. * 1 * 2 * 3 * 4 birthday digital camera monogrammed gifts adirondack chairs Wednesday, September 22, 2010 HABA Dolls Carry Cot Re

HABA Dolls Carry Cot Review + Giveaway

This would make one two-year-old in our house very, very happy. She is quickly becoming in love with Barbies and setting them up in chairs by a table.

HABA.

Chicken

I love chicken. It's my most favorite meat. I would love to win this giveway from for some Tyson Any'tizers - THREE vouchers 10/18 from http://www.tyson.com/.

I can taste them now.

Sacrifice

I'm going to come right out and say that this post may offend people and may make me appear judgmental. If it does, my intent is to protect children who aren't allowed to make their own choices or can't because they have not been born yet.

This video http://abcnews.go.com/video/video?id=4232465 (can someone please teach me how to embed a link?) hits a very hot nerve that I have. I wonder if a mom is not willing to make the sacrifice of not drinking during pregnancy, what other areas might she not want to make a sacrifice once the child's born. I know that's a judgment statement but this is an innocent child we're talking about. Who protects it? Drinking during pregnancy causes brain damage. There is no question about it. The frequency of drinking and timeframe during pregnancy may differ the brain damage but it's still there. I am not out to bash moms. I'm out to protect children.

I have parented a child with suspected FASD and it is hard. I am an acquaintance of a mom who is parenting two children with FASD and her world has become so volatile she had to make her blog private. It is a sad day when parents cannot have a support system in place when parenting their child with FASD and believe me that her blog is a support system for families.

I realize the list is long of things to avoid during pregnancy but alcohol impairs the brain which is why we have drunk driving laws. Therefore if one or two drinks impair the brain of the adult to the point that they can't drive, what does it do when all that alcohol crosses the placenta and gets to a baby's tiny brain.

I have a friend who fostered a teen who drank all the time. She would go out on weekends and get riproaring drunk. She ended up giving birth to a baby who was missing body parts and ended up dying within minutes. Who was protecting that child?

The argument could be said that just like abortion, it's a mom's right to make her own choices. But when her choices affect someone else like an unborn child then that child needs to have a say in the matter. I've had an opinion about smoking around children that I've kept to myself as I have friends who have children and smoke. But I firmly believe that smoking in an enclosed area (car, home) where children are present should not be tolerated. Not all children are allowed to say that they want to step out of the car or leave the house if the parent is smoking. Again it's not intended for judgment on the part of the parent, just protection for the child. We've already decided to tell the parents how they may carry their kids in their cars? How is telling them not to smoke any different?

I'm very passionate about speaking for the rights of children. And I'm not talking rights to have a cellphone or some petty right like that. I'm talking the right to clean air. The right to a brain with all cells present at birth.

I'm sorry if my words offended anyone but I am not sorry that I said them. And now we'll see how many friends I have left after this post. So I better step down off my soapbox.

Going on With Jesus

Below you will find the devotional entry that birthed this blog. It is from My Utmost For His Highest. The thought that struck me was "It is God who engineers our circumstances, and whatever they may be we must see that we face them while continually abiding with Him in His temptations." It caused me to think of shucking off my worries and fears and the things I'm holding onto that won't matter in eternity. Such as, worrying that I don't spend enough time with Lilyana because I have to work, will that absence affect her in a way that will cause her emotional turbulance? The fear of not having enough money to keep our house. What do we do about the foreclosure notice? What is our next step? And am I holding onto this house because of the fear of the unknown and/or the fear of what people might say?

I need to figure out how to make the time I spend with Lilyana as worry free and fear free as possible so that she's getting all of me at that time and knowing she is my focus.

I need to seek God's guidance for the answer to the house circumstance. How is/will He enginer our house circumstance and I best be ready to go on with Jesus no matter what.

Scrapbook, the Bible and my pantry

I finally finished (I think) the scrapbook for Lilyana's first year. If you're not my friend on FB here's a link to the finished product http://app.picaboo.com/WebView/Project.aspx?clientID=cbf4caac9311ce586d8a355d9f685390&version=39844&siteID=FB-ViaPreview. Hopefully there aren't any typos. Order is due by Tuesday. I wonder how many times I can proof it before I order it.

I've also decided to do the Bible in 90 days (www.biblein90days.org). I need you to hold me accountable on this. Ask me every day how I'm doing. I've never read the Bible through cover to cover. I'm guessing in all my 44 plus years I've probably read most every verse at least once between Sunday School, VBS, BSF, Bible School and church services. I start with Genesis 1:1 through 16:16 tonight as soon as I finish listening to the weekly message.

Tuesday I start work on the pantry. My goal for Tuesday is to get it all emptied into an organized fashion. Then next weekend (Labor Day weekend) will wipe it clean, paint it, put some flooring material in and put some misc. shelving material up. The idea is to use materials that are available at our house right now so it won't be an expense for us. Wish me luck.

Have a good night and hopefully your week is blessed and positive.

Nothing Will Separate Me From My Nap

Well, today didn't really go according to plan. The Plan was to get up around 9, get ready and head to Walmart in Hutch where there was a Dora the Explorer birthday bash with free cupcakes and pictures. Since I need to do more errands in Hutch I figured we could take advantage of that occasion even though I had images of children everywhere like ants crawling all over the place.

Well the first part of The Plan went awry when we slept until almost 10. After a very huge disappointment, breakfast, shower, finishing up lists, etc. we were headed off. The next part of The Altered Plan was when we were halfway to Glencoe and discovered we didn't have the diaper bag. So we turned around, picked up the diaper bag and headed back out. Finally we reached Hutch.

After walking through the store we found a stand where apparently the Dora occasion had been. No people only napkins, coupons for free photos and merchandise. We picked up a coupon and decided it was okay since Lilyana doesn't really know who Dora is so she wasn't disappointed. Because I was disorganized we walked back and forth across the store several times to get the things on my list. We finished our shopping and went to the checkout. When all was said and done we got more than $30 of merchandise for $.40 which doesn't include the mail-in rebates I have to send in.

Then we stopped at Subway for lunch. I usually get my sandwich with only bread, meat, cheese, lettuce and sauce. I decided to get a footlong to share with Lilyana and load up on vegetables since she will eat almost any vegetable. Dan was waiting my body to convulse watching them load up my sandwiches with veggies. We ate lunch and decided to change the diaper before we left. I went to take off with Lilyana while Dan cleaned up our lunch. But she wasn't having any of that. She's been very clingy since Dan's been back (all of 24 hours). Even when in Walmart she didn't want us to separate.

So we cleaned up lunch, discovered she had leaked and walked to the back of the store to use the family restroom all the time Dan carrying her with her wet shorts. Changing her diaper in a public restroom is a torturous experience. For some reason and from my knowledge no experience, she doesn't like the changing tables hanging off the wall. She will scream and grip to keep from having to lay on them. So it took both of us to change her. And we left Walmart.

We went to Menards, purchased $60 on merchandise with $30 in rebates and a grape sucker for Lilyana. (Yes, I know it's store credit but that's where we get our softener salt among other house repair items so it's just like cash anyway.) We were leaving Hutch about 2:30 (90 minutes past the beginning of nap time). Lilyana lasted until about 3 miles from home before she nodded off. We had thought that we could pull her out the van and and lay her down. She cried after Dan laid her down and we laid down for a little bit before deciding that she wasn't going to settle down. We finally put her in bed with us but she never did settle down.

So now we're up, relaxing a little and letting it cool down before doing some outside chores. Maybe when we're done watching Lyle the Kindly Viking (I know it should probably be underlined but I couldn't find the underline button).

If you've made it this far, congratulations, you really do love me to have read all that.

Oh, and the title, nothing will separate me from my nap tomorrow. I am very protective of nap time for both me and Lilyana. Since I didn't get one today I need one tomorrow since I have to work Monday.

Hope you're having a great weekend.

Middle of the night thoughts

For some reason I can't sleep tonight. Maybe I don't want to sleep because I know in about 12 hours or so I'll be saying goodbye to my precious little girl for another week. I am sad about that even though I know she's in good hands. I will miss her terribly. Maybe I can't sleep because I'm not sure if I'll see my precious older daughter and grandson tomorrow. And if I do it won't be for long. Or maybe I can't sleep because of the unknown decision that will be made for our son.

Sometimes I feel like a failure as a parent. I have a daughter and grandson I don't get to see very often and wonder if I could have done things differently so that she would want to live closer than she does. I have a son, although not legally mine anymore, who is going through some trials right now and I cannot be there for him. And I have a toddler who I feel sad for sometimes that we are her parents. We are old and tired and wish that we could give her a better life.

It's going to be a long, lonely week.