Almost every morning I awaken to "The Call of The Elisabeth." It starts slow and quiet. As time progresses, it intensifies until I must ignore it no longer. MOM - MY can be heard for miles around.

My child has held fast to one rule, regardless that this one rule has been dissolved upon her being potty trained. "You must stay in bed when you wake up." It has never been a rule that needed enforcing, and now I can not convince her to give it up. Every morning and every nap time she wakes and sits in her bed and calls for me. If I don't appear, she calls for Daddy. Why she refuses to give up this rule is beyond me. Since she now wears underpants, the staying in bed rule has been done away with. When she wakes up and has to go potty, I want her to get up and go. But she hasn't quite caught on yet.

I will say, however, that although she called for me for probably a half hour this morning, she was dry when I took off her diaper.

Today I scanned in the remaining photos I wanted from my trip to Yellowstone National Park. I am desperately getting ready for my big debut at ETG's Christmas Craft Bazaar. I now have to finish editing my photos, upload them to Winkflash, and order them. Than decide how much I want to sell them for. I do have some other photos that I want to look for that would be good to have on display. I also need to go to a craft store to buy mattes for some of them.

I am also wondering who I may get to help in the threes room for MOPPETS on Tuesday. There still are no permanent workers in there. Is five hours a month too much to ask?

Oh, by the way, I was able to get all that scanning done, because E went to a friend's house to play and eat lunch. That was a fun treat for her and a blessing for me.

I am trying to be thankful for this laptop. Although I am very thankful for it, it hasn't quite lived up to my expectations yet. It can with a little help.

It's main problem is the archaic operating system, Windows Millennium Edition. It doesn't support much anymore. One thing I was hoping to do with it was watch online shows in the living room. FOX is not compatible with ME, and when I tried to watch CBS, the show kept jumping. I am hoping I just need to update the players on the laptop. I haven't tried NBC or ABC. Of course those channels have the dumb shows anyway.

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On a different topic I wholly believe that it should not be this humid on the 19th of October. I am ready for long sleeves, hot cocoa, fires and s'mores. Instead, I am in shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-lops, and all the fan are running! What's going on?

I am writing this post on my new laptop. If you go to P's blog, you will be able to read about some of my trying-to-log-onto-the-Internet-using-my-wireless-router woes.

I will say that I am very thankful for tech support person, Maria, at Verizon, because she saw what none of the other 5 tech people saw. The wrong setting checked on my router. Even the guy from D-Link didn't notice it. And I also have to say, she didn't ask me to configure my adapter one more time, since the last 15 times should have done the trick.

Anyway, I can now browse the Internet, watch online TV shows, or trounce P at scrabble all from the comfy spot on my couch or bed, or anywhere else I desire since I am now wireless, as long as it is near a power source. For although I am wireless in the Internet arena, I am still attached to the electricity source until I buy a battery.

Here's a funny story.

My friend P came a while ago for a visit. She brought along her laptop, which has wireless capability. She lamented that we don't have a wireless router, so she could use the Internet from our living room, instead of crawling in our computer cabinet to hook up to our router with an Ethernet cable. Not only is wireless good for when P visits, I acquired my sister's old laptop with wireless capability.

P offered to buy us a router. She was all set to, but was waiting for me to give her the OK. When I did, the site was idle for too long and closed. Just this morning we were discussing it again and decided I would call Verizon first.

Well, I finally got around to calling Verizon to see if the router she suggested was compatible with our system. The tech asked why I wanted one. I explained that I wanted wireless capability. He said that we probably already had a wireless router and asked when we got our service. he than did some checking and confirmed that indeed we had a wireless router. He than connected me with tech support, who proceeded to set up our wireless environment.

So, now with nothing but a phone call, we are wireless!

Now I just need a power cord and AC adaptor for the laptop.

Sometimes having children is a blessing, but sometimes it feels like a curse.

I think E is finally on the road to potty training. Earlier last week, underwear was the topic of conversation, and she wanted to wear some. I told her that she needed to use the toilet when she had to go potty. And if she kept her diaper dry, she could wear them.

She has consistently gone more times in the potty than her diaper in a day. She still has to have a diaper change now and then, but it has been better. We also bought her pull-ups, which is good too (more like underwear.) She can go to the bathroom and now pull her pull-up back on herself.

J continues to make his rounds doing his frog impression. He is an active little almost 10 month old. He still loudly insists on his food, likes his Cheerios, and still doesn't so much care to drink from a bottle or cup.

Today was our first day of MOPS. I felt it was quite chaotic. Probably because I wasn't as prepared as I should have been, I was late getting to church, and it was the first day and things crept up.

Hopefully, our next meeting will be better.

Tonight G and I are going to a Bible study. And I hope it is actually a Bible study and not just a time to get together and swap stories, or check out what the latest Christian author wrote, or ways that we can help ourselves get better at something. Because frankly, I can swap stories with other moms at MOPS, I can read a book on my own, and I just can't help myself. I need God and His word.

The word of God is unchanging, yet new every time I read it. It's a great mystery that I want to know better. I want to hear how God changes others when they read it. I have difficulty right now taking time to read on my own and want to be held accountable.

G and I and my parents are going to a Phillies game on Wednesday! I am very excited. Our seats are right behind the visiting dugout. I will be able to touch it. We have never had seats that good before. And to make it better, they are free. G got them from a client at work. We made sure to let him know that we would take any other tickets that he didn't need.

I am also looking forward to the game, because we haven't done much in the way of outings with my parents. So, I will enjoy going out with them.

We also have a VIP parking pass.

Alas, I was suppose to write more on my last post, but I never got around to it. And now I don't know what I was going to write.

Let's see in the past month . . . (in no particular order.)

I resigned from Creative Memories. I didn't have the required $500 is sales, and I wasn't going to charge it to my own credit card. And I decided it wasn't for me. I feel very relieved.

I am starting to print my photos as cards to sell. I have two done so far, one I just picked up today.

E had her third birthday. We had family over for burgers and corn on the cob. E wanted to play with everything, so gift opening took awhile. I'd say her favorite was a dollar store purchase.

J does his frog impersonation quite well now. I think he will never actually crawl, just leap about.

E had her first dentist visit, at which she did very well. It was also discovered that her binkie sucking is narrowing her upper jaw, so it's bye bye binkie. I was thinking that she only sucks it at nap and bedtime, but then I thought about how long of a time that actually is. Yeah, it needs to go. She is three, now. She picked the day she will say goodbye to it forever - Saturday, August 25th. We also picked a day to say goodbye to binkie for naptime, too. That was last Thursday. She's not doing to bad without it, though she still asks for it.

We went to a local carnival. E rode the kiddie rides. She and I went on the carousel, where she rode the horse this time. Before when I'd take her on, we would have to sit on the nonmoving sled. This time she rode a moving horse, and I didn't even have to stand next to her. I sat on the sled behind her. She liked the giant slide the most I think, because as soon as we got to the bottom, she wanted to do it again. She also got to play the lollipop game. Pick a lollipop out of the board, if it has a mark on it the stick you get a prize. She was just happy with the lollipop. G and I saw one of our high school English teachers. We chatted for a bit. She liked seeing our children. For being out so late, the kids did great. They didn't get to bed until after 10:30, though it didn't seem to affect them too adversely the next day.

We have had stinking hot and humid weather for ever. But I can also say that it has finally rained off and on for over 24 hours. Mostly on yesterday and mostly misty today. I am tired of watering.

We may have found the trick to helping our daughter eat in a timely manner. We moved the bird clock to a spot that she can see. We pick a bird and tell her that she has until the big hand reaches that bird to finish her meal. It has been working. Yeah.

Now on the other hand, we have J who yells at you the second his food isn't making its way to his mouth. And the boy doesn't stop. We cut him off. He still won't take a bottle. He mostly chews on it. He won't take a sippy cup either. I am trying to teach him the sign for more, to save our eardrums.

I am working on MOPPETS stuff for September. We still need workers, and I am changing some things, so I need to get that organized. I spoke in church yesterday about MOPPETS and was nervous. I don't like feeling nervous. Apparently even thinking and writing about it brings back nervous feelings. Yuck.

I guess that does it for now.

We got back from the cabin on Sunday. In honor of P, here are photos of some moss I found.

















The kids and I went up Tuesday afternoon, and G came up after work.



He came home Thursday to do some window repairs.

We are having a fun summer. Here is a photo of the E from last night. We walked to a local ice cream place, and E sure did enjoy her "pink" ice cream.






















J is doing great. He is "crawling," which means he pulls himself with his arms and supplements with his toes, mostly just his right ones. He is slowly adding the use of his knees. He does get on his knees and rock. He has started to grab onto the side of his crib and pull himself up. He then proceeds to suck on it.

We don't belong to the local pool, but we have a baby pool that E enjoys greatly. Although I put my foot in gingerly, for the water is quite cold, she gets right in and starts playing.

It has been extremely humid yesterday and today. I am mighty glad for AC. On our street we are one of a few houses that has central air. I feel somewhat privileged.

J got his first two teeth today - bottom front. He also has become quite mobile for not really crawling. He has rather good upper body strength, since he is pulling himself around, with a little help from his feet. He does get on his knees and rock, though.

The three of us got ice cream tonight. E had three days with no time outs, so we went out for ice cream. She has been very compliant and helpful, too. While at the ice cream store, we also got to look at the animals. They have some fowl, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, bison, elk, ponies, a llama, and of course cows. We didn't see the ones that the farmers feed all the strawberries to that make the strawberry milk, though. E likes the animals.

We also bought 3 gallons of milk and a half & half. The milk will last us less than a week.

Today, I spent my morning with E. Just the two of us. J was sleeping. We played and were silly together. It was a special time. She is getting to be more and more independent. "I do it myself." Wanting to do things herself and being able to help around the house. She likes to hear music and has requested I sing some songs. She has a Bible song CD that she assumes is the music of choice for all in the car. She requests songs from it, too. "In my heart" = "I've got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart"; "Children" = "Jesus Loves the Little Children"; "Bones" = "Dem Dry Bones"; "Noah" = "Who Built the Ark" to name a few. The sad part is I know the track number for each of her favorites songs. And although she hasn't requested it, she can be heard singing "happy day" over and over again from "Oh Happy Day," while she is playing. It is simply amazing how much repetition does not phase a child.

J has been eating solids (if you can call them that) for a while, now. Oatmeal, rice and mixed grain cereal, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, applesauce, bananas, pears have all passed over his taste buds. Carrots will be next.

His favorites are applesauce and pears. They come in handy when trying to feed him his least favorites. Scoop a little squash, scoop a little applesauce, feed the boy. Scoop a little squash, scoop a little applesauce, feed the boy.

I make most of his food, but we do have some jars for the occasional ease-of-use feeding. I can't remember back to when E was 7 months and how often I was nursing her. I still nurse J four times a day, but I think we just decided to cut out the bedtime feeding. I am not sure who will miss it more, me or J. I am reluctant to cut back on the nursings, because I will miss that closeness with him, he is so adorable when he nurses, and he just loves to nurse. He doesn't really take a bottle from G or me, so we have to figure something out when he looses a nursing at a meal.

J has started scooting. He uses his arms to pull and sometimes uses his feet to push. He does get on his knees and rock. He can almost get himself into a half sitting position. But if he gets to upright, he isn't very stable.

After I nursed J this morning, I put him on the floor. Since he has become mobile, the bed is not a safe place for him. He likes to be on his belly, which I was hoping wouldn't be a problem. I was wrong. The boy spit up about four times. I can't sit him by himself yet, since he still flops over. He won't stay on his back.

So, I after number four, I decided he could sit in his swing while I finished gathering dirty clothes for laundry day. E likes to play with him and did so while he was in the swing. She started the swing swinging, got his some toys and a blanket. She turned on his music and left the room, shutting the door. She then informed me that J was taking a nap.

When I was finished gathering clothes and ready to head down stairs, I went to get J. He was, in fact, taking a nap. My plan was to give him some cereal, then put him down for a nap. E thought otherwise.

We did yard work today. I am becoming more pleased with the flower beds. They are becoming mine, instead of the former owners.

A while ago we had some of our youth come over as hired workers - they are raising money for their mission trip this summer. There was brick standing on end as an edge for the flower beds. They removed the brick and relaid it long ways slightly lower than the sidewalk. And they moved the one end of the garden, also lined with brick, in two feet. They worked hard.

So, today I dug out plants I didn't want in those beds, took out two bushes, and edged the flower bed with stones. It looks much better. I'll add photos later.

G weeded, mowed and edged. Our yard is lookin' good. My friend P has always said how satisfying a nicely manicured yard is.

E just came to me nearly in tears and on the verge of a breakdown because she couldn't put her hood up. She said, "My hood's not working!"

Like I said, my visit to my friend's was quite an experience:


My daughter got her hand stuck to a sticky mouse trap, and trying to get it off was an effort.

The bed rail came off while I was on the bed getting ready to nurse my son. Got around to fixing it a while later.

Instead of outpatient, P ended up being inpatient.

I turned on the oven to bake something, pizza left there burned, dripped, set off the smoke alarms, alerted the security company and the fire department. I got to speak with a real, live fireman.

Visited my friend while managing a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 month old, driving back and forth for naps and not having a needed schedule, resulting in cranky children and haggard mother.

I did some laundry, went to dry it, found a not so clean rug in a dirty dryer. Lugged the broken vacuum down, and wrestled with it to vacuum out the dirt.

My children didn't sleep very well (though that's not unusual) and robbed me of sleep.

My husband came to give me relief from children. (Another reason I love him.)

Argued with Kashi about going upstairs or coming down, going outside or coming in.

Became increasingly disgusted with the treatment P received from that hospital. And I thought she'd be safer there. What a misconception that was.

P and I got to see our favorite movie, "Independence Day," and played a few games of Phase Ten Dice.

I was there to be with P and give her support. And it was worth it. I'd do it all again. Except I'd bring my own vacuum.

My son felt the need to eat at midnight, the exact time I decided to go to bed. I don't really like to be interrupted from my plans for slumber. And really not by a crying baby, who has quite a piercing cry.

So, I gave in and fed him, and then I got to go to sleep.

This trip to my friend P's house has not been a typical trip. It wasn't suppose to be. I came to be a support for her during surgery. No plans for movies, games, or our normal fun.

It started out at 11:30 pm last night. I had a Get Together and left after it was over. It was a late drive. I wasn't sure how it would go, but I made it. I had a book on tape, but it didn't really help me to stay wake. I had to stop twice to take a break.

When I got to her house last night at 2:30 pm, the children were both awake. They believed it to be time to stay awake. After nursing my son a bonus feeding, he proceeded to cry and carry on when I put him in the travel crib. I ended up going out to my car to get the bouncy seat. J loves it. He finally quit crying. E still had wide eyes. She fussed and didn't want to go to sleep. I gave her two books and told her she didn't have to go to sleep, but she needed to stay in bed. I, however, felt quite strongly about sleeping and closed my eyes and was out. A while later, I roused to see both children sleeping. Since they had finally succumbed to sleep, I continued on in my slumber.

The children were gracious enough to sleep until 8:30. Then while I was getting ready to nurse J on the bed, the bed rail came off and the mattress and box spring fell to the floor. I pried myself off the crooked bed and proceeded with nursing my son on the other bed. Just as I was finishing up with my son, I noticed my daughter fooling around with something. She took it to the bathroom, and I heard rustling. When she came to where I was - upon my request, I saw she had a pest trap stuck to her hand. After I wrestled the thing off, I had to go figure out how to get the sticky stuff off her hand. It was quite coated. Four cleaners later - soap, alcohol, nail polish remover, and mineral spirits - her hand was glue free, and she was admonished to not touch things she finds on the floor.

Some time that morning, I hefted the mattress and box spring off the frame, reattached the side rail, and hefted it all back together.

I wanted to have us all ready to leave by 10:00. I got E some Cheerios and milk to start her off, while I began gathering everything we would need. I put together a bag for E and a bag for J and a bag for me. I made E oatmeal and fed it to her, so I didn't have the big clean up job as when she eats on her own. I had put off getting my own oatmeal and had to shovel it down my throat so we could get going.

We made it to the P's house with time for my daughter to become acclimated before I left her there. She really wouldn't do well at sitting in a waiting room for a couple of hours. So, she got to play while I got to sit.

I was there for support for my friend, as this surgery was very hard for her to allow. But she made it there. She walked through those doors and stayed.

She was suppose to come home today, yet I sit at home while she is still there. She made it through the surgery just fine, but it was the waking up and recovery that was the problem. It took her longer than normal to come around and understand where she was and why she was there. She also had trouble staying awake, even if she in the middle of a conversation. She ended up staying over night. As much as she might want to come home, she just might be safer at the hospital.

After I thought my friend was good hands, I collected my children from their caregivers and headed back to P's house. It was past dinner time and we still needed to eat. McDonald's it was. And finally the kids were in bed, and I could take a moment for myself.

This is it. If I can't get $500 worth of sales for Creative Memories by the end of April, I am deactivated. I have two Get Togethers scheduled. I hopefully will have enough sales. If my sales don't get to $500, I think I may end up making up the difference myself. I don't want to be deactivated.

I am having trouble getting beck into since my son was born. It's been 5 months. I didn't anticiapte in taking this long. But I am not giving up.

We bought our "new" car. It's a 2003 Honda CR-V. I like it very much. I went shopping today and had no trouble fitting everything in the back. Getting the kids in and out is a snap, too.

Now G needs to sell his Del sol. He is rather heart broken over that. He likes his little two seater. But it is an unpracticle family car.

I have traveled to North Carolina. My aunt lives there, and since my sister had off the week before Easter, we decided to head on down and see her. We also took a jaunt of to Wilmington to see my cousin.

We had a long drive down and back. The visit was nice. We went to two parks. The weather was nice (80s) for two of the days and then grew a bit colder.

J rolled over (back to front) for the first time. I have some video footage (which unfortunately was over top part of my daughter nursing her baby.) Yes, I forgot to check where the video tape was until I already started taping.

My aunt had hidden several plastic eggs for E to find. In the eggs were coins. E made a good bit of money for a 2 and a half year old. Especially when she found the change in my aunt's car, which she helped herself to.

While at the second park we rode a carousel and a miniature train. We walked through a mini zoo. E got to see snakes, turtles, deer, bear, foxes, a donkey, chickens. She also spent some hard earned cash (collected from my aunt's change in the car) on a very small piece of python skin.

We also fed some ducks and geese. We didn't care much for the geese. They tend to be a bit too aggressive for youngsters. I had a duck eat out of my hand.

On Wednesday, we went to visit our cousin. My sister got a speeding ticket. We walked on the beach, and J got to touch the ocean for the first time. He cried - it was cold. Once accustomed to the sand, E had a blast. She ran to and fro, not venturing much into the surf. Like I said, it was cold. But if the water moving back and forth wasn't a bit daunting to her, I think she may have gotten wetter. She did manage to acquire a seashell from a lady and had a conversation with some mothers laying on the beach just within reach of the surf. She tried to join them, but I stopped her. We didn't have a change of clothes. I missed capturing all of this, because when we left S's apartment, I thought to myself, we are only going to lunch, I won't need my camera. Lesson learned? A mother shouldn't go anywhere on vacation without her camera.

Heading back to my aunt's at 11:45 PM was foolish. I was driving, while everybody else slept. I had a very hard time staying awake. Very hard. My eyes were only half open sometimes. A dangerous way to travel. But we did make it back with no incidents.

All in all, it was a good visit.

E and I play the "Who loves E?" game. She has a grand time with it. She answers with Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, Mommom, Poppop, and has included Jesus now.

As a Christian parent, I want my children to become Christians. To hear my child say that Jesus loves her and lives in her heart is a beautiful thing. I know that she doesn't really know what it means to have Jesus live in her heart, but as she grows we will teach her.

Again E told me that Jesus loves her. This week she has also told me that Jesus lives in her heart. I have told her the Easter story and that Jesus wants to live in her heart like he lives in Mommy and Daddy's hearts. I didn't realize she was actually absorbing everything I said. She is always amazing me.

That she would keep this knowledge with her in her heart and hold to it throughout her life.

This morning my daughter was keeping herself occupied. (She does quite well at this.) After a bit, she called to me, "Mommy, look me." Once she had my attention, she said "Jesus loves me," while pointing to herself. I immediately got up and went to where she was. She had found my Bible on the coffee table, opened it, and was "reading" it. I gave her a big hug and confirmed that Jesus did indeed love her.

She is connecting what we have been teaching her about Jesus. She knows that Jesus and God wrote the Bible and that Jesus lives in Mommy's heart and Daddy's heart. I also told her that someday maybe she would let Jesus live in her heart, too.

As an aside, she also found my gel pen and inked her clothing and some pages in my Bible. She received a clean shirt.

We were asked today at MOPS if we have ever felt hopeless. I thought on that for a bit and came to the conclusion that I have never felt truly hopeless. I know that things aren't hopeless. They may be hard, and I might not like the situation I am in, but God is always there to bring me through. He has always been faithful, and I know he always will be. There is no reason for me to be or feel hopeless.

What did give me pause was this passage from Romans 5:3-5: (and try as I might, when looking in the concordance, I will never find Romans in the S's, or patience when I am looking up Romans) "Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

We go through our suffering and come out on the other side with patience or perseverance, character and hope. And the Holy Spirit is right there with us, helping us along. Jesus never promised us we would have it easy. In fact, he promised us we would have it hard. Sin does that. What he did promise was to be there with us.

As we drifted off to sleep, we rested with the knowledge that the dining room light was working using the switch. Yeah for G and my dad!

It was a frustrating road of hit and miss. Using an older home improvement book, G and my dad mapped out the wiring and figured out what was going on with the mess in the wall and ceiling. It really was a mess. The switch, as it turned out, was a three way switch, with one being at the bottom of the stairs and one in the upstairs hallway. When we moved in, we had no idea what the one switch upstairs worked. Nothing happened when we flipped it. We discovered, when talking to our neighbor, that it is suppose to work the dining room light. When we moved in the dining room light was attached to a ceiling fan that you worked by pulling the chain - no switches. In fact the place where the switch was suppose to be, didn't even have a switch, just a hole. The wires are still cloth covered, and it was very hard to tell what was what.

However, after 3 more hours, G and my dad finally got it working. And what's funny is that while the light worked before all the wires were put back into the wall, after G taped them and shoved them back in, when he flipped the circuit breaker and came up to try the light, it didn't work. There were so many wires in that little space that when he was shoving them back in, some came apart. He pulled them out, retaped them, and while gently pushed them back in, different lights (not involved in the project) went out. Frustrated and sick of electricity, he had to figure out which wires were now being affected. He did however discover the error, and ever so gently coaxed the stupid wires back in and flipped the breaker. Ta da! All lights worked, no sparks flying. He was done.

Well, here we are again. Sunday with sick children. Yes, E got my cold. Maybe she got J's cold, not mine.

G stayed home with the kiddos, while I went to church. With the time change and staying up too late (a problem of ours that has yet to be corrected,) we decided not to get up for the first service, and only one of us would go to the second.

In the afternoon, we had a lovely family time celebrating my sister's birthday. My mom did the cooking.

My dad and G worked to get the light working, to no avail, yet. An aside: G starting working on the dining room light project yesterday around 10:30. Hanging the thing was not the issue. Using the light switch to turn it on and off was. Previous to the light was a ceiling fan. Since we had central air installed we decided to do away with a ceiling fan in the dining room. Problem was the light switch didn't work. I'd say G worked on the project over 9 hours on Saturday by himself and maybe 4 hours with my dad today. Still no light at the end of the tunnel. (Ha ha.)

G is quite frustrated but not ready to give up. My dad is coming over tomorrow night to work on it again.

I think I am on the mend, but I still am blowing my nose more frequently than I'd like. J is still snuffly, E has now caught the cold, but G is putting up a good fight. Today, I went to our early service, and G went to the later one, while the kiddos stayed home. E was a bit upset about that. She wanted to go to church. Instead, she had a big tantrum.

G has a big project due at work and has been working long hours, so he really cares not to get sick just now. Though with his lack of sleep, he is more prone. The project's due on Tuesday, so you know he'll wake up Wednesday unable to breath, with a sore throat. He's at work now, and I should be in bed. But I have the chance to write, so I am.

I forgot to mention that last night G and I had a chance to actually sit, play a game, and have a meaningful conversation. It was really nice. It has not happened in a while, and I assuredly miss it. Sometimes I feel unconnected with him, like we co-habitat, but our relationship is hiding from us. Caring for kids drains energy and time. Our marriage and our parenting needs to be in balance.

Today was a yummy day. The K Family decided to join the B parents for a pancake breakfast at John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove. Little did we know that we would be tasters of pure maple syrup on our pancakes and privy to three ways of gathering maple sap - Native American, Colonial, and modern. I vote for modern.

In fact, we have a maple tree, and we bought a tap. This is the maple sap season, so we are going to give it a whirl. I believe to get 1 litre of syrup, one needs to gather around 40 litres of sap (sorry the site I looked at is in metric.) And a mature maple tree produces about 40 litres of sap in a season. It will definitely only be a hobby, probably a short one.

Our tongues did smile this day. E got to run around and release some pent up energy. She had a grand time. It was a beautiful day for an outing, even an impromptu one. And we thought all we were doing was getting pancakes.

We also took a 2 and a 1/2 year old's attention span tour of the Audubon house. I perused the museum shop, purchasing three booklets - Bird Finder, Flower Finder, and Berry Finder to help me keep up on my environmental prowess. I am set for my outdoor expedition. Really, what I want to do is teach my young one about God's awesome creation. I already have some other "Finder" booklets. Happy identifying.

My cold has not relented. I have passed it on to my son. My husband and daughter have not, as of yet, taken ill.

No new upsets from the cat, though I fear for the plant my friend P gave to me. I do like seeing its green fullness gracing the floor of our dining room. But my cat has practically no wits about her. I had it up on the radiator to keep it safer, but really with Patches there is no safe spot. She likes to sit on the radiator to view the outside world through the window. So, I figured the plant would look better on the floor, and I put it there.

I am still sick, by the way and have managed to pass on my germs to my son. E and G have yet to show signs. Tylenol Cold works great at night for a good night sleep, but their daytime version was not worth the many pennies spent. My nose is quite sore, and I would have done better to buy Puffs Plus with Aloe instead of that daytime elixir.

Does anyone want a cat? We have one that I would pay someone to take. I am quite tired of her going to the bathroom else wheres than in her litter box. And while I was gone, she took to throwing up. Six times on our bed, twice in the living room, and twice in the upstairs hallway. Both cats are banned from bedrooms for a while.

I am afraid to say it, but I wonder if she might benefit from some of the techniques used on children. I don't really feel like giving her the time of day, but I don't really want to be cleaning up any more messes.

What does she need that we aren't giving her? I don't really want to find out. I'd rather get a dog.

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

Today at MOPS a man spoke about anger, and he opened my eyes to my anger issues.

Why am I so angry at my daughter sometimes? And why does it seem to burst out of me? He said that some people have simmering anger. I don't want to admit it, but I think that's me. He also posed this question - What might be the issues that lead you to have simmering anger as a default setting? I still can't answer it. But I need to.

Another question to think about - Do I have a good reason to be angry? During his talk he spoke about Jonah. Jonah was angry with God and never really settled that. He didn't want God to forgive the people of Nineveh, and so he ran away. And after being spat upon the sand, he drug his feet all the way to Nineveh to tell them about God's impending wrath if there was no repentance, and Jonah continued to be angry when God forgave them. Jonah did not have a good reason to be angry.

I need to understand my anger to rid myself of it.

In my visit with my friend P, she has helped me see how I can better handle my daughter's fits and tantrums. Realizing what her personality is and working with it, instead of forcing my will on her will go a long way. E wants a measure of control, which I can give her. Of course she can not be in total control, because that would just make for an unsafe and destructive environment.

An example, is binkies at nap and bed time. I'd like her to only have one, but does the world come crashing down if she has two? [P started that, by the way. She was fine with one before our visit. But what are aunts for, but spoiling and such?] And I will definitely take my cue from P about eating. E has lately gone hungry at many meals, because she simply won't eat or would sit there all night before she finished. Try one bite, P says. Than, try another bite. And bite by bite her meal is gone or close to it. I have recently also implemented another method where you tell your child to eat a certain number of bites, like you need to eat three more bites of green beans and two more bites of ham. This number method works much better than just saying you need to eat more green beans and ham. They want concrete not arbitrary. I need to remember this in other areas.

I have said how E is a little helper. An example of this is how she felt that J needed his diaper changed. She dragged him over to where she had set up the changing pad. She took his pants and socks off, unsnapped his onesie, and took off his diaper. She got out the wipes and a clean diaper. She wiped off his little parts, than lovingly used that same wipe to dry his tears (much to my dismay, but I let her go, thinking it wouldn't really hurt him.) I did tell her that she shouldn't use a wipe on his eyes, because it might hurt them. Well, little brain that she is, tested the wipe on her own eyes and feeling no pain continued to wipe J's eyes. Again I told her, and again she tested. I had to take the wipe from her. Then she put on a clean diaper and snapped his onesie. In the process of snapping, she felt he had a poopy, so she undid the snaps and wanted to change his diaper again. I told her he was still clean, and we got him back together again. All the while, P is video taping.

I am so thankful for P's insight into the whys of my daughter. Now, if she could only help me with the issues of our cat.

I do so enjoy spending time with my best friend P. She is always open for a visit. We talk and share, watch movies, play games (we are lax in this area right now,) and take care of my kids. We used to do a whole lot of each of the former three things on this list, but with the addition of my kids to the list, the former things have all been cut back. Taking care of kids is a time warp activity.

Even going out has been a task in itself. We had a grand list to tackle on Thursday. But going out twice, the list is still not finished. Really, the best time to go out is in the morning, because afternoon is nap time. But getting ready to leave with plenty of time to complete anything by lunch is near impossible, as P and I well know, since we still have a few stores to get to.

Getting to these stores is important. My husband and I are helping P out with purchasing her everyday needs, since her unemployment has been looming and weighing heavy on her heart. We have been blessed, so we want to pass it on to our friend. After all she has always been generous to us. Whenever we would visit, P would generously share with us. Now we can be generous back.

She continues to be generous to me, even if it isn't monetary. She thought of me and my children in her preparations for our coming - what we might like to eat and do, which games we might play. She thoroughly cleaned her house for our impending visit, staying up way to late to do it. She washed all linens that might touch our fair skin, she vacuumed and mopped her floors to their cleanest shine, she scrubbed the bathrooms free of all insects, dust and grime. Her floors are as clean as it's ever been. It's her way of saying "I love you."

One of her biggest "I love yous" is her willingness to change a long string of wet and dirty diapers. I have no problem letting her change any diaper that needs changing. I find that task to be a stinky one that I just as soon pass off to another. Her latest "I love you" is giving me a chance to take a nap this morning. When I came up from our basement home away from home, there was a note in her beautiful script telling me to wake her after I finished nursing my son. She would watch the bobbins so I could go back to sleep. And really, what more could a sick mother of two small children, who's been sleep deprived, want? Besides a back rub. But hey, she's done that too!

This morning was better. Getting E to bed at a decent time and spending quality time doing so, I think, were key. When I laid her down to sleep, she hardly fussed or cried. I also think she didn't take long to fall asleep, which is also key.

And guess what! She didn't wake up until 7:45. I got to sleep in, sort of. For some reason, J still decided to awake early. He thought he would have a snack at 4:30, than breakfast at 7:30. I even tried taking him upstairs for breakfast, but E still woke up. So I got a little more sleep, but it would also behoove me to get to bed earlier. Though it is hard when the time P and I have while children are sleeping is precious little. We end up staying up way too late for having to get a 2 and a half year old and a 3 month old ready in the morning.

P introduced me to a new game late last night - Up For Grabs. I think she planned it so I would be too tired to play, because I didn't do too well, which didn't sit very well with me. I definitely do NOT like losing.

I am not getting as much sleep as I had hoped to on this vacation trip to my friend's. Apparently my daughter does not sleep well in her basement guest room. It is taking her way too long to fall asleep, and she is not sleeping as long in the morning. So, we are not getting the sleep we need, causing us both to be a bit irritable.

I was especially irritable this morning, when again both children woke at 6:15. After feeding my son, my daughter wanted to be in the pack-n-play. I reminded her that she wasn't getting out for while. She wanted to stay put. So, for an hour I tried to sleep, while hearing my daughter fussing and crying.

I had quite enough of it and spoke out of frustration when she wanted to get down off the bed. I told her I didn't care what she did, she could go play with knives. She responded very seriously, "They are dangerous. No play." I know, I know. Those words should never have been thought, let alone left my lips. My daughter's words diffused my ire. I took her in my arms, apologized, told her she was right and that I didn't mean what I said. I got up, and we came upstairs.

Last night P had some good words of wisdom about dealing with E's strong will. And not seven hours later, her words are lost and my frustration takes hold. I continually fail at keeping my frustration from getting in the way of disciplining my daughter.

I spent Wednesday on the move. I originally planned to leave for my best friend P's house soon after breakfast. That changed to right after lunch when I remembered that on the third Wednesdays of every month is MOTS, and I am working in childcare. I took off three months due to the birth of my son, and now it's time to start up again.

I also realized that my tooth which had a crown put on a few weeks ago just wasn't feeling any better, so I called the dentist. With the morning already full, my only option was the afternoon. They had a 1:00 appointment. My husband was coming home to eat lunch with us before we left, but he ended up watching the kids for me while I visited the dentist instead.

And to top it all off, I really wasn't packed. I had wanted to pack early, but that didn't happen. I kid myself all the time when it comes to time factors. While packing the car, it was made more real to me that a Honda Civic is really not the car for a family of four. (I had that car packed to the top, and my husband wasn't even coming.)

I didn't actually leave until 4:00. I had to stop twice - a crying episode through Wawa with my daughter, and a feeding session with my son. We finally arrived a little after 8:00. Traffic matters didn't help much either.

But we are finally safe and sound in her comfortable cozy home.

This morning I made for the second time Malt-O-Meal hot wheat cereal for breakfast. But unlike previously, I only made one serving. Tried as I might, I could not consume my bowl full. Even while cooking it, I thought the smell of it was a bit too much for me. My daughter, however ate her bowl clean. This morning she pulled the box out of the cabinet and requested it for breakfast. I was happy to oblige her and made her a bowl. She is currently eating it. I am having Corn Chex.

My friend P loves the stuff. I thought about mailing her the box, because she has been unable to find it in stores near her. It was because of her I put the box in my cart, when I came across it at the grocery store. I thought I'd try it. But because my daughter likes it ans even requests it, I will keep the opened box and buy a new one for my friend for next time I see her. I'll stick with Cream of Wheat. (Yes, there is a difference.)

My husband and I didn't really do much for Valentine's Day. We wished each other "Happy Valentine's Day!" but there were no exchange of gifts or cards. We did however get a night out the Saturday before 2-14-07 instead.

Our church sponsored a MOPS and Pops night out. It was for our MOPS moms and their spouses and other members of church who wanted to participate. We signed right up. My mom signed up to babysit. The evening babysitting was from 6-9:30. My mom came over early, so we could have more time together. Then she took the kids to church for us.

I had mentioned to G that I didn't expect him to come up with romantic outings on his own, but he could go on line to get some instead. Apparently he did. He planned our evening as a surprise for me. I love surprises. I was to pick a number, and he would start driving. As we drove we counted restaurants. We would stop and eat at the restaurant corresponding to the number I picked. Since we had some standards, I did change my number to a higher one once. Another idea he found was to find an historic area tour for a date. For some this may be boring, but not for us. My husband found Graeme Park, home of the only colonial home of a Governor still standing. They were holding Valentine's Day tours on Saturday night. My husband reserved us two spots.

It was a nice tour. The house was quite lovely and we saw it by candle and flash light, and in the words of our tour guide, "Much the way it would have been in the 1700s." (You know, with no electricity - except for the very bright spot light illuminating the entire side of the house.) Interestingly, even though the house is hailed as "the only surviving residence of a Colonial Pennsylvania Governor," our tour informed us not about the governor, but about Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson, whose father acquired the house sometime after the Governor Keith lived there.

The tour was a play of sorts. We were invited into glimpses of Elizabeth's life from a young girl through to her later adult life. We saw her as a young girl in love with William Franklin, Ben Franklin's son. This match was looked down upon by her father and other folks close to her family. We saw her accept a marriage proposal by William anyway. But with him going away to school, they would wait to wed until his return. Their marriage never came to be, for when William did return to the states he came with a bride. She wed Henry Hugh Fergusson much later in life. That turned out to be a sorry match, for he was a Tory and had an illegitimate child while married to Elizabeth. With her husband's traitorous ways, Elizabeth lost her house, but was allowed to live there provided she pay rent. I think she reclaimed ownership several years later, but I'm not sure.

The actors did rather well, especially the teens. In fact they did better than some of the adults. There was a scene where two men portrayed an officer in the army and a family friend. They used common language from the present, words and phrases that I am quite sure were not used in the 1700s. I didn't like that. If they are portraying the 1700s, than speak like they did, not they way do now.

When we got back to the visitor's center, there were snackies and some hot chocolate. We both took advantage of the food and warm drink to help warm our cold bodies (the house wasn't really heated, and it was a cold evening.)

Our tour was over and we still had time before we had to pick up the kids. So, we headed over to Borders. We wandered through the store, perusing books and stopped off at the cafe for some coffee (G) and iced tea (me).

We had a very nice date night together.

At least three weeks ago, I managed to gather, sort, wash, dry, fold, and put away laundry in one day. It doesn’t happen often, believe me, so it’s worth mentioning. Last week I had to take down laundry from the week before so I could hang the newly washed clothes.

Let’s see . . . what else. Usually what prompts me to clean the tub is not wanting my children to bathe in crud. (My husband and I don’t count, because we just stand in the tub. Actually, my daughter usually stands throughout her time in the tub, but that’s a different story.) And I don’t even want to think about how I am going to keep the toilets clean enough to let my daughter near them for potty training. She doesn’t seem to realize the importance of NOT touching a toilet anywhere but the lid and the flusher.

My girl is very helpful around the house. E likes to help me vacuum. We have a canister vacuum, and she likes to sit on it like it’s a horse. She also helps by pushing the button to retract the cord. She thinks it’s great fun.

She likes to dust with me. She pushes the “on” button for the dryer, turns on the water when I am ready to use the sink. E will help set the table and then help clean it off. She hangs up her coat and puts away her hat, scarf, and mittens.

She also helps with her brother. She picks out his clothes, helps hook him into his car seat and helps unhook him. She is his binkie bearer, fetching it form him and making sure it is safe to suck, by sucking it first. (She is even thoughtful enough to suck it in secret so his doesn’t get jealous.)

My girl is a great help for me, and I enjoy teaching her. It teaches me patients.

I believe that God has called us to be good stewards of our Earth. I also believe that most people fall seriously short of fulfilling this command, including Christians. There are so many things one can do to help our environment.

Recycle, reuse, and cut back.
Put trash in one container, paper in one container and plastic, glass, and steel into another container. Compost food and yard waste.

Use cloth bags at the store or reuse old plastic bags. Don’t throw out “disposable” containers, wash them. Use washcloths or towels instead of paper towels.

Turn off lights not used. Use energy saving appliances and light bulbs. Hang clothes instead of using a dryer. Keep the thermostat at a lower temperature and put on more clothes.

These are just some ideas among the myriad ways one can be a good steward.

I feel overwhelmed. I feel stuck. I can't seem to accomplish much in one day, but clothe, feed, change, and clean up after my children. Some people say that's OK. Raising your children is the most important thing. But it isn't the only thing I have to do in a day.

There are piles of dirty clothes surrounding my washing machine, crusty dishes abounding on my counter and in my sink, who knows what's growing in our toilets, the poor plants are wilting away, dust and cat hair swirl around on the wood floor, every surface is cluttered with papers, projects are left half done, MOPPETS paperwork is yet to be finished, Creative Memories calls are not made, my Bible sits upon my shelf, my blog remains lonely. The list goes on and on.

But God is good and continues to bless me even while my home is left unkempt. In the middle of writing this, I received a call from a friend (also a mother of two) from church and MOPS. She gave me encouragement. She made me smile.

She mentioned that she loses her joy sometimes. I thought on that and wondered if I have lost my joy. Maybe I have, but I did not realize it.

In thinking about joy, I know I saw it today in the smile of my daughter as we sat looking at ourselves in the mirror. I heard it in the giggle of my son, as I played and talked with him. I savor the feel of my daughter's arms hugging me tight, and the cuddle of my son's cheek against my own. I smile at the antics of my daughter in her animated play, and the constant pumping motion of my son's arms and legs. (If one could harness his little bouts of energy, it could probably power an appliance in my house.)

I still have joy as a mother. I just forget it sometimes and need to be reminded. I know all the other things are not as important as my children, but I do think I need to find a balance between the two.

What good is a spiritual gift, if you don't use it? At my sisters group, we have been looking into what our spiritual gifts are and how to use it.

My problem isn't knowing what mine are, or how to use them. My problem is actually using them. I have great ideas, but I apparently lack the impetuous to doing anything about them.

I have become a linguist. It is not a job I aspired to, but nonetheless here I am.

I am not quite sure when I started in this position, I more or less just fell into it. This language is only a spoken language, and there is no written form anywhere. As far as I know there is no name for it. It is not an easy language to decipher, for it changes periodically. The word for water has changed twice, and several words in English are the same one word in this language.
Another problem is trying to repeat the words. For when I say them as the native does, I am corrected. There are others who study this language and can understand it some, but I am the most fluent since I am immersed in it constantly.

There is only one person who speaks this language - my daughter.

My toilet seat is warm.

Why, you might ask, am I sharing about the temperature of my toilet seat?

Well, let me tell you. You see, we have a powder room that is in the back corner of our house. It was put in many years after the house was built, so unlike the rest of the house it only has baseboard heat. It is really quite ineffective and inefficient. Hence the room is rather cold. The toilet seat takes after cold-blooded animals, by being the temperature of the surroundings. Which means that it also is rather chilly.

My husband had a great idea of putting our portable radiator heater in the adjoining "mud" room. The powder room warmed up some, but that toilet seat was being stubborn. I decided to put the heater in the powder room, even if it took up a fair piece of space.

Well, let me just say that after using the powder room just now, my toilet seat was warm.

This afternoon my son and I had a conversation. While nestled in my arms for a feeding, he thought he would take a break and talk to me. I asked him questions, and he cooed and smiled in response. We talked for a while. I warmed my heart.

My daughter is very into doing what we do. While putting my daughter down for her nap, she had a little dance session. She turned up her music and danced around her room, including the dips. When G or I dance holding her, every so often we bend over while saying "You dip 'em." She apparently caught on and repeats the motion while she dances.

Last night she found a stuffed animal at my parents' house. She held it up to her chest and said it was eating. She than burped the animal, switched to the other side, and burped it again.

It is wonderful to watch her.

My son is six weeks old today. He has been sleeping over 7 hours at night for about 2 weeks, now. He still likes to eat every two hours during the day, though. He will give you smiles and coo at you and will watch you and follow your face.

He has gained two pounds. He is bigger than E was at 6 weeks. He has already outgrown some newborn clothes. He is in the 75th percentile, while my munchkin daughter stayed around the 25th percentile.

He loves the vibrating bouncy seat. He likes to sleep on his side and usually looks to the right and sleeps with his head to the right. I get about a two - five second warning before the hungry cry is heard. The cry doesn't turn off until food is in his mouth. Although sometimes a binkie can hold him for a little while.

His cry is rather high pitched and squeal-like. I am hearing it right now, for it is eating time.

The other day my husband made the comment that I was no longer eating for two, so I shouldn't be having any more cravings. I shot back that I was still eating for two, since I am breastfeeding our son, and I could still have cravings if I wanted to.

We test drove a Chevy Venture today. My husband's boss is selling his. We have been contemplating buying a new car - one that we will all fit in and all our stuff. Right now we have a Honda Civic and Del sol. Obviously the two seater isn't a family friendly car. And we figure if we buy a new car, it should hold a family of five (since we plan on having at least one more child) and the stuff belonging to a family of five.

This car is a good deal. It isn't exactly what I want, but it does have many of the features we want and some perks, like a DVD player, 8 passenger seating, remote start-up, and a built-in child safety seat, which E used today.

And in honor of my best friend P, it has warning back up lights. When you are getting close to something behind you, one yellow light goes on, then two yellow lights, than a red light.

I have been a mother of two now for a little more than a month. Within the last week or two, I feel like I can hardly get anything accomplished during the day. I am usually up by 7:00am and by the time I get all three of us ready in the morning and breakfast on the table, it's nearly 9:00am. Then by the time I clean up the kitchen after breakfast, it's nearly lunch time on some days. E gets to her nap late, which means she wakes up late. She is still sleeping while I am preparing dinner.

And all the while J seems to be sleeping or demanding to eat. (As he is now.)

And when E is finally down for her nap, I just want to sit on the couch and not do anything. Two days this week that is what I did. And J took his nap on my chest. It was wonderful to be able to hold my sleeping boy and cuddle with him.

As I said, my little one wants to eat - RIGHT NOW!

Dell. The customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

I finally got somewhere with them. My best friend P got through to a very important person and passed on her name to me. This lady effectively and swiftly took care of both our problems.

I do have to say though, that my problem isn't completely solved, in that they are crediting the credit card with which we paid. It has been over a year since we bought our computer, and we have since canceled that credit card. We have to wait for the credit card company to let Dell know that we canceled it, then Dell is supposedly going to send us a check.

I am slightly skeptical that we will ever see a check. But, my friend P got what the lady promised her. So, we will see.

I spent over 30 minutes in line at Wal-Mart last night. I was just a bit perturbed over that. Especially when while waiting in one of the three long lines, a self checkout line light went on. I thought, no wait. But when I got to the check-out, there was a closed sign on the conveyer belt. So, back to the long lines I went, farther back and people with more stuff in front of me this time.

But then looking over at the self-check out lines again, there was one man checking out and another waiting. So back over I went. Halfway through checking out, a Wal-Mart employee tells me this lane is closed. I say the light is on and two people already went through. She was rather indignant as she handed me back my things that I already rang up. She canceled out my order, and told me that Customer Service could help me. Why I couldn't just finish my purchase, I don't know. Obviously if two people went through in front of me, I could have too.

So, then I went to Customer Service. But waiting in line there, I thought that I really shouldn't be in this line. I didn't have a return or a problem, save that Wal-Mart should have had more than three regular lines and one 12 items or less lines open. So, I went back over to a regular line to wait. And wait. And wait. And get this. While I was in line waiting, they closed one of the regular lines.

I guess that if you are a shopper after 10:00 pm, expect to wait a long time to check out. You'd think with 14 more shopping days until Christmas, they would have more lines open. On my way out I picked up a Customer Satisfaction paper to fill out.

Did I mention that I had a hungry infant with me?

Here are my daughter and my son on the day they were born.

I finally ripped out the carpet in the dining room. That nasty carpet had four cat urine spots. It stunk. During the end of my pregnancy, I could smell it the second I walked into the house.

In installing the wall to wall carpet, someone thought it a good idea to glue the padding down. The adhesive is still on the floor. It is rather unsightly. I have not tackled getting it off yet. I am hoping that it comes off without a major project ensuing. If it requires sanding and refinishing, than we will be living with it for a while.

If I want our cat, Patches, to come, I shake her food dish.

If I want our cat, Kalli, to come, I run the faucet in the bathtub.

If I want my daughter to come, I jiggle the lid on the candy dish.

They each come running with the appropriate stimulus. It's rather humorus.

I highly recommend that if you have an epidural to take away pain during labor, that you not let the catheter get stuck in your back.

Yes, lucky me had that happen. After my son was born, I was all cleaned up, and almost ready to head to my post-partum room, the anesthesiologist came in to remove the epidural catheter. Well, he pulled and tugged, had me sit this way and that, told me to lie down and curled up, then pulled and tugged some more. But he just couldn't get that thing out. So, I got to sleep with it still in my back.

I also recommend not sleeping with an epidural catheter in your back. Not a comfortable sleep you will have, especially if you have just given birth and still have your IV needle in your wrist, which the nurses won't take out because you might have to go to surgery in the morning. Never mind that they could just put it in again later or that it wasn't a good line anymore anyway, or that it was really hurting.

I am truly disappointed in the care I received with my stay this time. When I had my daughter, I enjoyed my stay in the hospital. The nurses were wonderful and caring. This time I expected the same treatment, but didn't find it. I was on hold to have my water broken, because of a mother having a Cesaerean for twins. It took forever to get my epidural, I guess because the anesthesiologist was busy with the Cesaerean.

Another recommendation is that if an epidural catheter gets stuck in your back, make sure that when they finally get it out, that they show you the end to ensure it all came back out, and that a piece wasn't left inside you. Saturday morning, the spinal surgeon came in to take a look see at my stuck catheter. He was able to do some pulling and tugging and get it out. He was also nice enough to show me the end, so I knew (not that I really knew, because I don't know what it looked like before it was inserted into my back, to verify that it was all still intact coming out) that nothing came off in my back.

I was also finally able to be rid of the IV needle. And now thanks to that being left in my arm overnight, I have a numb spot higher up on my arm and a shooting pain when I reach for things. It is slowly going away. The advice I got for it - apply heat several times a day.

So, now I am sure you are all pining to have an epidural.

Interestingly, my two experiences with pain blockage of epidurals was different. When I had E, I didn't feel the contractions once I had the epidural and I don't remember feeling so numb. Not so with J. The epidural took the pain away to begin with while giving me numbness, but after awhile I could feel the contractions again. I didn't like that so much. I was suppose to not feel them. With E I couldn't really feel her being born, but I sure could with J. I did push for a lot less time with J. I also think I am healing faster this time.

I find it very curious that I had completely different experiences at the same hospital, in the same room, two years apart. Different doctors too.

My friend P said I should pick a different hospital for my next child.

I held my son for the first time Friday night, November 17th at 7:50 pm.

He is a precious boy. I love him dearly.

My daughter is getting used to her bed. My husband is working to get her furniture ready to put in her room. I am hoping that I don't have to wait much longer to have my baby.

I had an OB appointment today. I am almost 2 cm dilated. That of course means nothing in the world of having babies. I could go into labor any minute or make my OB appointment next week. My friend P has it all planned out. I will go into labor approximately at 9:00 am this Saturday morning. This will give her time to sleep in before driving up to be here. Depending on how long I labor, it also will possibly give us time to play some games, maybe go shopping at Wal-Mart (we did this my last pregnancy.)

I just want to have my baby in the morning on an odd number day. Such as tomorrow morning or Saturday morning. I like odd numbers better than even, and I want to have as much time at the hospital after my son is born as possible. Earlier in the day gives you the most time. I know this from having E. She was born at 7:41 am. I had all day Sunday, Monday and half of Tuesday at the hospital. If she had been born at 7:41 pm, I would have missed out on 12 hours of recovery time. I am assuming that they don't discharge you in the late evening. Anyway, I had a very good hospital experience, so I want to get the most of it again.

I am still trying to decide on epidural or no epidural. I could go in and say give me drugs. Or wait and see like I did with E. I go back and forth. I know I won't get one right away, at least. I also know that generally when my body is in pain, I take something for it. Why should childbirth be any different? I am questioning this whole natural birth experience idea.

First, I think the term "natural birth" is incorrectly used. I had a natural birth, I just didn't feel all of it. What they should call it is a pain medication free birth. The only kind of not natural birth I can think of is a cesarean, because the baby is born through a cut in the abdomen, instead of the birth canal.

Second, do women who don't want pain medication during labor also not use anything for their entire pregnancy? Meaning if they had heartburn, no antacids? If they had back or head aches, no acetaminophen? If they had hemorrhoids, no witch hazel? Did they try to make themselves more comfortable during pregnancy, but not during labor? Just wondering.

Today's naptime was much the same as yesterday's naptime. Bed. Still awake - dirty diaper. Crib - still awake - dirty diaper. I may have tried the bed again, but I can't remember. I do remember that after I did get her up, and she kept keeping from getting things ready for my craft fair that evening, I stuck her back in her crib.

I had a table at a craft/vendor fair tonight. I was working diligently to get things ready for it. E kept getting into everything. I was already running late, so in the crib she went. She stayed there till my mom came to watch her for me. E wasn't happy about her situation.

My time at the fair was for naught - if you count the amount of business it brought me. None. Not a person signed up for my information or bought anything. I didn't even have that many people stop to look at what I had on the table. And maybe one person looked at one of the albums I spent time putting together. I did however get to work on two birthday presents. And it was a learning experience. An expensive learning experience.

I did get a bag of Entenmann's cookies out of the deal.

Oh yes, and did I mention that I am still very much ready to have my baby?

Today E's big girl bed came. G came home for lunch to set up her new bed. Let me tell you, the mattress is so thick, that the safety rail we got is almost ineffective. You can't just sit down on the bed, you have to hop on up. E was quite taken with it. She enjoyed laying on it. That is until naptime. The girl did not end up taking a nap. We tried, though. We went through the naptime routine, and I laid her in her new bed. An hour later, still wide awake, with a poopy diaper. I changed her and switched to the crib. Surely that would work, and she'd take a nap. Wrong. After another hour the girl was still not the least bit sleepy and had another dirty diaper. I just got her up at that point and even tried going for a drive. Still E's eyes stayed open.

Bedtime was different. My husband rocked her to sleep, then put her in her bed. She slept in it fine.

My daughter was adorable tonight. We dressed her up as Pebbles. She helped hand out candy and helped herself as well. We had almost 200 trick-or-treaters.

As the evening progressed, E was getting restless. So while my mother monitored the candy, G and I walked our girl down one side of our block and back the other side. She had a grand time.

I was surprised that we really didn't have any more kids come much after 8:00 pm. That was alright, since we were getting low on candy. It was such a nice night out that we sat on our porch to hand out the candy. One kid was quite brazen and thought he'd take three pieces of candy. I immediately informed him that one piece was enough. He reluctantly put the two back and kept looking at me as he walked away. I suppose I could have let him have all three since we really didn't have many kids after him. There were some other opportunists that came by, trying to sneak more than on piece of candy. Instead of actually handing out the candy, we let the kids pick which piece they wanted.

Anyway, it was quite interesting to see so many kids walking down the streets. And some had parents who dressed up, too.

I am ready to deliver my baby. But nothing is happening.

I had a Creative Memories Workshop today. Four people showed up. We had a good time organizing and creating. I was able to get through all the photos I brought and put them in chronological order by year. And then for each year, as best as I could remember, I put the photos in order by month. I have another box full to go through still. That might prove harder since some are photos of my husband's from we were married.

I was told by everyone who came that the enjoyed themselves and that I need to do it again. I plan on it, but I am going to wait until January. That will give my some time to get used to being a mother of two.

I have been getting a certain kind of spam email for a while now, and frankly I am tired of it. I don't know what to do about it, and interestingly, the email that comes is not always my address, yet there it is in my inbox.

I emailed Verizon today about email abuse. Fat lot of good that did. I got a canned email message saying that someone might look into it and get back to me it they need more information. I was not to count on anyone really helping me. They gave me some web sites to check out for email blocking and such. When I followed the instructions to do that, the menus they talked about were not available. So I called Verizon. After much ado, I was informed that the links I was looking for were being updated and would not be available to view until Nov. 5th. I wasn't about to keep getting these email spams at least 7 times a day until then. I decided to delete the email address they were attached to, and I created a new one.

My new email address now corresponds to my Creative Memory business.

What To Pack

My dad surprised my mom with a trip to Williamsburg for her birthday. I was in charge of packing for her. With not living in the house for six years and only seeing her clothes on her for short spots of time, I know I over packed. Three pairs of khakis in the hopes that one would be the right one. Two pairs of jeans. One pair of brown pants. Six long sleeve button-up shirts, all which I knew fit, but didn't know what her preference would be. A few short sleeve shirts and two snuggly warm shirts. The woman has way more jewelry than she wears, so I just guessed at that. And luckily her toiletries bag holds most of what is in the bathroom cabinet. I certainly don't know what she uses in preparing for the day and getting ready for bed. My dad couldn't even really help, and he lives with her, using the same bathroom.

Well, apparently I did rather well. My mom had all she needed. And she had a fabulous time and was totally surprised. My parents had gone to Williamsburg for their honeymoon, so it was a nostalgic time also.

My daughter is continuing to amaze me.

I just saw E take the rest of her banana peel off her banana and throw it away. Then she came and told me she threw out the yucky. Now having finished her banana, she went and got her cloth and wiped her hands and mouth (of course I had to do a supplemental wiping.) And while I was vacuuming, the vet called to verify an appointment for Monday, and I didn't hear the phone, but E did. She took it off the hook and brought it to me.

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A very important note. Watch out for FLYING PIGS! Dell Customer Care called (yes, they called me) about a $75.00 coupon (they upped it from $50.00 to $75.00 apparently - I wasn't going to correct them) I have yet to receive, but have been assured I would have by now. I told them to send it USPS, not email, since email has obviously NOT worked. So, now I have been assured that we should get it in 7- 10 business days. I am not holding my breath.

I don't remember if I have talked about my issues with Dell, so here is some background information. There was a rebate offer if you purchased a computer and signed up for Verizon DSL at the same time. So, we bought a refurbished Dell computer and signed up for Verizon DSL for a year. Filled out the rebate form. Received a post card saying that because we didn't include our order number (the form never asked for it,) the rebate was being denied. I called. Fast forward a year and about 1,000 calls later. NO rebates for refurbished computers, but I could have a $50.00 Dell coupon instead. Fast forward five months and, again, many calls and three emails later, I still have no coupon. Well, blow me over Dell called me today.

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I had a doctor's appointment today. I didn't get to see her. I left after waiting fifteen minutes in the office waiting room and fifteen minutes in the exam room. I could hear the doctor talking with other patients during my appointment time. Tell me how could she possibly be backed up by 8:50 in the morning? I made my appointment the earliest I could, and I still ended up waiting and then eventually leaving. I had my daughter with me, and her attention span does not afford waiting forever to see a doctor. She was done waiting, so we left. I have a new appointment with a different doctor. In fact, the one who was interested in Creative Memories products. Maybe I'll get a sale out of this.

Today marks 34 weeks of pregnancy for me. While I fully enjoy knowing there is life growing inside me, my precious son, I do not enjoy the relief map of veins down my legs, the pressure under my belly, the heartburn that has crept it's way into my evenings, exacerbated by my prenatal vitamins (don't ask me why they have become a catalyst for upper digestive tract gas - I am burping the most horrendous tastes and it hurts my throat.) And a cough I have recently developed causes a most embarrassing situation.

I find myself not enjoying this pregnancy like I did when I was pregnant with E, and I feel guilty. I want to enjoy being pregnant, but my body is making it very hard.

Tomorrow I am calling my OB to discuss either a different prenatal vitamin or something to take care of all the gas and heartburn it has started producing. I thought that part of the problem was that I was laying down right after taking it. I take it right before bed. So, I thought that I would take it earlier. But last night instead of just maybe 20 minutes of the gas heartburn issue, I had three hours of it. Tonight I am not taking my prenatal vitamin.

I had scheduled a Creative Memories workshop for today. No one signed up ahead of time and no one came. I also had a Get Together, sort of. Two women and the hostess. I didn't go through the normal presentation. Really all we did was talk about the hostess's trip to Alaska and look through her partially completed album, and the two guests looked through the catalogs and placed orders. Sales for the Get together were great, but I didn't get any new hostesses. I actually didn't even get a chance to ask them if they wanted to host. I have their numbers and will be giving them each a call. They are interested in coming to a future workshop.

My Get Together scheduled for last night was postponed until a week before my due date. I am optimistic even if E was born a week before her due date. I told the host if my son comes early than we can just have her Get Together in my hospital room.

I have been feeling lately that God has called me to be more involved in my own church's ministries. I had been attending a Bible study for women at my cousin's church, because their was none at my church. They met on the same day as MOPs did at my church. So, I was not attending MOPs. This year I felt God calling me to attend MOPs. I also felt that He wanted me to be involved in the leadership. So, I have decided to take on the responsibility of MOPPETs coordinator. I am in charge of the childcare ministry of MOPs.

I watched two DVDs about MOPPETs and leadership positions in MOPs yesterday. They helped a lot, and I am all excited for my new role. I have to get planning, though, so I am ready for our next meeting.

I am missing the Bible study with others that I had lsat year. But there are two women in my church who want to start something, so I am hopeful.

Save-a-penny

I forgot to mention in my weekend musings about an interesting find I had. While changing E's diaper on Sunday, I noticed something shiny. Yep, she apparently swallowed a penny, and we didn't even know it. And if not for my keen eye, we would not ever have known it. We witnessed her filling the diaper and didn't notice her having a harder time of it. I guess passing a penny isn't much different than normal functionality.

My what interesting things fill my day as the mother of a two year old.

We had our last family of three vacation this weekend. Since our second child will be joining us in the middle of November, we aren't planning on going on any trips during that month. We are planning a trip to the cabin in two weekends, but my parents will be joining us.

We headed off to the Jersey Shore Friday evening. And the trip that should have taken us maybe two hours, afforded us three and a half fun hours together in the car. On one of our detours G made the comment that he always wanted to know where the road we were on went. Surprisingly E didn't nap the entire trip. And also surprisingly neither did I.

We had a relaxing weekend of reading, watching TV, spending time together, playing on the beach, and walking on the boardwalk. Tragically we didn't get to play any games. We didn't think we would get to the beach, because we woke to rain on Sunday. But by the afternoon it was sunny and beautiful.

Saturday night we went out to dinner and quite possibly experienced our worst dinner night out with our daughter. She hadn't napped and was hungry, a rather lethal combination for a two year old. She felt that if she couldn't have something, it should get tossed somewhere. She also has recently begun to hit, kick, or head butt when she doesn't get her way. She had at least three time outs, which my dear husband administered. And to top it off, between the time we ordered and when our food came, there were several tables that we noticed where the patrons were seated, they ordered, their food was brought out, they finished eating, and they were wrapping up their time at the restaurant. And of course when our food finally came, after I mentioned to the hostess that we were still waiting for our food, it was luke warm and our waitress, who had gone missing, did not apologize for it taking so long. After she took our order, we didn't see her again until she brought our food. She didn't get a very good tip. E fell asleep on the way home, helping our sanity.

Lunch on Sunday was delicious pizza on the boardwalk and went a lot better then the previous eating out experience.

Our time on the beach was a fun experience. E didn't have a problem with the sand, as in her last two encounters with it. She happily frolicked along beside us. She did however feel that touching the water with her toes was unnecessary and only consented to stomping in a very shallow, nearly non-existent tide puddle. I did savor the small prints her feet left behind in the packed, wet sand. She also enjoyed digging in the sand, covering our feet with it, and smashing "castles" G built.

We left to travel home much later that we planned, because we forgot about washing our linens and towels, and because we just take forever to get ready to leave. But thankfully our ride home only took us an hour and forty minutes, much better time than going. E and I both fell asleep for a portion of the ride.

We have a new heater. We have central air on three floors. We have new pipes carrying untainted water to our faucets. We had our amp service changed from 100 to 200 and other miscellaneous electrical work done. We have removed the not so nice carpet in the living room and our bedroom. We are starting to replace window sash cords with chains. We have ripped out unruly plants that have overgrown our walk. We have purchased a new couch, dining room table, ceiling fans, and a dining room light. We are searching for rugs to grace our nice hardwood floors.

We are making progress.

I awoke this morning at around 7:00 am to the ridiculous report that there were fans already at the stadium for the Eagles home opener. The game didn't start for at least six hours. I am sure the stadium didn't open that early, so those fans would be sitting in the parking lot for most of that time. I find that absurd. (The Eagles didn't even win.)

My husband took me to an Eagles game once. I vowed never to go again. Football fans are not that nice of a group of people, when all together in one place. Especially when their team is losing. When my husband left to go get us food, I was actually scared being by myself in a sea of pumped up testosterone. I don't need that experience again. If I watch the game at all, the TV does just fine.

Baseball is what I like to watch - the Phillies. Even though the Phillies aren't always the best or even near the top. But I still would never show up for a game six hours before the first pitch.

I guess some people have nothing better to do.

G and I have tried to have yardsale twice in our married life. Both times it rained. Yes this morning dawned wet with precipitation. We thought we might try anyway, seeing how we have a covered porch. But really only the diehard yardsalers come out on rainy days. So, we have to live with our junk another week. And to rub it in, the weather thought it would actually get sunny and nice in the afternoon.

Although no yardsale occurred, I did get a few hours to myself. G went to pick up a cedar chest from his grandmother and took E with him. I was able to read my Bible and just have some time to myself.

Those hours were forgotten though, when later in the day our darling girl thought she might not take a nap. And her tiredness was compounded because she had gotten to bed after 10:00 last night and awoke early this morning. The girl was running on much less sleep than she requires. She was not a compliant child. And making matters worse, dinner was very late. We were at my parents and G was helping my dad put up dry wall on the kitchen ceiling. Since the kitchen was a mess, dinner was held up.

After we finally ate, I had the bright idea of giving her a bath. Normally I would have held off, but she needed one. Many screams and one clean girl later, we headed home glad to get our child to bed.

Tonight was our first choir practice. I am going to sing at least till my baby is born in November. Then I'll have to see how things go. For a year after E was born, I didn't sing in the choir. Inevitably she would be hungry right in the middle of the church service.

It is good to sing in a group again , though. I think I will try to make it work this time.
At least still sing the Christmas Cantata.

My legs were much better yesterday and today, though I have already ordered those stylish and trendy compression stockings.

We are having a yard sale this Saturday, and I still have to get organized for it. We also need some tables on which to put stuff. My sister (J) is raising money for a marathon she is participating in for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and much of what we earn is going to that. She has also been making jewelry to sell to raise money. If you'd like to donate, email me, and I'll give you her information.

Our kitten is very, very, very,very close to losing her claws.

My legs remind me of relief maps. I am 30 weeks pregnant, and my legs have looked quite blue for a while now. The veins are just popping to the surface to show their ugly selves.

Until this weekend they didn't hurt me. They pained me yesterday and today. I wore my sneakers, which helped immensely, although my feet much prefer flip-flops. I usually spend my summer in them. But I acquiesced to my aching legs and put on my sneakers.

Yesterday was a family reunion filled with people whom I don't much remember. But nonetheless, I feel it important to go to family reunions. Saturday evening was spent walking the main street of Lansdale for Bike Night. Motorcycles everywhere. Four times as many people. I would like to own a motorcycle. But I don't know how to drive one and being in the family way, it is not recommended for me to learn anytime soon. But just you wait until my son is born.

Today, we had my husband's (G) work picnic. We went to a golf recreation place. We received lunch, arcade tokens, batting cage tokens, a round of miniature golf, and two go cart rides. With me being pregnant, G made out pretty well. He got one of my batting tokens and both my go cart rides. We had our daughter (E) with us for lunch, but my mother (B) came to pick E up for us. Miss E really needed to get her nap in today, because yesterday she only got about 15 minutes while in the car. Naps are important things for two-year-olds.

Our plan was to go to Lowes between the picnic the covered dish dinner at church. We didn't make it to Lowes, and we were late for dinner. Though we were not late enough to miss out on the food. Following the dinner was a time when those who went on mission trips could tell us about their experience. E ate enough to get dessert, a rarity for her. Everything was very tasty. The program was too long for E's attention span, and we ended up listening over the speakers in the toddler room, while she played.

We had a very busy weekend and the next two months of weekends are all filled up as well. It is a busy Fall.

There was another article about the child getting hurt by the cat. I need to go back and read the other article, because my husband only skimmed it, which means he didn't quite get all the facts correct., which was evident when I read the second article.

The owner of the cat was actually the girl's mother's boyfriend, not her father. The girl wasn't hurt as badly as I thought, though she did require some staples for her scratch. The mother apparently suggested the cat be killed, to which the owner complied. I did find out how the cat was killed but will leave that detail out.

The man plead guilty to cruelty to animals, and the woman plead guilty to conspiracy to commit cruelty to animals. After having more facts, I now feel what happened to them fits what they did.

One thing did still make me shake my head in sadness. The Assistant District Attorney made this remark, "This kind of depraved act against a defenseless animal shows a level of cruelty which we hope wouldn't exist in a civilized society. We take these cases very seriously." Is he not aware of the depraved acts that occur everyday in a "civilized" society to unborn humans, which are far more defenseless than cats with claws? How serously does he take the ending of unborn human life?

After my last posting I decided to do a search on google for pro-life groups in my area to see what I could do.

I stumbled upon a quote by Mother Teresa. "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."

I think she said it all.

My husband was telling me of a story he read in our local paper. I haven't read the article, so I am only going by what he told me.

The story told of a man who was arrested and now sits in jail for killing the family cat, because it had seriously hurt his young daughter. I don't know how he did it or any other details. When pets hurt people aren't they usually put to sleep? Personally, I think that he should have taken the cat to the vet to be put to sleep, instead of taking care of it himself. But I also think that jail time seems a bit steep with these circumstances. A fine seems more in order.

But it brings to mind one wrong I have always been against. Abortion. That man sits in jail for killing his cat, who seriously hurt his child, but his wife could have killed their child before she was born. Doesn't something seem wrong there?

Another wrong . . . there is a very high penalty for killing unborn eagles . . .

. . . but millions of mothers are killing their unborn children every day. How is it that animals are protected but a child is expendable?

Why is it that unborn children are not held as more important that animals? How can people fight for the rights of unborn eagles and not even blink an eye when a woman walks into a clinic pregnant and walks out not pregnant? Why does that child not have rights too? Than I wonder what am I doing about it? And I realized that I am not doing much at all, besides voting for pro-life advocates. This realization bothers me. I need to be doing something more.

Another thought I came across was from my pastor during a sermon awhile back. American pets have better health care than most children in the world. I never considered this, but I know it to be true. This is also troubling to me. Again, what am I doing about it? My husband and I sponsor two children, from Nigeria and Ethiopia, through World Vision. But again, is it enough?

How am I changing this world? What am I doing to right the wrongs I see?