happiness is...

looking at these pictures.


And then baby girl had her first double pigtails later that day


This one, of course, just makes me laugh.


And this is the airplane injury. Sigh. It is looking better. Notice the glue on the face. yuck.

You know you're a mother when....

You use your own saliva to clean your child's face.

You have time to shave only one leg at a time.

Your kid throws up and you catch it.

Someone else's kid throws up at a party. You keep eating.

You've mastered the art of placing large quantities of pancakes and eggs on a plate without anything touching.

Your child insists that you read "Once Upon a Potty" out loud in the lobby of Grand Central Station and you do it.

You cling to the high moral ground on toy weapons; your child chews his toast into the shape of a gun.

You always go to the bathroom with a "friend"

You hope ketchup is a vegetable, since it's the only one your child eats.

You can't bear the thought of your son's first girlfriend.

You hate the thought of his wife even more.

You find yourself cutting your husband's sandwiches into cute shapes.

You can't bear to give away baby clothes - it's so final.

You hear your mother's voice coming out of your mouth when you say, "NOT in your good clothes!"

You count the sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they're equal.

You stop criticizing the way your mother raised you.

You donate to charities in the hope that your child won't get that disease.

You hire a sitter because you haven't been out with your husband in ages, then spend half the night checking on the kids.

You hide in the bathroom to be alone.

You say at least once a day, "I'm not cut out for this job", but you know you wouldn't trade it for anything.

taken from www.kidsgrowth.com

I'm rich

I was in a focus group for LeapFrog today. I'm $100 richer! yes!

idolatry

I went to check out a new church this morning. I'd wanted to go for a while but felt like it was a little too far from our house to make me want to go there every Sunday. I'd also heard some things I wasn't too excited about to have in a church. However, I had received a good recommendation from a friend (with a 2 1/2 year old, so it actually held weight for me) and we went over to check it out.

Cons:

• 9am start time
• a little far
• not sure about the whole singing-worship part of the morning
• not sure about the kid program for my older kiddo

Pros:

• it's a church
• i can dump both my kids off somewhere for the entire 1 1/2 hours ~ what a dream
• today's sermon was pretty good, hopefully this is a pattern
• i already know a few people that go there
• it seems more multi-dimensional than some of the other places i've visited

This morning the sermon was from Isaiah 2. I have a really hard time paying attention these days to most sermons, and besides I missed the first part of it because my boy needed some assistance... but when he started talking about The Day of The Lord and especially the part about idolatry (verses 6 and following), I couldn't take notes fast enough (writing seems to be the only way I process anything these days). Here are some of my notes. I'm still processing.

• Idolatry: worshipping what I make
• It is the root of most sins; most of my other messes I make for myself (aka sins) are fruits of the sin of idolatry
• I am made to worship God; this gives Him great glory and me great joy
• HOWEVER I am a sinner and a worshiper, which often means I worship the creation rather than the Creator (see Romans 1)
• Opposite of Christianity is not atheism, it is Idolatry (Ps. 115)
  
• We become enslaved to what we love

Now this is the part that really got me thinking:

• I worship my idol that "saves" me from my self-described hell
• examples of this (there were many given):
  
• singleness is your "self-described hell" so you worship marriage
• childlessness is your "self-described hell" so you worship children
• you get the idea.....
• How can you determine what you worship? Think about these questions:
• What's my greatest fear?
• What do I long for the most? What motivates me the most?
• What do I run to when I've had a bad day?
• What frustrates me the most?
• What makes me mad?
• Someone cuts you off on the freeway and you flip them off because you have been disrespected... do you idolize being respected?
  
• What makes me the happiest?
• How do I explain myself and who I am?
• "I live in this neighborhood so I'm special and you're not because you don't live here"
• What am I mad at God about?
• What do I want to have more than anything else?
• If I could change one thing in my life, what would it be?
• Whose approval am I seeking?

We take blessings from God and elevate them to "Savior" status, worshiping creation, not the Creator. This leaves us disappointed, jaded, and depressed, so we create "RELIGION." But it's not religion that will save us, it's Jesus. Hope in Jesus breaks me free from the grip of sin...

God will redeem our idols if we give them to Him; He desires that we live life fully and abundantly. This is what happens when idols are removed from our lives and returned to their proper place.

Ok, this is a kind of lame post meant mostly to help me remember this stuff... but I wanted to think through this all a second time. I immediately had some idols come to mind this morning and although I recognize them, it's hard to move forward through them. I realized that I am comfortable with them and how they fit in my life; how they help me manage and "deal" with my life. I'm not an alcoholic or a drug addict but I might as well be. If I am to remove them to their rightful place (with the help of God, surely I cannot do it on my own), what would replace them? I think that is the difficult part for me. I fear the unknown.

cold, hard, [sucky] facts

You may have guessed from the title there that this is going to be more of a downer post. Just giving you fair warning to click away, fair reader.

"It all" gathered up steam recently over a situation with my baby calla lilies. I love calla lilies. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a look.



These are definitely my favorite flowers. Completely unscientifically, I believe that of all flowers, these have the highest percentage of consistently perfect flowers. They aren't perfect when the bugs eat them or they are dying (no surprises here) but otherwise... perfect. Anyhow. My point is, I like them.

I obtained some free calla bulbs. I have a few pots outside, so I planted them to see what would happen. One day I noticed the very small beginning of something like this (you know I'm stealing all these photos from the internet):



I was extremely happy. Wow! I couldn't believe any of those things were actually growing! There were two tiny little green things poking out their shy little heads from the black, moist dirt and I couldn't have been happier.

Four or five days later I came home, laden with bags and all sorts of junk which should be illegal to haul around just because you are a Pack Mule Mom, and two kids (yes, the two that belong to me). While I was detained by a pack of three outside my door requiring the usual unpleasantries and attention, my Baby Monster Girl ripped off the two tiny budding leaves from that beautiful moist soil. She left the jagged stem and torn leaves for me. How nice.

At that moment I wasn't even mad; I was overtaken by a grief-filled resignation. Not crying grief, but the this-is-my-life grief. I felt like it was a (admittedly negative) representation of my life as a wife and mom. Kids are beautiful, sweet, smelly, and messy... Your life and some of your favorite things are turned upside down and ripped apart when you have kids and yet you smile and carry on. I'm just not so sure about this. It hit me even more when I was reading a younger, unmarried friends' facebook page today. Her section on future goals included these:

write a book.
go to Israel.
backpack through the wilderness.
own a grand piano.
live in another country.
have an art studio.
teach English in a foreign country.
tour the world on a yacht.
speak another language fluently.
live in the middle of a big city.
own a car with a sunroof.
live in a house with a porch swing.
to see the Taj Mahal.

Do I have any goals left in me? I'm happy if I show up somewhere bathed and on time these days. All that I knew to be "me" is no longer and it really makes me wonder about these other moms out there. How can you be so flippin' happy to make three organic, home cooked meals from scratch every day; play with your precious babies; do the laundry; and be you? I'm a do-er, a go-er. I've already corrupted my 3 1/2 year old. If he doesn't ask me before bed about the next day, he asks me the minute I come in for him in the morning -- before he's even out of bed "Mommy where are we going now?" Is the best I have the promise of yet another trip to the zoo? Another job sweeping the porch or moving the laundry from the washer to the dryer? Another walk to the grocery store?

I hear you saying I'm molding and shaping these precious little lives to be productive contributors to society. I find it more humorous the farther along I get in this whole child-raising thing that I'm supposed to be doing the very thing from which I am almost completely removed because I am raising children. What's wrong with this picture?

Yes, childrearing is most likely for a short, short season in the scheme of things. But I don't want to spend years starting from scratch when my kids are grown and gone.

Motherhood=delayed gratification training.

hope

I keep up with some random people's xangas whom I have never met but who are often really encouraging to read. I just read this entry; here it is copied in it's entirety:

HOPE

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

Ephesians 4:14

Yup, that's it, the whole post was just one simple verse. This is fitting, given that I spent three hours at the hospital for Baby Girl (19 months old) on Saturday for a multi-day 104 degree fever. Turns out she had an infection and needed antibiotics. She's on the mend. Today, we spent a little over an hour there for My Boy (3.5 years old) to get the 3/4 inch gash on his face glued back together.

Neither one of those are exactly "My Fault" but as a mom I sure feel like it. (Especially that facial wound. Ouch.) Is there hope for me? :) I think so. God says so. It must be true.

websites

I was just recommended this website: McGruff.org

I totally remember McGruff and he's come into the information age. Printable "safety" stuff, quizzes, downloadable blippityblops (sorry, can't think of a better thing to call it ~ it's not a widget, is it? ~ it is almost midnight) anyway...... Not sure I'm into the downloadable thingys but the rest of the site might be helpful. I'm already trying to think of how to explain the difference between politeness, friendliness, and disdain for strangers to my 3.5 year old. Ugh. Maybe this site will help. Let me know what you think.

I'm stealing again, this time from Alex's Blog. I've posted once before about this, but here's more info. Especially after having borne two children I feel even more strongly about this being really wrong.

Barack Obama supports infanticide

Former Senator Rick Santorum pens a must-read op-ed piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Barack Obama's opposition to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. Excerpt:

During the partial-birth abortion debate, Congress heard testimony about babies that had survived attempted late-term abortions. Nurses testified that these preterm living, breathing babies were being thrown into medical waste bins to die or being "terminated" outside the womb. With the baby now completely separated from the mother, it was impossible to argue that the health or life of the mother was in jeopardy by giving her baby appropriate medical treatment.

The act simply prohibited the killing of a baby born alive. To address the concerns of pro-choice lawmakers, the bill included language that said nothing "shall be construed to affirm, deny, expand or contract any legal status or legal right" of the baby. In other words, the bill wasn't intruding on Roe v. Wade.

Who would oppose a bill that said you couldn't kill a baby who was born? Not Kennedy, Boxer or Hillary Rodham Clinton. Not even the hard-core National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). Obama, however, is another story. The year after the Born Alive Infants Protection Act became federal law in 2002, identical language was considered in a committee of the Illinois Senate. It was defeated with the committee's chairman, Obama, leading the opposition.

Let's be clear about what Obama did, once in 2003 and twice before that. He effectively voted for infanticide. He voted to allow doctors to deny medically appropriate treatment or, worse yet, actively kill a completely delivered living baby.

Read the whole thing.

Time to leave California...

This is taken verbatim from Amy's blog:
"On February 28, 2008, a California Appeals Court ruled that almost all forms of homeschooling in California are in violation of state law."

This is not in effect yet and most likely will be overturned. Even if you don't homeschool and don't ever plan to...this law could affect you. It's the government telling us what we can and cannot do with our children. This law specifically states that as parents we do not have the constitutional right to homeschool. So maybe it's homeschooling this time, and then maybe spanking and then maybe teaching our children about God...and so on. Support your constitutional right to care for your children in the way that you see fit! If you have the chance to sign a petition please do so! Here is a link for the homeschool petition and here is a link for the parental rights petition.

hilarious

I couldn't help but laugh when I read this, so I pass it on to you.

When the real estate boom finally ends, will we be left with anything other than a pile of debt and a bunch of granite countertops?
Well, the boom has surely ended and, as expected, Americans are indeed left with "a pile of debt and a bunch of granite countertops", though, lots of those granite countertops are now owned by the bank along with the rest of the house.

Read the rest of the blog entry here: Homeowners Feel the Pain of Over-improvement Syndrome

More this-n-that

First: Currently Reading
Mixed Signals by Liz Curtis Higgs
Enjoying the lightness. Mrs. Higgs is famous for her humor, so you have to be on your toes to keep up with the jokes and wit she infuses. Speaking of Mrs. Higgs, my kids also have her book The Pumpkin Patch Parable and I highly recommend it.

Second: House Hunting
We put an offer on a house a few weeks ago. Evidently, our extremely low-ball offer on the unlivable, over priced dump was an insult to the sellers (a BANK ~ yes, a foreclosure) because we didn't even receive a response. We were one of seven offers, as noted below by the listing agent. The agent who submitted our offer recently received the email below from the listing agent.

You expressed interest in [xx xxxx] while it was on the market. After receiving 7 offers in that short time, and accepting the best – the buyer’s have unfortunately dropped out.

As such, [xx xxxx] will be coming back on the market. Since it is a high-interest property, just wanted to give you a heads-up.

Feel free to send over an offer. The seller expects it to go for around asking, so low-ball offers have no chance.

Offers will be submitted as-they-come.

I HOPE NO ONE BIDS ON THIS PROPERTY, these people are so full of themselves. Are they not following the market??? Note that the house has been "on and off" the market since OCTOBER, people. I guess all those offers and buyers who back out realize they made a big, OVER PRICED mistake before it was too late. Oh, and note to agent: Take some grammar/spelling lessons. ugh!

This and That

First: Currently Reading
Made from Scratch by Sandra Lee
Sandra Lee is Food Network's Semi-Homemade queen. The writing is not all that stellar but the story line sure is interesting. I'm maybe 1/3 of the way through and already I like her more. She has sure overcome a lot of adversity!

Second: House Hunting
We've been looking to buy a house for a while. As time marches on, we get more serious about the whole endeavor. However, this post about seeing a house before you write an offer really ticked me off and, of course, added confirmation to my suspicions about evil real estate agents. Sigh. I would really like to be wrong about that.

Currently Reading...

The Cider House Rules by John Irving. Written in 1985, it was also adapted into a screenplay in 1999. So far I'm enjoying it (chapter 2) and it takes a little more headspace than the typical brainless fiction I often read.

Allergies

Our little girl, 17 months old, is allergic to peanuts and milk! I certainly didn't need a skin test to tell me that -- I already knew it -- but the shock to the system (albeit an obvious, foregone conclusion) came when the doctor said "No Milk, No Peanuts" after the skin test. Ok, peanuts, easy peasy to avoid. Well, not "easy" in the "easy" sense, but "easy" in the "obvious" sense because society has raised it's consciousness about peanut allergies. Well, kind of. And milk, well, that's not too bad since my kids don't really consume milk. Oh, wait. It's not "just milk" ... It's
yogurt
cheese
butter
sour cream
and all those things that are made with any of these ingredients, or any processed foods that are processed in a facility that also processes milk or peanut products.

Oh my goodness gracious, we are in for a ride. This is completely foreign allergy territory!

I won't do it

My son, my three-year-old transportation-loving son, needs new sheets. There are plenty out there. Pottery Barn Kids Firetruck bedding, transportation bedding (cringe, we have that crib sheet)... I don't need to list all the available sheeting with trucks, planes, trains, fire engines, diggers, backhoe loaders,... we would be here all day.

If I were a good mommy I would buy him some adorable sheets with one of the aforementioned vehicles. But for some reason I can't get away from the fact that it would be pure indulgence. We have plenty of sheets for his bed. He won't always want those on his bed. And even though we "have" money I could use to buy them... I won't. Even though they are only $15 at Target this week. I don't know why, but this is one of those things that I "must" buy every time I see them. So far I have avoided the purchase (mostly ~ except for the transportation crib sheet I bought ON SALE) but why won't this urge go away? So ridiculous.

DMV rjaslkdfa;jsdflk;j!!!!

Oh, how I love the DMV. My car registration is due at the end of the month and I haven't received a renewal notice by mail. That's quite possibly because our new mail carrier BITES the big one and only 1/2 the time manages to lock back up the boxes... this is one of many complaints I have about this carrier. (Maybe s/he could try putting MY mail in MY mailbox?)

Anyway, I am looking forward to contacting the DMV on Monday and trying to convince them to take my money so that I am not driving illegally. And since I have no renewal anything ~ oh and did my old registration get stolen from my car a few months ago? ~ That will make the whole situation even worse. Great. Happy Monday is coming, oh I can't wait.

Here's a new one...

At 5 AM this morning I heard "Mommy Mommy I have to go p__ p__" ~ I was really hoping he didn't say poo poo but I wasn't sure. Anyway I went in the kids' bedroom (half asleep since I'd probably only gotten 4 hours of sleep since 10 pm between me being sick and Baby Girl being awake), run him into the bathroom (after I ran into a big box and the bedroom door and woke the little girl up) and he peed. BOY did he pee. Of course he's wearing a "night time undie" (aka a pull up haha) so I run to get him a new one (since this one I'm sure is soaked), in my sleep-stupor I change it and when I get the old one off I realize... Oh! It wasn't wet at all!

Back to bed for the boy, then into my bed for the crying girl..

Wow!! I wonder if he will be dry when he gets up this morning! This is a big day. :)

Nuggets of doom...

Our family feels closer and closer to being ready, willing, and (who knows if we are) able to buy a house. But with all the craziness in the housing market I'm not sure if I'm so willing to do it. I read a lot of real estate blogs, news, etc ... Here's an interesting one about the Federal Reserve:

The Federal Reserve Has Failed Us

My favorite quote is: The Federal Reserve is neither Federal, nor a reserve. It is a private bank that was established in 1913. I won’t bore you with the details. All you need to know is that it is owned privately - by people who could afford and had the power to start a central bank in 1913. It has never been audited. It controls the money supply.

These are all things I didn't know before today (go ahead and laugh if you want) but this info, along with all the other info in this article, is scary. :(

p.s. ~ I still haven't returned or opened that crazy expensive purse, in case you were wondering.

p.p.s. ~ MAJOR props to the person who found and turned in my cell phone to the friendly workers at a nearby cafe. I thought I would never see it again after I realized I lost it, but it is found!!!!!!!! I wasn't sure that there were other honest people out there, but evidently one is out there and s/he is the one that found my phone!!

dilemma

Someone very unexpectedly gave me a Kate Spade purse. I can't decide if I should keep it. It is the most expensive bag I have ever owned. It seems a little crazy and over-the-top. I did visit the Kate Spade store and saw that they had this bag in both Kelly Green (well, I don't know the official "Kate Spade" color name but it was a bright green) or Christmas Tree Red. I would love the green one but my husband thought that was a little over the top. Hahaha.


Speaking of shopping, I think we have a shopper on our hands:

"You're not smart...

... you're capable."

That's the secret to raising smart kids, evidently. Don't tell them that they're smart, instead, teach them to be wise. (haha, how's that!??!) See the article here. This was a very interesting article and I'm still pondering some of the things it had to say. (Thanks to Jeff for the pointer to this.)