’ve never hoped for a bladder infection before, but I am today!  (Down with preeclampsia!)  Please pray that the test will turn out to be nothing serious.  And mostly that God would have his hand protecting our baby.

If you’re someone who keeps hearing me talk about it, I’m very sorry to keep pestering you!  LOL  I just want to get as many people praying about it as possible!  If you’re lucky the harrassment will soon stop.

Thanks!

Open Forum

Baby Name Ideas:  Discuss!

Need some inspiration?  Feast your eyes on this little cutie!

Practice Compassion

From Serhan K. Flickr Photostream

 

“Each of us in our own way can try to spread compassion into people’s hearts. Western civilizations these days place great importance on filling the human ‘brain’ with knowledge, but no one seems to care about filling the human ‘heart’ with compassion. This is what the real role of religion is.”  -Dalai Lama

“Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God never will” -William Cowp

“Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for the truth. ” – Benjamin Disraeli 

“The major block to compassion is the judgment in our minds. Judgment is the mind’s primary tool of separation.” -Diane Berke

“We frail humans are at one time capable of the greatest good and, at the same time, capable of the greatest evil. Change will only come about when each of us takes up the daily struggle ourselves to be more forgiving, compassionate, loving, and above all joyful in the knowledge that, by some miracle of grace, we can change as those around us can change too.” -Mairead Maguire

“Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.Yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.” -Saint Teresa of Avila

 

Image Mosaic Generator

Dessert Junkie

After almost a week of gluten-free living I’m coming to terms with “the diet”.  I think it really hit me because I really do love food.  Always have.  This past Easter my sister and I were laughing at how all of my memories of childhood are somehow food related.

 

• One of my first memories was making a special concoction of peanut butter on a spoon with a few chocolate chips and garnished with sugar on top.  I then hid under the dining room table to eat it since I didn’t want to get in trouble.
• My mom making yummy extra-sweet strawberry treats.  The kicker?  They actually LOOKED like strawberries! Total awesomeness to a 3-4 year old into Strawberry Shortcake.
• I LOVED eating watermelon at my Grandparents house in the summer.  It was extra-good MN watermelon.  So juicy and sweey!  And I got to practice my non-girly spitting without looking like a total pig.
• One night Bill & Sylvia, my parents friends, gave us ice cream with nuts on top.  I ran off to play before eating it all and when I returned it was a soupy mess.  WTH!  
• One of my favorite parts of spending the night at my friends house?  Her mom always got us Dunkin Donuts in the morning.  I always got a powdered sugar-coated donut with some sort of fluffy chocolate frosting on the inside.  Jamie didn’t remember this.  I was all, “HOW CAN YOU NOT REMEMBER THE DONUTS!?”
• My friends and I would stop by CircleK every day on our way home from jr high and get Coke Icies.  Oh, and my lunch every day was a pack of Hoho’s and Chocolate Milk.  Seriously.

 

So after looking at some of these, I think it’s mostly “sweets” that I’ve had a thing for.  Which makes sense that I considered going to Pastry School for awhile. Ha!

The good news is it will be relatively easy to adjust some recipes.  Just switch to Rice flour and add Tapioca something-or-other.  I haven’t done it yet, so I don’t really remember what the typical ingredients are for gluten-free baking.  Can you tell?  lol  Anyway, the nice thing is that there is a way and I can learn.  I can’t just grab anything off the shelf, but I can figure something out on how to have it.

The trick, it seems, is not to mope around about what you can’t have.  (Although I’ve heard a good mope is normal at times.) Really try to concentrate on what you CAN have.  Like this:

 

Mmm… chocolate.  Is it lame or cool that I naturally think of Star Wars when I see this?  Yeah, you’re right.  Lame.

ps- I’m not going cold turkey with dairy quite yet.  I’m focusing mostly on the wheat right now.  I don’t know, just in case you’re curious…?

‘

One last story for you

This one is so funny.  You’ll definitely be able to tell who the real writer is with Natalie’s Josie R. as Batgirl story:

Once upon a time, there was a sexy young girl named Josie.  All of the guys were beating at her door, begging for her attention; if nothing else, they wanted pieces of her clothing, or even a dirty kleenix that she had used.  Oh, to have just a momento of Josie’s existence.  It was every man’s dream.  But alas, Josie was not interested in just anyone.  Her heart was given to one special man, one dreamy Superhero.  Her heart had long ago been given to Dean Cain as Superman.  True, his television show had recently become lame and plotless, but she didn’t care.  He was still the most gorgeous Superhero she had ever met.  But this love was not to be returned……

Tearfully, Josie watched the episode of “Lois and Clark” in which Dean Cain as Superman finally married Lois on a tropical island.  Now what did life hold for her?  How would she ever find a male specimen as magnificent as her Superhero?  Suddenly, her door crashed in!!!!  There stood a man in black, looking mysterious and sexy in his plastic, form-fitting body costume.

“Who are you?” whispered an astonished Josie.

“I am Batman,” stated the plastic-wearing stranger.  ”The new Batman, to be more accurate.  During the day, I live the life of Dr. Doug Ross in the ER.  At night, I save the world from e-vil, as in the fru-its of the de-vil.”

“Wow, that’s neat!” responded our wide-eyed heroine.

“I love you, Josie.  During my free time, I would like to spend quality time with you, if you’ll agree to be my girl.  I’ve had some trouble maintaining relationships in the past, but things are different now.  I’ve been watching you for some time with my night vision.  You’re the one for me.”

“But I’ve been burned by a Superhero before,” cried Josie.  ”How do I know you won’t hurt me, like Dean Cain as Superman did.”

“Hmmm.  Good question.”  Dr. Doug Ross as Batman rubbed his chin thoughtfully.  ”Hey, I’ve got it!  Join my team.  Become on of us.  Become a Superhero!  Then we can work together; I’ll tell you all the Superhero secrets and that bond will help you to trust me.”

“You must truly love me to make that offer.  I accept, but what Superhero will I become?  Electrawoman?”

“No, that role has been played for years by the incomparable Deidre Hall of ‘Days of Our Lives’ fame.  You will become Josie R. as Batgirl, of course.  The first Superhero secret you should know is that we are led by a little blue dwarf.  He appears at will and teaches people valuable moral lessons, even if that lesson must be taught with violence and death.  There is a dark side to being a Superhero, as you will learn.  Generally we strive to minimize the violence and death as much as possible.  Rescuing people is much more gratifying.  But what’s really important here is our Superhero love.  Some day you will learn to love me as you loved Dean Cain as Superman.”

“Yes, Dr. Doug Ross as Batman.  Yes, I believe I will.”

The Superhero lovers lived happily ever after, rescuing innocent victims, learning from the little blue dwarf the necessity of violence and death to teach valuable moral lessons, and taking vacations to Portugal at every opportunity. (Hey, I just tell it as it happened.)  Because of Dr. Doug Ross as Batman’s love and devotion, Dean Cain as Superman was forever removed from Josie R. as Batgirl’s mind.  (Except when they all met up at the Superhero conferences, but that’s another story.)

THE END

Thankful For

- a husband who loves me inside and out and unconditionally.

 

- my children with personalities so different and expressions so alike.

 

- enjoying other’s creations – centering music and beautiful art.

 

- amazing amounts of food, water, resources and shelter at my fingertips.

 

- the love of friends and deep understanding.

 

- a seriously nice, cool breeze at the perfect time.

 

- Crepe Myrtles starting to bloom.

 

- a God who blesses me with “yes” and protects me with “no”.

 

- a God who, I’m convinced, loves to make me smile and laugh.

 

- endless possibilities.

Science Day

We’re still on the learning curve on home school and how it works for our family, but one thing ALWAYS works for Jr:  SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

One day we took a break from doing our other lessons and did a day of Science.  The pictures are from Fizzing and Foaming Experiment

The last picture cracks me up because he was going on and on about how good it smelled and begged me to smell it.  I did and it smelled… vinegary.  lol  I guess the boy loves vinegar!  ;)  He’s so funny. hehe