Pope calls for a UN 'with teeth'

It is the Pope's first encyclical on social issues

The Pope has called for reform of the United Nations and financial bodies, giving them the "real teeth" needed to tackle economic and social injustice.

Benedict XVI said the blind pursuit of profit and economic mismanagement had "wreaked havoc" on the global economy.

The market, said the Pope, must not become the place where the strong prevail over the weak. His encyclical letter said a reformed UN should strive for disarmament, food security and environmental protection.

An encyclical letter is the highest form of papal teaching, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome. This letter, Caritas in Veritate, or Charity in Truth, is his third since being made Pope in 2005. It is the first to focus on social issues, and follows two on spiritual matters. The densely argued 144-page document is the result of a two-year effort by the Pope to bring Catholic social teaching up to date on the ethical responsibilities for the global economic meltdown, says our correspondent.

Its publication comes on the eve of Wednesday's G8 meeting of world leaders at L'Aquila. "There is a strongly felt need... for a reform of the United Nations Organisation, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth... there is urgent need of a true world political authority," the Pope wrote.

The strengthened international body should work "to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace, to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration," Benedict said. Dangers of profit The letter, addressed to all Catholics "and people of goodwill", reminds them of their moral duties in financial dealings.

"Profit is useful if it serves as a means toward an end," he wrote.

"Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty."

He warned that globalisation, properly managed, could "open up the unprecedented possibility of large-scale redistribution of wealth on a world-wide scale".

But badly directed, it could "lead to an increase in poverty and inequality, and could even trigger a global crisis".

On Friday Pope Benedict will have his first meeting with President Barack Obama at the Vatican, when the new US leader will have the opportunity to exchange views with the Pope on the moral imperatives facing world leaders in 2009, our correspondent says.

I knew it!

Take the Quiz here!

Too cute!

How's YOUR day going?!

I just love nursing my youngest... coming out of the bedroom and not knowing what chaos to expect!!

Yeah right....

Propositiopn 8 Ruling

Prop 8 Ruling a Blow to All MinoritiesBy Joel P. Engardiowriter, documentary filmmaker

Religious supporters of Proposition 8, the voter initiative that banned same-sex marriages in California, might feel good now that the state's Supreme Court has ruled that the measure can stand. But will those religious groups that are celebrating Prop 8 today regret it later when they consider the precedent that's been set?

Prop 8 has made it a lot easier in California for a simple majority of voters to strip away the rights of an unpopular minority. What happens when it's your time to be the unpopular minority?

History is unkind and too often repeats itself. Members of the Mormon Church, who were major supporters of Prop 8, have ancestors who experienced some of the worst religious discrimination ever faced in the United States. In the mid-19th Century they were driven by mobs from Illinois to Missouri and across the Wild West to Utah. It was wrong then to persecute Mormons for what they believed, just as it would be wrong now to try to force Mormons to accept members or marriages in their church they deem unworthy. There is freedom of religion in America for good reason. But that and other freedoms have been watered down in California thanks to Prop 8. The court now has less power to fulfill the purpose for which it was created: keep the tyranny of the majority from trampling the rights of the minority. Anyone can be a minority if enough people don't like the way you live, worship or think.

My mother is one of Jehovah's Witnesses, an unpopular religion that was persecuted in the U.S. and abroad. They faced mob violence in 40 states when refusing to salute the flag during World War II. In Germany, they were put in the concentration camps for refusing to give the Nazi salute. Like Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses vehemently oppose same-sex marriage on moral and Biblical grounds. Gays are not allowed to be Witnesses unless they live celibate and single lives?? (note: they can marry someone of the opposite sex). Members who insist on being in a same-sex relationship are shunned by the congregation. But none of the million Jehovah's Witnesses in the U.S. supported Prop 8 because the religion mandates staying out of politics and culture wars.

Jehovah's Witnesses proselytize door-to-door advocating a religious point of view just as Mormons do. But the choice to accept or not ends at the front door for the Witnesses. They don't amend the constitution to force everyone to live their way. State laws are not needed to legitimize their moral views. Witnesses don't see the state as an enforcer of a moral code. That's the Bible's job, they say. If you want to be in God's Kingdom, simply live the code yourself - it's not the Witnesses' mission to enact laws to stop gays from marrying.

When Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted they fought for their First Amendment rights at the U.S. Supreme Court a record 62 times, winning 50 cases. With each win, rights were expanded for everyone. The Witnesses know it's in their best interest that the rights apply to all, even for groups they disagree with. Now in California the opposite is happening.

Some religious organizations are celebrating a restriction of rights for a minority they disagree with - making themselves the future target of an equally discriminatory people's amendment. Because Prop 8 diminished the court's protective role, there will be nothing they can do other than realize they should have been more careful about what they wished for.

Our thrifty yard is coming along!!

So, we have been incredibly busy in the last few weeks. We now have a fully functional gym in our basement and I love it. I worked out for 40 minutes last night when the kids were in bed, it was AWESOME!!. It was so calming and stress relieving... quiet. Made hubby feel guilty as he watched TV the whole time, lol. We like pushing each other. He's been working out too :)

Our yard is coming along pretty nicely. We are suppose to get flagstone delivered late this afternoon and we'll hopefully start laying it out on the path this weekend.

Here is a picture of our patio table and umbrella.

I wanted to post this picture to show that it doesn't take much money to make your yard look great. Let me explain. I don't think I have shared this before, but I am a great back alley shopper, deal finder.... you name it.

The key? Swallow your pride. You might wonder why I say this. We grew up poor and we at different times had to ask for help from people around us, and we had to wear things that were NOT of the latest fashion, we had to make do, or re purpose things. We had to accept things from people and we had to not be affraid to ask for help. Matt 7:7

When I was in I think grade 5 or so, I had found some good shoes in a garbage and wore them to school. My husband laughs at this and it IS funny now that I look back, but I got teased for so long for wearing these shoes and I DIDN'T care. They worked, they were comfortable. Whoever threw them out simply didn't want them, doesn't mean I couldn't make use of them. Not everything in the garbage is garbage.

So back to the patio set.

I was driving down along a rich street with river frontage, when I noticed moving trucks in front of a house. I parked, asked the moving crew where the owner was and then asked him if he was getting rid of anything (MOST people in the middle of a move will love to have you take things off their hands as they are so busy with the move). The man said, as a matter of fact, I have this patio set and BBQ that I was gonna bring to the dump.

I couldn't believe it, TO THE DUMP!!!! People these days!!!!

So here it is now in our backyard a very pretty/functional patio set with umbrella, base, 4 chairs and 2 swivel chairs, table and Broil King BBQ... ALL FOR FREE...just because I asked.

Here is the twist, the faded umbrella fabric wasn't so nice, so a couple of weeks ago, while back alley shopping, I found this pumpkin colored one on another umbrella on top of a garbage can. I took the fabric and brought it home and it fit perfectly. I just love the splash of color now.

When I was younger, I use to spend my entire summers in the preaching work, but sometimes I would worry about activities I was missing out on or material things I didn't have. My parents always encouraged me with verses such as Matt. 10:29-31 where Jesus reminds us that our Creator will provide for us as he does for all his creatures or Matt. 7:7. Wouldn't you know it, I would come home and a bag of clothes had been dropped off by a friend or another friend would invite me over to spend the evening at her place in the pool... Jehovah ALWAYS provided what I needed and with little extras ;).

Swallow your pride and look for the good gifts and blessings that might be right under your nose!

Does L look like Grampa or what !?!

Ok, so this is really not a good picture of my dad, he was just goofing around ;) but soooo often we cath ourselves saying that L looks like my dad. I know there is one other picture I am thinking of where my dad is making another goofy face (he's always goofing around) and THAT one looks a lot like L, but I can't seem to find that pic right now.

Little update

Our cute lil munchkin is now 11 weeks old and weighs 13 lbs 9 1/2 oz

and measures 23 1/2 inches. He is growing so fast!!!

Blueberry Oats Muffins - Hmmmmm

I just got this recipe from my friend's mom. My son has been stuffing these muffins in his mouth like there is no tomorrow. I think he likes them even more than the Banana Chocolate chip muffins. Better than chocolate!!

They are very simple, not very sweet, but just enough. I actually love them with tea.

Some people like them with cinnamon, but we aren't big cinnamon fans around here.

• 1 cup rolled oats (works with instant oats as well)
• 1cup sour milk (1 cup milk + 1 tbs vinegar, let sit for 5 min.)
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 cup wholewheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking sod
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup blueberries

1. Smaller bowl, mix oats and sour milk.
2. Add egg and melted butter. Mix well.
3. Bigger bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, brow sugar and blueberries*. Mix well.
4. Add smaller bowl to bigger bowl, all at once.
5. Stir until just moistened.
6. Fill muffins cups 3/4 full.
7. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

*Tip: Don't want your muffins to turn blue? If you are using frozen blueberries like I am, thaw them out, rinse them and flour them properly when mixing them in with the flour mix, make sure they are all covered.

Enjoy!

Blogland

We have been so busy!

I just haven't been able to write anything.... I've actually had lots to write about, but no time to do so. We are attempting to do everything at once and we all know that doesn't really work. It's really hard to prioritize. Since it is now May and planting season starts soon, we are trying to give a big push on finishing up our yard projects, so we can finally ENJOY our yard for once.

Things to be done:

• Finish small retaining wall that goes around the garden and the pond.
• Finish our flagstone pathway.
• Build the pond.
• Clear/sort/clean out the garage.
• Plant.

All these things each include many steps and most likely many setbacks and things never go as you planned.

When it comes to house projects, here they are:

• Make our newly acquired basement a bit more livable(tenants just moved out and we've taken over :D ).
• Rip out the upstairs hardwood floors and sub floor,
• Then insulate, put new sub floors and new hardwood.
• Re-do ceilings in living room and three bedrooms.
• Finish bathroom counter top.
• Build concrete counter top to mach the kitchen's counter tops for our new bar cabinets.

There are many smaller projects intertwined in there...

Then we will have lots and lots of cleaning to do after all the work and dust and so on.

And THEN, maybe we'll be able to enjoy our summer.

All of this will be in addition to trying to keep up with our spiritual obligations.

I dunno how we are going to do it. We have to figure out how to prioritize. The house is now in more chaos than ever (Although I should mention that the basement is coming along nicely). We've been spending a lot of time outside now the weather is finally starting to warm up. This makes for a lot of going in and out of the house for food and clothing, while wearing dirty shoes. We are really bad at not cleaning up after ourselves after eating or anything else, as we are just anxious to get back out there and keep working.

Hubby HAS completed the rabbit pen. It is soo great!! He has put so much work into it, but we think it was worth it. We love it and so does D. He is now able to walk right in and play with the rabbit. I'll have to tell you our rabbit's story one day. Quite amazing, he is such a nice rabbit. He keeps running in circles around D's feet. So cute!

We were able to go to the zoo last week, myself and the kids that is. It was Friday, so T was working. I had registered D at a Homeschooling Toddler Bird Show. I'll tell you more about it soon. It was so nice for him. He really enjoyed it.

Today I really really need to catch up on all our laundry and clean up the house. It is a disaster. As soon as T comes home from work, I will take the baby and go run some errands and pick up some groceries.

Have a great day too!!

P.S.: I just put both boys to sleep and now the youngest is crying.... And I thought I might have time to myself to clean !!!!!! Yeah right. ;)

Oh and did I mention all 4 of us are coming down with a cold?!

This and That

We are finally getting some warmer days around here. The boys and I spent the whole morning outside yesterday. It was just gorgeous. I LOVE spring, new beginnings, I love how perfect the temperature is, not too warm not too cold. We ended up having lunch on the patio sitting in the sun. How perfect! We racked the whole front lawn and got some good exercise out of that too. :)

Now on a different note, I've been reading the e-book "Workers @ Home, How to Make The Most Of Your Time, by Erin Thiele." My life is of course quite different than the author's right now, but I have found many useful tips and encouragement.

Here is the one point she brought out that had the biggest impact on me:

"Some of you have chosen a life that is much too busy with outside activities. Your home reflects the rat race with chaos and disorder! The root cause for many of us can be found at James 3:16 where it says, "For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing."

When "My Own Agenda" is first and foremost in my life above God's plan, which gives me the responsibility to keep my home clean and running efficiently, then that is selfish ambition. Any time this creeps into my life (usually brought on by selfishness or self-pity), then my life and my home are disorderly and evil runs rampant!"

This was better help than anyone telling me "It's OK, you'll get there some day, just keep picking at the chaos in your house, you're doing well...YOur young you have a lot of time." I need a good kick in the behind is what I need, and calling me selfish and jealous might just do it. We know God is a god of order and according to James 3:16 to him this is where disorder comes from, selfishness. I think that is true of my case. I probably have been quite selfish and even though it's not necessarily "voluntary", I think it is something I will be fighting for a long time and will definitely be a mater of prayer for me for a long time.

Erin also encourages making a flashcard box, some call it a Home Management in a Box. Although I already have a Home Management binder, I am still gonna try this method. In fact I started making my cards last night. I'm a very visual and tactile person and I'm hoping this will help me as it is small, colourful, very straightforward and tactile as I need to flip through the cards basically every time I'm done the previous card.

You can download Erin Thiele's e-book right here

Memorial of Christ's Death

Thursday April 9th 2009, our family along with our congregation and thousands more, commemorated Christ's death by attending the Memorial held at our Kingdom Hall. I don't know yet what the attendance was and will probably find out this coming Tuesday, but we had a full hall with many visitors. Last years worldwide attendance was I think 18 million with only 7 million of these being Jehovah's Witnesses. So many visitors!

On Thursday, as I was nursing in the bathroom/mother's room, during the Memorial, a sister came in crying, sobbing actually. I thought something horrible must have happened or perhaps she was thinking of her grandfather whose funeral was just 2 weeks ago. I asked her right away why she was crying. She said she had dropped off a Memorial invitation that morning, in the mailbox at an old friend's house. This girlfriend of hers was really close to her family but had taken a bad turn 3 years ago. I was ready to try to console her for her friend not being here when she said,

"On my way to the bathroom, I saw her sitting at the back, she actually came!"

Those were tears of joy! It made me want to cry too. I was so happy for her. We can't give up, many will take wrong turns, but how exciting to think some WILL turn around and come back to Jehovah. We should be reminded of and be thankful for Jehovah God's patience and long suffering with us all.

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

- 2 Peter 3:9

My Messy House - Part 2

It seems pics of my messy house are THE most popular pics on my blog. Sorry to disapoint you, but I DO have pics of my home CLEAN.... and YES you HAVE to look at them. I am so embarassed that everyone is soooo interested in my MESSY place, lol. I still have to take pics of the office and dining room table and maybe the laundry room so this isn't a full tour of my house but it will do for now. I'll do a full tour soon when I have more time. Here they are:

Part 1

Recipe Cards

I have had a Home Management Binder for a while. I have a section for recipes and dinner ideas, as well as weekly meal planning.

Here is my problem. For some reason, my recipe sheets don't seem to stay nice and neat in there. I get food on them or they get ripped out after using them often. I know this could be fixed with simply putting them into plastic sleeves. BUT my issue is also that I find it cumbersome to have my big binder on the counter, and I have at times taken the sheets out, but they didn't seem to make it back to my binder. I'm really bad at that. I also simply WANT a nice little recipe box to keep on my counter.

I've also for years had this little tin box laying around the house. I kept finding it everywhere, even in the garden, full of mud. I always felt bad about throwing it out and thought I should really do something with it. This box had been with me through 2 or 3 moves. Like I said in my previous post, I am quite bad at attaching sentimental value to something that doesn't mean anything. In the back of my head I kept thinking, "Well, I can't throw it out now, after all these years and history of finding it everywhere in my house, surely I can use it for something".

Well, wrong thinking, like all organizers will tell you, I should have thrown it out a long time ago..... BUUUUT....now I HAVE finally found a use for it and I am quite quite happy with it. Sooo, don't follow my example of keeping around something that you don't use for years, but please do follow my example of finding a use for something that might end up in a landfill. lol

So here is what I've done with my little container. I've turned it into my little recipe card container. The outside of it use to be just like the utensil holder you can see on the right of it in the picture.

When I was in school, I made a large wood cabinet and I made the doors as frames with chicken wire in the center. My teacher told me to use GUN BLUE to make the chicken wire look older.

This is exactly what I used on this little tin box. Now it looks like it has some history. I might do the same to the utensil holder, I'll see.

For my recipe cards, I bought some antique look, parchment paper. I made up recipe cards in a Word Document. I then cut out the cards (4/page) and placed them inside a laminating sheet and laminated them. You must leave enough room between the cards so you can have a border of plastic running around each of them. This makes them last longer.

Lastly I added and an old vintage paperclip on the back of the box. This allows me to easily follow a recipe by setting it on the paperclip as you can see in the picture. (I originally was gonna drill a hole in my box and screw the paperclip upside down onto it, so it would hold my cards tight, but it didn't seem to hold them at the right angle. So I let the paperclip hold onto the box and let the card sit on top and it was the right angle and the card didn't seem like it was gonna fall over.) I also added a 2 inch Styrofoam block at the bottom of the box as my cards were a bit short and I wanted them to stick out more.

With time I'll be adding more and more cards as I find recipes I like.

It's been a while...

I know, I know, I've been gone for a while.

I'm just having to readjust to my new routine and the lack of sleep... and I've tried to make sure blogging didn't come first.

I was doing pretty good keeping my house clean right after the baby, but I've gone backwards a little bit since. I'm working on de-cluttering. I had to go through all of D's old clothes to find stuff for the new baby and I was having the hardest time putting my own clothes away as I had my pregnancy, pre-pregnancy and post-pregnancy clothes all over our bedroom as every day was a challenge to find clothes that fit properly. I think most of it is sorted now. I've lost a looot of weight.

I still have lots of things to catch up on in the house.

I'm working on having a place for everything and everything in it's place!!! Helps me get rid of things that I only keep for "sentimental" value... Don't get me wrong, I keep a lot of stuff for sentimental value, I don't just throw out keepsakes.... buuuut I seem to attach sentimental value to everything, even very little nick-nacks, things that don't really mean anything. sooo.......

A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN IT'S PLACE!!!

This will be my motto for the month.

I am soooo excited. This is our last month with tenants in our basement. We are taking over the basement May 1st. I can't tell you how much this pleases me. We will be able to take our freezer out of the garage and put it in the basement (we will be able to clear a lot fo stuff from the garage). Actually, just this last week we bought a newer bigger freezer, a stand up one as well and we will be putting it in place of the fridge which is in the downstairs kitchen. I will also be able to declutter my kitchen a little more and put to use the downstairs kitchen cabinets for things we still want to keep but don't use as often. There is also a storage room, a little bit like a cold room. I'll have lots pf provisions there and will hopefully cut down on my trips to the store and maybe start canning as well.

All our winter coats will come out of the dusty garage. We will have 2 guest beds and exercise equipment. We've been wanting to cancel out gym memberships for a while. This will save us money.

But the most exciting part for me will be to use the living room as my new little classroom... Oh let me tell you the plans I have for THAT project. It's gonna look nice!!!!! I will take pics when the time comes.

SO that is about it for the excitement this month...

I guess I should add, that although I don't celebrate birthdays (therefore don't need birthday wishes), I did just turn 24 on the weekend.

I know what you're thinking, "Oh my goodness she's so ooold !" hehe ;)

Hippocratic Oath

A Meaningful Oath? In ancient Greece, Hippocrates, sometimes called the ‘father of medicine,’ required his students to take an oath. For over two thousand years the graduating young doctors of many countries have repeated it. But how meaningful can this vow be today when we consider that one of the promises made is: "I will not give to a woman an instrument to produce abortion"? Awake 77 9/8 p.12

Hippocratic Oath From Wikipedia

The Hippocratic Oath is an oath traditionally taken by physicians pertaining to the ethical practice of medicine. It is widely believed that the oath was written by Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, in the 4th century BC, or by one of his students.[1] It is thus usually included in the Hippocratic Corpus. Classical scholar Ludwig Edelstein proposed that the oath was written by Pythagoreans, a theory that has been questioned due to the lack of evidence for a school of Pythagorean medicine.[2] The phrase "Above all, do no harm" is usually attributed to the oath. Although mostly of historical and traditional value, the oath is considered a rite of passage for practitioners of medicine, although it is not obligatory and no longer taken up by all physicians.

Original, translated into English:[3]

“ I swear by Apollo, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath.

To consider dear to me, as my parents, him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and, if necessary, to share my goods with him; To look upon his children as my own brothers, to teach them this art.

I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.

I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion.

But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.

I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art.

In every house where I come I will enter only for the good of my patients, keeping myself far from all intentional ill-doing and all seduction and especially from the pleasures of love with women or with men, be they free or slaves.

All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal.

If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.

Awwwwh, I just had to share!

Little L, born at 6lbs 15oz is now at 9lbs 9oz, as of Thursday, 26 days after birth. Little porker!

He fits so perfectly in the bathroom sink.

Daddy's boys!

D saw L having some belly time on the floor and he decided to join.

Little L's Birth Story

I wasn't sure if I would have the energy to write this post or not... but I then figured L's birth went so well and so fast, that it probably wouldn't take me too long to write about it.

I've been told by a few friends now that I was "made to have children" as I do seem to have easy births. I have heard so many birth stories gone wrong or that were simply loooong and tirering. I must say that I have never really experienced that. L's birth was incredibly fast. Faster than D's and D's was already quite fast (I will write his birth story one day, soon hopefully).

I was due Monday the 23rd of February. My sister in law, who lives in Czech Republic with her husband and their first son was due on the exact same day. My husband's parents decided to go stay with them for 3 months to help out with the new baby, which meant that they were most likely going to miss L's birth AND not see him until 3 months later. They were going to catch their international flight from our city. They arrived at our house Friday night the 13th of February as they were going to stay with us till Monday. We of course joked about how great it would be if I could have the baby early, just in time for them to see him before leaving...

Well... Saturday afternoon, February 14th, at 3 pm exactly, as I was having a nap alone at home while the family was running around with last minute errands, my water broke. I wasn't exactly sure if that's what it was since it was just a trickle. I thought I might have a little "bladder control" problem. But this trickle kept going for a while. When they all came home I told them what I thought this might be, but I didn't seem to be having real contractions. Seemed to me I was still having Braxton Hicks. T and I left to run an errand and now the contractions were starting... by te time we came back home they were stronger. By 5 or 6 oclock, they were very consistent and much stronger.

This is a picture of me at home just after showering. I like taking a picture right before I go to the hospital to see how big I was. I have a picture pregnant with D, in the exact same spot.

Now, my big thing with birth is that lots of pictures will be taken. So as I did with my last brith, I took a nice shower and did my hair and put all my makeup on because I am vain, lol. I don't want to look back at pictures years from now and look like I had just been run over by a truck. Of course I expext and know that I will look tired, but doing all those things just helps me feel better and feel ready. Plus, most books I've read have suggested finding things to keep busy with during the contractions. This helped me a lot with D's contractions, althought THIS time I barely had time to do all of that AND pack up. The contractions were getting stronger so much faster than the first time. I had nothing packed since this ws 9 days before the baby's due date.

We got to the hospital at 8:30pm. Nurses checked me, I was at 5 cm. This time around everything seemed more painful than the last time. I figure a big reason for that was how fast things were moving along. I could barely keep my mind on top of things, on top of the pain. As with the last birth I wanted a completely natural birth. I didn't stay in the examining area very long. I was progressing too fast. They brought me over to the delivery room.

My mother and father-in-law stayed at home with D, they were waiting for a phone call to come over to the hospital as I really wanted D to be there right after the birth. My parents were 3 hours away and would not be able to make it until the next day. My friend who was suppose to be in the delivery room with us was trying to rush to the hospital in time as she was visiting friends just outside of town. She made it just in time.

I had the baby at 9:44.

I had offloaded pictures from our camera memory card onto the computer just before leaving so we would have enough memory to take lots of pictures, but in my big hurry I forgot to actually erase the pics from the card once copied onto the computer. While my friend was trying to take a video of the baby coming out, the memory filled up. She turned to T and asked what she should do. He looked down for what he thinks was one minute, so he could erase old pictures and when he looked up the baby was already on my chest. I was so mad at myself, it was my fault he missed the baby coming out.

They were able to tape the first pushes and then started tapping again as the bay was on my chest. They thought at first that I must have only pushed for 4 or 5 minutes. Turns out that after looking at the internal clock on the camera, I seem to have pushed for under 3 minutes.

T's parents wit D.

That was the most painful 3 minutes of my life yet. More painful than the first birth. Probably cause the pain was condensed into such a short time. Oh, and don't get me started about the "afterpains".

Baby weighed 6lbs 15oz and measured 20". I now have soooo much respect for women who have 8lbs + babies or have hours and hours of contractions or pushing. It is hard to imagine anyone could handle that much pain. The friend who was with me in the delivery room didn't get to have the natural births she had hoped for. She PUSHED for 3 hours with her first one and she ended up having a C-Section as the baby seemed to be stuck in the birth canal. This was really hard for her. Her second one ended up being a scheduled C-Section. She really wanted to be in the room with us, to see a natural birth. She was crying when the L was born. This made me appreciate so much more being able to have a fast uncomplicated natural delivery.

My mom with L.

Next day, home with my boys.

My mom and brother visiting.

Dropping off T's parents at the airport.

Little recap:

• 3:00 pm Water breaks
• 6:00 pm Contractions are getting much stronger as I try to pack and get ready.
• 8:30 pm I'm checking in at the hospital, I'm at 5cm.
• 9:41 pm I'm allowed to push
• 9:44 pm Baby is out
• 10:00 am Staff tells me my discharge papers are ready and I can leave whenever.
• 4:00 pm We leave the hospital.

WOW!! I'm tired just thinking about it again, lol.

My Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Here is the recipe I use :)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1st bowl:

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

Mix well

Add to same bowl:

2 eggs

3 bananas

2 tbsp milk

Mix well

2nd bowl:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Optional 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Mix well

Combine the 2 bowls

Greased bread pan: 350 degrees/1 hour

or

Greased muffin pan: 350 degrees/20 minutes

Voila !

Diary Of an Unborn Child

If you've already had a child, it is most likely impossible for you to fathom the idea that ANYONE could go through with an abortion, I know it is for me. You simply can't close your eyes on this issue.

Here is a thought for the day:

Diary of an Unborn Child

OCTOBER 5: Today my life began. My parents do not know it yet, but it is I already. And I am to be a girl. I shall have blond hair and blue eyes. Just about everything is settled though, even the fact that I shall love flowers.

OCTOBER 19: Some say that I am not a real person yet, that only my mother exists. But I am a real person, just as a small crumb of bread is yet truly bread. My mother is. And I am.

OCTOBER 23: My mouth is just beginning to open now. Just think, in a year or so I shall be laughing and later talking. I know what my first word will be: MAMA.

OCTOBER 25: My heart began to beat today all by itself. From now on it shall gently beat for the rest of my life without ever stopping to rest! And after many years it will tire. It will stop, and then I shall die.

NOVEMBER 2: I am growing a bit every day. My arms and legs are beginning to take shape. But I have to wait a long time yet before those little legs will raise me to my mother’s arms, before these little arms will be able to gather flowers and embrace my father.

NOVEMBER 12: Tiny fingers are beginning to form on my hands. Funny how small they are! I’ll be able to stroke my mother’s hair with them.

NOVEMBER 20: It wasn’t until today that the doctor told mom that I am living here under her heart. Oh, how happy she must be! Are you happy, mom?

NOVEMBER 25: My mom and dad are probably thinking about a name for me. But they don’t even know that I am a little girl. I want to be called Kathy. I am getting so big already.

DECEMBER 10: My hair is growing. It is smooth and bright and shiny. I wonder what kind of hair mom has?

DECEMBER 13: I am just about able to see. It is dark around me. When mom brings me into the world it will be full of sunshine and flowers. But what I want more than anything is to see my mom. How do you look, mom?

DECEMBER 24: I wonder if mom hears the whispering of my heart? Some children come into the world a little sick. But my heart is strong and healthy. It beats so evenly: tup-tup, tup-tup. You’ll have a healthy little daughter, mom!

DECEMBER 28: Today my mother killed me.

—Anonymous

Baby Preview

Hey all, I'm tired and off for a nap but thought I would share this one picture. This is a picture of L lying on my lap right now :)

It's a boy !!!!!

Soooooo.... he's 9 days early... I'm quite tired right now. I had L. last night at 9:44 and left the hospital today at 4pm. Needless to say everything went very well. I will post the birth story soon.

My Messy house II

So ... the pictures of my messy house have been THE most popular ones on this blog. Why am I not surprised... everybody looooves seeing how much worse someone else's house might be, or see how it's decorated. Reminds me of driving down a residential street at night and looking into the people's homes who's lights are on and blinds open and seeing how their house is decorated, lol.

So, I am quite busy this weekend, hubby's parents are in town and leaving for Czech Republic on Monday. I don't have time to post the new pictures, BUT my house does look waaaaaaaay better than it did a month ago. I don't want people to think it's always in that state. The fact alone of getting company for the weekend gave me a good kick in the behind :) . I think I've been getting a bit of nesting instincts as well... I cleaned out 2 movie drawers, one hallway closet and cabinets and shelves in the office.

Well I must go. Pics will be up sometime this week, that is, if i haven't had the baby ;)

10 days to go !!!

Some of you have been asking how things are going with the pregnancy. I did try to post a loooong comment yesterday and for some reason it didn't save properly and I lost all my text. I was pretty annoyed at the time and just didn't feel like writing again.

So here it goes... still no baby so far. I've gained 34 lbs (35 total with my last pregnancy). So not bad, I should be around 35-37 with this one. I had a doc's appointment Monday morning and the head was high, cervix long and I was not dialated. Then Tuesday morning, I was napping and at 12:30 woke up with a sharp knife like pain seemingly behind my uterus ( I had to dig in to put my finger on it) on the right side between my uterus and my hip bone. This was not a Braxton Hick nor was it a contraction. So I sat up thinking it would just go away. It faded a little and then came back on even stronger....I got worried and started googling "appendicitis" . The description of the pain and where it should be located was the same, but I didn't have any of the other symptoms. I called the Health Link and also my homeopath (She recommended Bryonia and Sepia. I can't remember what Sepia is for but Bryonia is very good for muscles and joints among other things. I actually love taking it before bed, it seems to help me sleep). They did both want me to go get checked out at the hospital. By this time the pain had been increasing for almost 40 minutes, it was even hard to lift up my little boy who of course was looking for lots of attention right at that time.

So I decided to phone my husband at work and let him know that he should maybe come home. He took the bus home while I showered and got ready to go to the hospital. When he got home the pain had subsided substantially but we decided to go anyways. We dropped off D. at a friend's and went to the hospital.... long story short... by the time the actual "doctor" checked me out, the pain was practically gone. HOW FRUSTRATING!! Of course if it was appendicitis, it would have kept increasing, which it had for around an hour and then started decreasing.

Soooo there is a whole lot of nothing going on right now, lol. I still have lots of Braxton Hicks. I feel I have way more with this pregnancy than with the first one. The only difference right now is that Monday I wasn't dilated at all and Tuesday she said I was almost 1cm, lol, youpi.

I feel likethere may have been lots of movement last night , I can feel him coming down. I wouldn't be surprised if I had one more cm by now. I have been cleaning the house like crazy...maybe starting the "nesting" stage, who knows.

Well, that's the news in baby world this morning. I'll keep you posted.

The way we like our pancakes!!

Here is the recipe I used for pancake batter. It is VERY plain, therefore you can add whatever you like to it. My husband always takes a portion of the batter into a separate bowl and adds sugar and vanilla as he like it to be sweeter. I know some people may add fruit such as blueberries or even chocolate chips. I've even seen someone add a can of pop like sprite or ginger ale to add fluffiness and sweetness.

Here is my basic pancake recipe:

• 3 cups flour
• 3 eggs
• 1-2 tsp baking powder depending how thick or fluffy you like your pancakes
• milk as needed to make a nice smooth and not too runny mixture.

My mom adds a pinch of salt.

This yields I think 10-14 pancakes, the size of the one in the picture. I like large ones, but my husband makes tiny ones and sometimes makes them look like spaceships or bears, lol.

I like to add butter to my pan (makes a nice buttery crusty edge around my pancake)and my husband doesn't. He like having the pan at a low temperature with no butter and lets them cook slowly. Everyone has a little tweak here and there with pancakes.

I have my pancakes with fancy molasses or maple syrup. :)

First Bloodless Hospital

http://www.woai.com/content/troubleshooters/story.aspx?content_id=f4b89e9f-4e5a-4b34-966f-61d92f504586

The Trouble Shooters are breaking big medical news. We have learned San Antonio is about to get its first bloodless hospital. That means it will be performing surgeries without giving blood transfusions. In part, because blood is always in such short supply in our area. News 4 Trouble Shooter Jaie Avila has the exclusive details on something many patients didn't realize was possible.

Blood transfusions are standard practice during many surgeries, but now a local hospital says it can do even complicated, open-heart procedures without transfusing blood. It says the surgeries are safe, less expensive and the patients recover faster. Northeast Baptist Hospital says this is not a medical trial. It is converting the entire hospital into a bloodless facility, with a goal of performing 90% of its surgeries without blood.

How is that possible?

Take the case of Raymond Talbert, who is legally blind, and needs one of his heart valves replaced or he could die.

Talbert cannot receive a blood transfusion because of his religious beliefs. "Because I'm a Jehovah's Witness, I do not take blood, so they recognize that and they respect that so it pleases me immensely."

In the days before the surgery, Talbert's surgeon, Dr. Jerry Kelley, tries to conserve Talbert's own blood by drawing as little of it as possible for testing.

"In the past, you would take a big tube of blood," explains Dr. Kelley. "Now, we're using very small tubes and basically, every test that we're ordering now, we're thinking, 'Do we really need this test? Or can we go by the results we had yesterday?'"

Talbert is also given iron and a special drug to build up his blood cell count in advance of the surgery.

"My faith is strong, I have no questions about doing it this way, and the technology is there to do it," says Talbert.

While performing the operation, Dr. Kelley cauterizes blood vessels as he goes, to minimize bleeding. What blood is lost, goes into a special machine called a cell saver, which filters raymond's blood, and routes it directly back into his veins. They also dilute Talbert's blood with a saline solution, to increase the volume of blood in his body.

Bloodless hospitals in other parts of the country have been using these techniques for years. "This is nothing experimental. These are procedures being done other places," adds Dr. Kelley. "We have data from around the country to support everything we're doing here."

In fact, Northeast Baptist Hospital has the support of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center, which says bloodless medicine could help reduce demand for donated blood.

"If a hospital can utilize bloodless medicine and reduce usage in elective surgeries, then that helps trauma patients and surgeries that go unscheduled, to be able to have blood available," says Dr. Rachel Beddard with the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center.

Another heart patient, Larry Harber, has no religious objection to blood. The former firefighter is more concerned about possible infections or complications from receiving donated blood. "You always have that thought, 'I would prefer to keep my own blood, as opposed to have someone else's blood'," says Harber.

Northeast Baptist Hospital hopes by going bloodless, it will no longer have to delay or cancel surgeries due to a shortage of donated blood. And the move could save the hospital hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

Just one unit of donated blood can cost a hospital more than $700. By the time the hospital matches the blood and does the transfusion, the cost to the patient can jump to $1,500 or more. "It's cheaper all the way around," says Dr. Kelley. "The hospital bill's going to be less. You have less chance of having a problem with the blood, and you heal faster, you heal better." That seems to have been the case with Raymond Talbert.

He was able to leave the hospital four days after his heart surgery. Northeast Baptist says other patients who received the same procedure with blood transfusions spent 15 to 22 days in the hospital.

The average cost of a heart surgery without blood is $16,435. With blood transfusions, the same surgery costs $23,415.

"I feel good about it, I feel positive about it, I'm physically well, I'm alive. I'm not doing any marathons today but I'm here," says Talbert.

Doctors will still be able to give a transfusion if they feel it is medically necessary, or if the patient asks for it, but now when a patient first checks in to the hospital they will automatically be told about the benefits of bloodless surgery.

See video on link below http://www.woai.com/content/troubleshooters/story.aspx?content_id=f4b89e9f-4e5a-4b34-966f-61d92f504586

FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY - If only

I know I know, this is fiction, but it was still

cute and gave something to think about http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/a/atheistholiday.htm

FLORIDA COURT SETS ATHEIST HOLY DAY In Florida, an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Passover holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews and observances of their holy days.

The case was brought before a judge. The argument was that

it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days.

After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer,

the judge banged his gavel declaring,"Case dismissed!"

The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying,

"Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case?

The Christians have Christmas, Easter and others.

The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah,

yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays."

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying,

"But you do. Your client,counsel, is woefully ignorant."

The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of

any special observanceor holiday for atheists."

The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day.

Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.'

Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says

there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is

his day. Court is adjourned.

You gotta love a Judge that knows his scripture!

Text of the Month

"Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?" -Romans 12:11-12 KJV

Rabbit in the house... hmmm

Well, I was about to put the rabbit back outside in his hutch since the weather has been so much nice.... but it's really hard to do when my lil boy just loves having him around in the house. Every morning he runs to the cage to see him... Today like many other days I've let him loose and he only ever goes under the kitchen table. I think he just loves being in a darker seemingly hidden spot. D.A. has played with him under the table many times. Today we went out and when we got back home, while checking my email, I noticed things were really quiet in the kitchen... This is what I found :)

Now how can I put the rabbit back outside after seeing that!! I think he' gonna be in for a few more nights.

Easy yummy Lemon-Spiced Chicken...Even hubby likes it!!

" Go thy way, eat thy food, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works" -Ecclesiastes 9:7

Now, I don't know about you, but it is a real challenge for me to find new dinner ideas with a picky husband like mine. Many of my close friends who know my hubby have said they just wouldn't be able to handle it.

Now I do have to give him some credit, at least he TRIES most things that I make which is better than nothing. Because of this, on more than one occasion I've been able to have him eat things he never thought he would like, or even things he had only tried in his childhood and decided he didn't like. So that's a plus, I guess, lol.

Now, I was given a book on our wedding day, "The Newlywed's Cookbook".

I have tried a couple recipes in there. The Lemon Spiced Chicken on page 134 was a hit with both my little boy and my hubby. Hubby even asks me once in a while if I can make it for dinner. We had it last night and I thought I should share.

I usually triple the recipe as we like having lots of sauce and we also pour some over our rice. You don't actually need to marinate the chicken in it overnight. Just put it together and throw it in the oven. Also, we tried white rice, but it just didn't do it for some reason. The best has been our Organic Long Grain Brown Rice. This is also amazing on BBQ if you've marinated the pieces.

JUST Delicious!!

Lemon-Spiced Chicken

8-16 chicken pieces (preferably skin-on thighs)

• 1/3 extra virgin olive oil
• freshly squeezed juice of 2 lemons
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet smoked Spanish paprika (any paprika is good enough)
• 1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• a small bunch of thyme sprigs, fresh or dried
• 2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Put the thighs in baking dish (skin up). Pour the mixture over top, make sure every piece got some sauce on it. Put it in the oven uncovered for 50-60 minutes @ 400F, or until skin nicely browned and chicken cooked through.

Bon Appétit !!!

Are you a Procrastinator?

Here is an interesting questionnaire. Seems like this questionnaire wasn't written out from thin air. It was written by a university study group.

Here is the link and here is my score. I think it fits me. I wouldn't argue it http://procrastinus.com/

Your score is 61 out of a possible 100

Moderate Procrastinator

You rank in the middle 50% in terms of procrastination. That is, when it comes to putting things off, you do so at times even though you know you shouldn’t. Likely, you are about average in conscientiousness and self-discipline. Probably, your work doesn’t consistently engage you or perhaps you are surrounded by a few easily available and more pleasant temptations. These temptations may initially seem rewarding, but in the longer-term, you possibly see a few of them as time-wasters. Though you likely still get your work done, you could probably do it sooner and experience less stress. You may want to reduce what procrastination you do commit. If so, here are three tips that have been shown to work:

Goal Setting

This is one of the most established ways of moving forward on your plans. Take any project you are presently procrastinating and break it down into individual steps. Each of these steps should have the following three aspects. First, they should be somewhat challenging though achievable for you. It is more satisfying to accomplish a challenge. Second, they should be proximal, that is you can achieve them fairly soon, preferable today or over the next few days. Third, they should be specific, that is you know exactly when you have accomplished them. If you can visualize in your mind what you should do, even better.

Stimulus Control

This method has also been well tested and is very successful. What you need is a single place that you do your work and nothing else. Essentially, you need an office, though many students have a favorite desk at a library. For stimulus control to work best, the office or desk should be free of any signs of temptation or easily available distractions that might pull you away (e.g., no games, no chit-chat, no web-surfing). If you need a break, that is fine, but make sure you have it someplace at least a few minutes distant, preferably outside of the building itself. If you are unwilling to take the time to get there, acknowledge that you likely don’t need the break.

Routines

Routines are difficult to get into but in the end, this is often our aim. Things are much easier to do when we get into a habit of them, whether it is work, exercise, or errands. If you schedule some of those tasks you are presently procrastinating upon so that they occur on a regular schedule, they become easier. Start your routine slowly, something to which you can easily commit. Eventually, like brushing your teeth, it will likely become something you just do, not taking much effort at all. At this point, you might add to your routine, again always keeping your overall level of effort at a moderate to low level. Importantly, when you fall off your routine, inevitable with sickness or the unexpected, get back on it as soon as possible. Your routine gets stronger every time your follow it. It also gets weaker every time you don’t.