Young and sweet . . . only 10 months old.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Defending the Defenseless
***Warning: Graphic Photos later in post ***
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." ~ Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
“The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
Today is the 39th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the supreme court case that legalized abortion. But I ask, does making something legal make it right? After all, the murder of Jewish people was legal. Slavery was legal. If a woman is killed while pregnant, the killer (purposefully or accidentally) is charged with two deaths. Yet if the child is killed by the mother's choice, why isn't it murder? We have allowed the murder of millions of children because they are unwanted.
“Conception is the beginning of human life. From the time that an ovum is fertilized a new life begins that is neither that of the father nor of the mother. It is rather the life of a new human being with his own growth. It would never become human if it were not human already.”~ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Procured Abortion, 1974
“He who denies that human life begins with conception does not need to contend with religion, but science. To deny this certainty of biology is not to express a lack of faith, but a lack of basic knowledge of human genetics, something that is even known by the general public.” ~ Ecuadorian Federation of Societies of Gynecology and Obstetrics, April 17, 2008
From the moment of conception, nothing more is added to the child except food.
"But the fetus is not developed yet, therefore it is not human." A born baby isn't developed yet, should we be able to kill them because they can't walk?
"The fetus needs the mother to continue living, it can't live on its own." Again, neither can a born baby, should we be able to kill them because they can't feed themselves?
"But the woman was raped, she shouldn't have to carry the baby of her rapist." (This makes up a VERY small percentage of abortions) http://www.abortionfacts.com/statistics/us_stats_abortion.asp
There is NO doubt that this would be an incredibly hard situation for any woman. These women should be given all the material, emotional and spiritual support possible. They should not be encouraged to do something that would bring them further pain and suffering. Should the children of all criminals be killed because of the bad choices of their parents?
You can call the human life a fetus, zygote or embryo. Abortion is MURDER.
You can list all the reasons why it would be hard on the mother to carry and/or raise the baby (and it is hard). Abortion is MURDER.
It does not matter the weapon: pill, suction, chemicals or petri dish. Abortion is MURDER.
If you are pro-choice than you are pro-murder. I toiled over whether or not to include these photos because they make me physically ill. But then I thought, good. They should make everyone sick. The evils of abortion cannot be ignored.
“All who are genuinely committed to the advancement of women can and must offer a woman or a girl who is pregnant, frightened, and alone a better alternative than the destruction of her own unborn child” ~ Mary Ann Glendon, Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, September 5, 1995
I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is “Abortion”, because it is a war against the child… A direct killing of the innocent child, “Murder” by the mother herself… And if we can accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love… And we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts… – Mother Teresa
There is no denying that a woman considering abortion is already in a tough situation. She needs compassion, not judgement. Action, not just words. We must make a change. How can we expect women to choose life if there is little support for them once they've made the difficult choice. What can we do for both the child and woman?
- PRAY!! Truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. - Matthew 17:20
- Be silent no more! Do not be afraid to engage in conversation.
- Support pregnancy centers like http://www.birthright.org/
- Vote pro-life
- Support Project Rachel Ministries (healing for women who have had abortions) http://hopeafterabortion.com/
- Boycott organizations (and their donors) that provide abortions like Planned Parenthood. Their new twitter motto is "Pro-choice is sexy." What?! "Pro-murder is sexy" I am so confused.
- Be active in and support the people of your community- teenagers, single parents, the military, the poor. Be compassionate. They will know we are Christians by our love.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Snow!
Last winter dumped snow on us from December to March with snow levels up to my mid thigh! This winter we have had three mild snows which barely stuck around for 24 hours. So yesterday it finally snowed a decent amount. I dressed Monica is her consignment store "Christmas Story" snow suit (which Tony thinks is atrocious) and we headed outside.
I haven't bought boots yet because it hasn't snowed, she doesn't walk and I couldn't bring myself to buy expensive snow boots when I didn't know how much we'd use them this winter. When we went out, our neighbors were building a snow fort. They have a 4 year old and offered up a baby sled (with a high back so she won't fall over when pulled) and boots! They are still big and will work for next winter but at least they'll keep her feet warm and dry this winter. Monica seemed to take it all in, watching the neighbor girl run around and play. I just let her sit in the sled for a bit and then pulled her around. She wasn't interested in eating snow, even though I demonstrated. :o) We walked to the library and back. No tears (like the first time at the beach) during our first snow day. I call it a success! Especially because it was back to pouring rain today.
I haven't bought boots yet because it hasn't snowed, she doesn't walk and I couldn't bring myself to buy expensive snow boots when I didn't know how much we'd use them this winter. When we went out, our neighbors were building a snow fort. They have a 4 year old and offered up a baby sled (with a high back so she won't fall over when pulled) and boots! They are still big and will work for next winter but at least they'll keep her feet warm and dry this winter. Monica seemed to take it all in, watching the neighbor girl run around and play. I just let her sit in the sled for a bit and then pulled her around. She wasn't interested in eating snow, even though I demonstrated. :o) We walked to the library and back. No tears (like the first time at the beach) during our first snow day. I call it a success! Especially because it was back to pouring rain today.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Couponing
Yes. Couponing. Almost a year ago I decided to stop judging and give it a try. As a "not working" mom, couponing allows me to contribute to the financial part of the household by saving money (and sometimes making money). When I started out I had three conditions. First, it had to actually save us money on things we use (not just get us a bunch of stuff we wouldn't use). Second, it wouldn't make us eat unhealthy foods (I do not have one box of hamburger helper). :o) Third, I didn't want the amount of time spent on couponing to be detrimental to quality time with my family.
So I dove in and used http://thekrazycouponlady.com/beginners/ and did their 10 days to become a Krazy Coupon Lady. I subscribed on google reader to that blog, http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/ and because those are both west coast blogs and I'm on the east cost, http://www.iamthatlady.com/. There was a learning curve to really figure out how to make the couponing work in my life. I started out clipping the coupons every week, but decided that was too much for me, so I turned to the nonclip method. I started out trying to go to many stores every week, but realized that I couldn't keep that up. The more you do it the more you realize that the deals will be back. So now I go to one or two stores a week and -the best part (thanks to the stockpile)- sometimes not at all! Before couponing, if we weren't going to use something soon, I didn't want it in my house. However, to truly save the big bucks, you build a stock pile (no, not like the organized hoarding ones you see on TV). I have a one to six month supply of most food items and a year to two year supply of most non-food items.
So to revisit my conditions. First, not only do I spend an average of 100.00 less a month on groceries than before couponing, but I get SO MUCH MORE for my money. I only get the stuff that we use. Sure, I could get lots of other products for free or cheap (which the websites recommend donating), but I just leave those for people who would actually use them (and we still donate from what we would use). The other monetary and health effect is that, when you have food in the house it makes you less likely to go out to eat. So we save both money and calories by couponing!
Second, along the lines of the first point. I just do not buy stuff just because it's cheap. Couponing allows me to buy everything I used to buy. I just have to think ahead of when we might need it and shop the sales. If lettuce isn't on this week, it still goes in the cart, but I might get something else for really cheap to make up the difference of the more expensive produce.
Third, I spent a lot more time on couponing in the beginning (probably 10 hours a week), but now most weeks it's 2 hours or less. Just above what a non-couponing trip to the store might take.
So here is my couponing haul this week.
Pictured:
So here's the question: how much did I spend? :o)
Here's a hint: I saved 47% percent off of the normal prices. If I don't count the meat in this trip (which is generally more expensive, and I did not use coupons- just sale prices) I saved 53 %.
And for you smarties wondering where the green stuff is- it's already in the fridge from my shopping trip last week.
I know you avid readers are on the edge of your seat for the answer.
Total spent $147.74.
Total Saved $132.30 and I have $12.24 to spend on a future shop.
Without the meat I spent $105.36 and saved $117.97.
So there you have it. As a former doubter and judger of the couponers, I am converted and enjoy doing my part for our household's finances, as well as health. Plus, it's great when I hear my husband proudly tell other people about my couponing. :o)
So I dove in and used http://thekrazycouponlady.com/beginners/ and did their 10 days to become a Krazy Coupon Lady. I subscribed on google reader to that blog, http://fabulesslyfrugal.com/ and because those are both west coast blogs and I'm on the east cost, http://www.iamthatlady.com/. There was a learning curve to really figure out how to make the couponing work in my life. I started out clipping the coupons every week, but decided that was too much for me, so I turned to the nonclip method. I started out trying to go to many stores every week, but realized that I couldn't keep that up. The more you do it the more you realize that the deals will be back. So now I go to one or two stores a week and -the best part (thanks to the stockpile)- sometimes not at all! Before couponing, if we weren't going to use something soon, I didn't want it in my house. However, to truly save the big bucks, you build a stock pile (no, not like the organized hoarding ones you see on TV). I have a one to six month supply of most food items and a year to two year supply of most non-food items.
So to revisit my conditions. First, not only do I spend an average of 100.00 less a month on groceries than before couponing, but I get SO MUCH MORE for my money. I only get the stuff that we use. Sure, I could get lots of other products for free or cheap (which the websites recommend donating), but I just leave those for people who would actually use them (and we still donate from what we would use). The other monetary and health effect is that, when you have food in the house it makes you less likely to go out to eat. So we save both money and calories by couponing!
Second, along the lines of the first point. I just do not buy stuff just because it's cheap. Couponing allows me to buy everything I used to buy. I just have to think ahead of when we might need it and shop the sales. If lettuce isn't on this week, it still goes in the cart, but I might get something else for really cheap to make up the difference of the more expensive produce.
Third, I spent a lot more time on couponing in the beginning (probably 10 hours a week), but now most weeks it's 2 hours or less. Just above what a non-couponing trip to the store might take.
So here is my couponing haul this week.
Pictured:
- 12 cans of corn
- 12 cans of green beans
- 2 bottles of ketchep
- 2 packages of goldfish crackers
- 4 packages of pasta
- 1 jar of pasta sauce
- 1lb strawberries
- 3lb clementines
- 2 2lt of soda
- 1 bottle of juice
- 3 cans of tomato soup
- 2 loaves of bread
- 3 cans of diced tomatos and chilies
- 2 onions
- 4 sweet potatoes
- 6 pears
- a bunch of bananas
- 10 apples
- 23 jars of baby food
- 3 bottles of facial moisturizer
- 2 packages of cough drops
- 2 bottles of vitamins
- 1 light blub
- 3 packages of pens
- 1 package of m&ms (we save these for going to the movies or for Halloween candy)
- 2 bottles of vitamins
- 2 bottles of hand soap
- 30 yogurts
- 2 18 packs of eggs
- 10 lean cuisine dinners
- 2 2lb packages of ground beef
- 4 1lb packages of ground turkey
- 4 2lb packages of boneless chicken breasts
So here's the question: how much did I spend? :o)
Here's a hint: I saved 47% percent off of the normal prices. If I don't count the meat in this trip (which is generally more expensive, and I did not use coupons- just sale prices) I saved 53 %.
And for you smarties wondering where the green stuff is- it's already in the fridge from my shopping trip last week.
I know you avid readers are on the edge of your seat for the answer.
Total spent $147.74.
Total Saved $132.30 and I have $12.24 to spend on a future shop.
Without the meat I spent $105.36 and saved $117.97.
So there you have it. As a former doubter and judger of the couponers, I am converted and enjoy doing my part for our household's finances, as well as health. Plus, it's great when I hear my husband proudly tell other people about my couponing. :o)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
So helpful
Monica's new favorite past time. Now if only she could reach the cupboards (or anything else besides silverware).
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
10 Months!
The exponential growth and development of babies is austounding. Every day Monica demonstrates how far she can go (literally- just check out our babies gates and rearranging/moving items to escape her ever reaching grasp). She crawls and climbs everywhere and is not afraid to climb up stairs or strollers or anything she can. She doesn't get that she's not still surrounded by a even level on all sides. I'm quite the psychic when it comes to anticipating falls. She is so silly: loves to laugh and play peek-a-boo. She still wrinkles her nose to laugh or disgust. She likes to clap and dance (bopping up and down with her hands waving in the air). She points to things and grunts (a cute grunt of course). She still selectively waves and blows kisses. She babbles all the time, making all the sounds of words (most of the time dada), but I'm not sure if I can officially call her first real word. I think she's got mama and dada and hi, but it's inconsistent. She'll hug anything soft. She even tried to hug her buddy Ethan (who pushed her away). :o)
She doesn't really like to go to strangers and prefers to stay in mom or dad's arms when out and about. Sometimes she still plays the clingy game at home, but she's usually fine to hang out if I need to run to another room. She can be pretty whiney at times, which I figure is just pay back. The mother's curse starts right away I guess. But most of the time she is fine with being along for the ride and will grace people she meets with a smile or a wave.
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| Whiny face, I think I'm going to be seeing this for the next 18 years. |
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| Broccolli . . . yum. |
She has six teeth now! She also had her first blood-drawing injury when she slipped trying to stand up and bit her lip. She cried like a champ, but was over it in about 2 minutes and went on her merry way. She is starting to feed herself some finger foods (cut up soft fruit, cheese, steamed veggies, bread and shredded meat). This is nice because it keeps her occupied for a while so I can actually eat in between giving her bites of her mush.
She's still tall and skinny according to the comparison stats at the doc's (84% for height and 8% for weight), but I'm convinced she just works off her calories with all her business. Chasing her around and moving things she shows me I forgot to baby proof will hopefully help me burn some extra calories as well. :o)
She has become super helpful with the laundry and dishes, unfolding the folded and emptying the dishwasher (whether clean or dirty). I just let her "help" and say thank you. Heaven forbid I crush her desire to do chores! She's also obsessed with the bathrooms and getting into the refrigerator. She moves like a bolt of lightening every time there's a chance to get at either.
Parenting thing I've been pondering throughout month nine:
We teach babies to give high fives and then have to stop them from hitting other things (like my face). Perhaps we'll skip teaching high fives to any future children.
We sure love our fast growing baby girl!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Final Push
And the journey continues . . .
As people discover every season on the Biggest Loser, weight gain and subsequent weight loss is all about what is going on inside. Everyone has struggles and temptations. For me it has been food. It took me a long time to really be honest with myself about that. I simply ate (and sometimes still eat) more than I needed. My weight loss journey has not been with Biggest Loser speed. It has been with a steady determination to not give up and to change long lived habits. I never thought exercise (especially running) would become such an important part of my personal well-being. In the beginning of November I set a goal of loosing 15 pounds by the new year. As with the last goal, I didn't quite make it. I made it just over halfway: 8 pounds lost. The good news is that 8 pounds puts me 20 pounds away from 100 pounds total lost. When I started back in 2005, I set a long term goal of losing 100 pounds. I set the goal before I could even imagine or really believe I could do it. Now it's a reality and I am super excited. I know it will take more discipline and self control (for which I will have to pray to God multiple times a day). My local gym just happens to have a 30 day health challenge with tips and support to stay focused.that starts on January 15. There's also a competition with prizes involved. This might be just what I need to make that push to 100 pounds lost!
So my last push is to lose 20 pounds, however long it takes. No more excuses, no more overeating. Just eating what I need and offering all other temptations for prayer intentions.
As people discover every season on the Biggest Loser, weight gain and subsequent weight loss is all about what is going on inside. Everyone has struggles and temptations. For me it has been food. It took me a long time to really be honest with myself about that. I simply ate (and sometimes still eat) more than I needed. My weight loss journey has not been with Biggest Loser speed. It has been with a steady determination to not give up and to change long lived habits. I never thought exercise (especially running) would become such an important part of my personal well-being. In the beginning of November I set a goal of loosing 15 pounds by the new year. As with the last goal, I didn't quite make it. I made it just over halfway: 8 pounds lost. The good news is that 8 pounds puts me 20 pounds away from 100 pounds total lost. When I started back in 2005, I set a long term goal of losing 100 pounds. I set the goal before I could even imagine or really believe I could do it. Now it's a reality and I am super excited. I know it will take more discipline and self control (for which I will have to pray to God multiple times a day). My local gym just happens to have a 30 day health challenge with tips and support to stay focused.that starts on January 15. There's also a competition with prizes involved. This might be just what I need to make that push to 100 pounds lost!
So my last push is to lose 20 pounds, however long it takes. No more excuses, no more overeating. Just eating what I need and offering all other temptations for prayer intentions.
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| Christmas 2011 |
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Christmas in California
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| Papa plays good music. |
We joined the masses of holiday travelers and flew across the country to visit Tony's family for Christmas. An entire post could be done just on the adventures getting there and back. To summarize, it took 20 hours to get there and over 24 to get back. Monica was a champ (almost) the whole time. ;o)
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| Dad and Uncle Chris "teaching" Monica the finer points of ping pong. |
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| Faster Nana, faster! |
It was wonderful to see family and friends and, while our trips are never long enough, we felt as though we were able to enjoy good quality time with them. Monica was out of her time and comfort zones so it took a while for her to adjust. And she let everyone know when she needed an attention break. It's hard to be so loved. She got to meet her Great Papa and Grandma (thanks for making the drive to see us). It was so special to see the four generations together.
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| Great Papa Al and Great Grandma Jan |
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| At least Nana lets me play. |
I felt that I had a good vacation; complete with a nice bubble bath (a few and far between luxury now) and a movie with the husband (also a luxury now). Family time included bowling, caroling (of course I loved this and will be wanting to make this a future family tradition- must remember to call Uncle Chris' agent), football (Tony's favorite), games, LOTS of food (I think I ate my weight in Pumpkin bread- thanks, Pam). Everyone but Monica and me also took part in some shooting. RIP rapping mouse.
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| Yep and you're stuck with us. (The bib says, "Are these people really my relatives?") |
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| Harmonica Monica! |
Monica enjoyed the wrapping paper, boxes and ribbons of Christmas and when that was cleared enjoyed her new toys, books, and clothes. I think the thing she would have most liked to keep was Nana's kitty. Too bad mommy is allergic.
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| Peeka boo! |
Thank you to everyone who made our trip so enjoyable. We miss the west coast, but know that God has a plan for us here right now. We are so grateful for an abundantly blessed 2011. GOD IS GOOD. ALL THE TIME.
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