Interesting Quote for Today

"In the eyes of conservative forces, these changes mean that the family is in crisis. In crisis? More than a crisis, we are in the presence of a weakening of the patriarchal structure, as a result of the disappearance of the economic base that sustains it and because of the rise of new values centered in the recognition of fundamental human rights."
UNFPA representative Arie Hoekman denounced the idea that high rates of divorce and out-of-wedlock births represent a social crisis, claiming that they represent instead the triumph of “human rights” against “patriarchy.” (UNFPA: United Nations Population Fund)

Hmmmm.....I'm not sure it's worth bothering to give my opinion on that one, other than "gee, that sounds awfully familiar..."

Your thoughts?

Quick Kiera update

She is feeling much more perky, but is still maintaining a mild fever. She got pretty high yesterday (103*) and we had to dole out the Tylenol twice. But no more movies- she has much more important things to do today! (like playdoh and other messy stuff!)

Priceline: First Time

OK, based on Kari using hotwire, I kinda looked into the sites she used to understand how they work, and I booked a hotel for our quick little jaunt over the mountains for Gabe's meeting next weekend. I wondered if it would work, since it is Valentines Day and all, but I was booking for Fri night, not Saturday. Here's my results:

Clarion Hotel, Federal Way
$50/night, plus $13.89 in taxes/fees.

I am a little nervous (I have really bad luck booking hotels online!), but this seems to be a nicer one and their site lists the prices for that night starting at $95. I just didn't like that once you put in your information and submit your bid, you're done- no backing out. Hopefully it will all work out well!

I will let you know... I don't think we've done a Clarion before. But for $50, it beats Motel 6, Super 8, or Days Inn ;-)

Kiera's yucky morning

Kiera has a fever this morning. When Melia woke up, they were playing together, and then for whatever reason, Kiera "urped" a little on the floor and proceeded to scream. She said her mouth hurt and Gabe couldn't get anything else out of her. After she settled down a bit, I got her to show me what hurt her mouth- she led me to the pile :-) Poor thing. And not a bad fever, just around 100*. Enough that she doesn't want to eat... Ah well, I needed to do laundry anyway ;-)

Updated: She's sleeping now- thankfully Gabe is home so I can just run and pick up Melia without bothering her. Very very quiet house. Kiera watched Nemo, then proceeded to fall asleep when Toy Story started. Most of the time TV makes me feel guilty, but I sure like it when they are not feeling so well- nothing else will slow her down enough that she could actually fall asleep if she was tired!
I am also thankful that just the last few days I have really been blessed with a renewed sense of purpose about being an at-home mom-because not that I didn't know this before, but the world seems to slowly change our perspectives, and a renewing is vital to keeping us His path for us. For me-- that this is my greatest responsiblity and honor, so folding clothes and watching cartoons while I have a sick baby on the couch has purpose, not a lack of it. Thank you Lord, for Your blessings, new every morning!

Ugh.

I had my appointment today-- I am 25 weeks, measuring 29 cms. So no matter what everyone keeps saying, I am not that big :-) Somewhat large, but dr's not concerned at this point.

However, they did give me my paperwork for the glucose test to do in the next two weeks, so when I was done I called Gabe and asked if I could just hang around and get it done today so I don't have to come back again until my next appt. No problem, so I went and drank the yucky orange stuff (it was warm this time- gag!blech!) and drove down to browse Encouraging Words since I was child-free for another hour... Speaking of which, they have lots of stuff I like, but I just can't afford it! It is so overpriced! But it did get me thinking about stuff for my birthday list, so I suppose that was helpful ;-) I want a Sh'ma for our house, maybe like on a plaque, in English and/or Hebrew, preferably both... so if you find one somewhere, let Gabe or my mom know! And I need a good Bible cover...

So then, by the end of the hour, I really had a good headache going and was feeling fairly nauseated. I asked the gal drawing my blood if that was a common complaint- she said yes. What I wanted to ask, but was afraid to, was if it was a "bad sign," like does it correlate at all w/ testing positive for gestational diabetes.

Now, I have had a protein packed lunch (2egg and bacon sandwich) and am trying to recoup. A nap is probably in order. Good night :-)

It's on the Calendar....

March 18th- my consultation visit with Dr Fine in Spokane on whether I am a good candidate for VBA2C or not.... Finally, and yet so far away :-) I will be 31 weeks.

Hair Cuts

Melia took most of hers off the top- the end result makes me think of Hayley Mills in the original Parent Trap movie. It kinda frames her face.... still makes me sad though!

You can just barely see Kiera's damage- on the right side of the photo, she has a straight cut through that piece. Really, probably no one would even notice. Except me.

And now poor Kerzon thinks he is skinnier than he is. He is really happy about it. Can't you tell? Now he will be more of a clutz than ever. The right side is even shorter than the left, but you can't see it very good because of the window light. Someday he will learn that he should have never traded mommy's bed for Melia's...

The really thoughtful part of all this was that Gabe did not call me at work with the bad news- He waited until I had sat down at Gramps house and rested a few minutes, all the while not really noticing their hair before breaking it to me. I really really appreciated this- if I had had any time at all to ponder it I would have been expecting the worst and probably crying. This way, I had already seen it and not gone crazy. Wasn't that nice of him? I know, just another thing to love about my man ;-)

Rite of Passage

Gabe and I officially passed through one of the giant obstacles that you know is coming, but can never quite predict when you are parents of girls.

They cut their own hair.

I was at work, and everyone was napping at home. Apparently, the girls woke up before Gabe, and when he woke up he caught Kiera just as she was taking the first big slice out of hers. Melia's damage had already been done. And poor Kerzon was collateral damage....

Pictures on the way.

What makes Fast Food Fast Food?

I found an article on WND yesterday on a study done in Canada which found that children who eat 2 meals or more per week of fast food negate the benefits of being breast fed for at least 12 weeks when it comes to developing childhood asthma. (phew! long sentence!)

This led me to think: What makes fast food fast food? Is it just hamburgers and chicken nuggets and french fries? What's the difference between hamburgers from a FF joint compared to hamburgers off our grill? Or nuggets compared to nuggets prepared at home? French fries to fried potatoes? Does Arby's classify as FF with their roast beef sandwiches? What about at Subway if you have chips w/ your sub? Does it always include any fried chicken sandwich? What about grilled?

I just kinda got all mixed up trying to distinguish between the food we eat out, and the food we eat at home. (yea, today, shopping-- walking across the store for a particular item, and I still can't remember what item it was supposed to be when I got there...) I know it has something to do with the way it's prepared, but lots of home prepared stuff has MSG too, ...and we use olive oil for everything, but microwaves are questionable.... Anyway, is your brain still thinking straight? Is it just me who gets wrapped up in knots?

Anyway, thoughts? What differentiates between healthy and fast food?

Edited: I guess this makes me sound kinda "food dumb," and I'm not. I know what to look for, what to avoid, stuff like that. It's just when they paste a huge label on something that has a fairly broad spectrum, I wonder what they really mean. You can make a super yummy, high fat meal at home that is very not good for you, but it's not classified as fast food. So why label one per se, and not the other?

Your Thoughts: Parenting others' children...

So, what do you think when you see a parent telling someone else's kid to stop what their doing (being aggressive) and stop scaring other children? Do you think they should get the child's guardians involved, or just handle the problem immediately? Imagine the situation like a playground, group setting.

I'll explain more after I hear your thoughts :-)

Update: We were at McDonald's (I mistakenly gave Melia the option of where to take Gma Debbie for lunch...), and a little boy had cornered Melia in the top of the staircase, "ribbiting" at her, and wouldn't let her down. She was crying, Kiera was getting me... He peeked out and I told him to make room so she could get down. Obviously he didn't, so prego me climbed up there and told him that he was scaring these girls and needed to stop. (By the time I reached the top, Kiera was crying too) I didn't really question my actions until later, and then thought - "Hey, that is a small enough area that most everyone probably knew what I was doing, heard me talking to him, heard my girls crying... and the two adults there with him never said a word." After that, I was bothered. I wouldn't want my kid bullying anybody, and certainly not making them cry. I wouldn't want other parents having to tell my kids to stop, but that's because I should be responsible, especially when I don't know anyone else there... but like they say... hindsight... I wasn't exactly thinking at the time, just reacting.