After a recent visit to the Baby Name Wizard Blog, I decided that I like two of the girl names mentioned her latest post:

Tatum
and
Harper

Tatum Grey ________.
Harper Grey ________.

Hhhhmmm......I like them both. And they both sound good with our last name. You don't know it, but trust me....both combos go well with our relatively common classic-sounding surname. I know these names are much more masculine than my favorite, Tallulah Grey, but they still appeal to me for some reason.

On a heavier note, I had a really odd morning. Odd, but good. I cried all through church. I'm not sure why. I suppose my heart was just really tender and I was very moved by every thought I had about the Lord during the praise & worship service. I'm glad that the church I go to is very open to emotional displays and the people there don't think you're completely insane if you just feel like sobbing for no reason. The waterworks would just not stop. It was an uncontrollable cry that wasn't happy or sad. I think it was a little of both.

To be honest, I think it was an answer to something that I asked God for. I've been in a spiritual rut.....like "religion" is replacing my relationship with the Father and I've just been going through the motions. That is an awful feeling. I don't want to go to church just because that's what is expected of me. I want to go because I'm excited to praise my Father and hear His Word. Anyway, I prayed last night that I wanted my heart to be softened...that I would be receptive to the things of God like I once was. Lately, it just seems as if things bounce right off of me. When I read the Word, I know I'm not REALLY comprehending the way God wants me to. When I hear the message at church, it's not soaking in. I'm hearing it, but I'm not taking it to heart. Today was different.

I know that there are things in my life right now that have taken the place of my hunger to be close to God. It sounds stupid, but I don't really care how it sounds, it's true: My obsession with reading and posting on forums like Mothering.commune and The Diaper Pin has really eaten up a lot of my time and energy lately. Time and energy that should be devoted to my real purpose in life. That's something I want to change.

Labels: baby names, spirituality

As soon as DH and I decided that we would try to have a baby soon, I knew that I would cloth diaper our baby. I'm not sure why it was such an obvious choice. None of our family members or friends use cloth diapers on their chidren. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment and love the idea of scraping green pasty poop off into the toilet. My mom did use a cloth diaper service for a short period of time when I was a baby. The service provided all the old fashioned prefold diapers. Ya know, the kind that you pin and cover with a pair of rubber pants? Today, I think most people call prefold diapers "burp cloths". The service came once a week to collect the dirties and drop off clean ones.

I've done qite a bit of research on cloth diapering techniques and have found that there are as many ways to cloth diaper as there are to make swiss steak.(what the crap does that mean?)

I think I want to try all types of cloth diapers on my baby. I started sewing my own all-in-one diapers. These are the diapers I can imagine using if we are out and about and I need to make changing a diaper quick and easy. At home, I will probably use the old-timey prefolds w/ wool covers. Here are some dipes I've made so far:





Actually the dipes I made should be classified as "all-in-two" because the absorbant layer is a separate piece instead of being sewn in. They will dry a lot quicker this way. I ordered the waterproof PUL fabric from the Sew Shoppe. There are NO fabric stores around here that carry it. I have checked. Over and over. When I ask the sales clerks about it they look at me as if to say "You dear sweet girl, you have no idea what you're talking about. Do you even own a sewing machine?", and then they direct me to some plasticky outdoor tablecloth fabric or even wierder, bathing suit fabric. Uuughh.

I recently received $105 of birthday money from some of my family. Guess what I spent it on.....Yep. CLOTH DIAPERS. I bought 3 Disana wool covers and 3 Growing Greens one-size hemp diapers from Tiny Bird Organics. I can't wait to get them, even though I don't have a baby butt to put them on yet.

Labels: baby gear, cloth diapering, sewing

Okay, I know it is WAY early to be talking about baby names, as there is not even an embryo to speak of yet....or is there? There could be!(It's kind of fun waking up every day now and thinking "I could very possibly be pregnant right at this moment and I don't even know it!") ....but DH and I have already picked our boy name and I doubt that it will change between now and when the little bugger is born.

Xander Axel
or
Zander Axel

I am leaning toward the "Z" spelling just because I think it looks better on paper, but I think DH likes the "X" spelling better. We haven't really discussed "X" vs "Z".

Xander/Zander: It is a variant of "Alexander", which is Greek origin meaning "Protector of Mankind" or "Warrior"

Axel: It is of Hebrew origin meaning "The Father is Peace". Another baby name site says that it is of both Hebrew and Swedish origin meaning "Divine Reward" or "Divine Source of Life"

It took us a while to settle on Axel because DH had a strict rule that the middle name MUST begin with an "A". Why? Duh!...because only then would his initials spell out XAN or (ZAN), which will also be his nickname. We thought of the name Axel whilst driving either to or from one of our sinful little trips to Krispy Kreme. A Guns 'N Roses song came on the radio and I told DH that I thought the name Axl was cool. (Sorry son, you were sorta kinda named after a guy that sports white spandex shorts with combat boots) DH likes Axel with an "e" so it isn't exactly like Axl Rose's name. I agree. Although November Rain was my favorite video on MTV when I was like 12 years old, Axl Rose is certainly not one of my heroes.

We aren't quite as set on a girl name, although I really like these names:
1.) Tallulah Grey (Lulu or Lula for short)
2.) Paisley Grey
3.) Lola ______
4.) Lucy ______

Tallulah is by far my favorite. It has cute little kid nick-name potential, but also makes a nice adult name in its full form. "Grey" has no meaning for me - I just think it rings nicely with "Tallulah"....and with most other girl names I like. I really love the name Paisley as well. Although it has no real deep meaning.

Tallulah: It is of Choctaw origin and means "Leaping Water". Also possibly derived from a Gaelic name meaning "Fruitful Woman".

I came across an interesting old blog post by Laura Wattenberg, author of the Baby Name Wizard The post addresses the baby name legend of "Oranjello and Lemonjello", twin boys born to an African-American mother who named her sons after her insatiable craving for Jell-O during her pregnancy. Fact or fiction? The author seems to think it is fiction. I have no idea.



A few of the people who commented on the entry swore up and down that Oranjello and Lemonjello are real:

"I am a pediatrician who works in the greater Chicago area. I heard this story and always considered it to be apocryphal... Until I started my new job. I now know the nurses who took care of Lemonjello and ORANGEJELLO (note the corrected spelling). They were the mother's two favorite flavors of jello, per the nurses."-Anonymous

Others were not so convinced:

"To the people who claim to have seen Orangejello & Lemonjello in a high school yearbook or other official record: Send me a notarized photocopy, and I'll believe it. No one has ever given me evidence that these twins exist, and I've been hearing about them for over 30 years. This is an urban legend, folks, and you are just making yourself look foolish by repeating it. There are some real examples of men named Orangelo (NOT "Orangejello", but a blend of Oren and Angelo), and the legend seems to have begun back when the singer Peter Lemongello (a legitimate Italian surname) was famous, so that's the kernel of truth in the legend. But twins named this? Sure.
Send me the proof and I'll be happy to publicize it.
Cleveland Evans
President, American Name Society
Bellevue University
Bellevue, NE 68005-3098"
- Dr. Cleveland Kent Evans

So, now I am really curious. Do the fabeled "Jell-O" twins exist? What about other food/beverage names? Hhhhhmmmm....

Labels: baby names

I've come to find and interesting phenomenon that I had no clue even existed until DH and I began this journey of trying to make a baby.

I have learned that there is an entire subculture of women out there who are obsessed with peeing on sticks. Yes, it may seem to be a very unlikely addiction, but I assure you, there are MANY out there who HAVE to pee on a stick on a very regular basis or they will start having the shakes and cold sweats.

Okay, that last bit was a slight exaggeration, but just visit peeonastick.com or twoweekwait.com and you will see what I mean.

The funny thing is, I can totally see myself acquiring this strange uncontrollable need to pee on a stick. You see, when a couple is trying to conceive a baby, the woman experiences a small window of fertility each month that, if missed, means waiting until next month to try again. Some women use Ovulation Prediction Kits (or OPK's)in an attempt to find out when that window of opportunity is happening. OPK's are generally strips that you pee on every day (or even multiple times a day)during the time of your cycle that you are likely to ovulate. If the line is as dark as or darker than the control line, you can probably expect to ovulate within the next 24-36 hours.

After ovulation, the woman faces the dreaded "two week wait", when she is forced to wonder and obsess: "Am I pregnant? Am I not? What the crap is going on here??!!" That's why many women simply cannot wait until they miss their periods to take a pregnancy test. Some test as early as 7 days post-ovulation, hoping to see that little faint line that says "Congratulations! Your body has little bit of the pregnancy hormone HCG!"

On twoweekwait.com you can look at numerous photos like these:



The above is a progression of pregnancy tests beginning at 12 day post-ovulation. It's pretty cool to see how the line gets darker and darker.....but it would also be pretty nerve-racking to test everyday and never see a line.

I made a promise to DH that I would wait until I have most definitely missed my period to test so I don't put us through the agony of testing every single day, hoping for that line to appear/get darker.
My period is due August 10th. I figure if she doesn't show up, I will wait until August 13th to test....ya know, just to make it lucky ;)

I certainly don't think that women who are obsessed with peeing on a stick are crazy. I am the queen of impatience. If left to my own devices, I would probably join their ranks and pee right along with them.

Is it August 13th yet??

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
An update on my food-intake:
Sorry, I kind of lost track of what I was eating there for a few days. After this weekend, I have definitely been eating healthier, although I did have a bowl of Neapolitan ice cream w/ mini-marshmallows on top (I just need to throw that dang bag of marshmallows away!) the other night.

Today:

BREAKFAST:
1 small bowl of corn flakes w/ a cut up banana and a splash of skim milk
1 handful peanuts

Lunch:
1/2 cup cottage cheese w/ a couple pecans and a squirt of honey
1 apple
3 eggwhites / 1 egg yolk cooked in a smidge of olive oil

Dinner:
big bowl of mixed veggies w/ parmesan cheese
1/2 cup brown rice

Snack:
Handful mini-marshmallows (I just can't throw perfectly good food away, even if it is the devil!)

Labels: food, ttc

Since I am not yet a parent, my knowledge of and exposure to children's videos is very limited. When I was 12 or so, I helped my Grandma babysit my little nephew and he was totally obsessed with Barney.

Back around the time when everyone was talking about the Teletubbies and the alledged homosexual undertones of the show, I remember watching a few episodes. Now I can't remember - Why did everyone think they were gay? I vaguely recall talk of the purple triangle-shaped antenna on one of the Tubbies' heads....maybe that was the concern, I dunno.

The mother of the little boy I babysit packs Barney and Baby Einstein videos in his diaper bag, so I've had ample time to watch those over and over.

While I appreciate how all three of those examples could definitely aid in children learning important things like shapes, colors, numbers, sharing, and how talking vacuum cleaners like to suck up large amounts of pudding through their hose-attachment snouts, none of them actually ROCK.

You know what children's video does most literally rock?

A while back, my DH bought a They Might Be Giants video called Here Come the ABCs. He bought it before I even knew I was going to be babysitting a toddler. I suppose at that point we knew that we were going to have children of our own soon, but that's not why he bought it. We are both really huge TMBG fans. I have seen them live 5 or 6 times and DH has seen them 4 or 5. John and John write music that we both love. I can't really explain why I love it.



Here Come the ABCs is the only kids' video floating around this house that I look forward to watching. Some days, it stays on repeat, shining from our bulky ceiling-mounted 80's projector and serves as background noise as the little boy and I play and piddle around the house.

Oh yes, and here's a quick recap of what I ate yesterday and today:

YESTERDAY:
Beakfast:
1 cup unsweetened Cheeri-O's ( I think their real generic name is "Oaty O's" or "Oatt Puffs" or something)
1/2 cup Skim Milk
1 Handful of Pecans

Lunch:
1 cup mixed veggies
1/2 cup cottage cheese

Dinner:
A gigantic bowl of Peach Jello w/ cream cheese/whipped cream stuff
4 pizza bagel bites
3 peanutbutter brownies
1 bowl summer veggie salad w/ italian dressing
3 cream cheese/pickle/deli meat roll-up things
1 bowl of queso w/ tortilla chips

Okay, okay, I know! But I was at a pot luck dealy and had to indulge!

TODAY:

Breakfast:
Nada

Lunch:
We went to a Pizza buffet. I won't even get into the details.

Snack:
small slice of peach croissant dessert
Another gigantic bowl of Jell-O (It was leftover! Uuuughh. It is now in the trash can.)

Dinner:
TBA

Labels: children's entertainment, food, music

Well, I took my Ovulation Scope back to Wal-Mart from whence it came. I actually feel sort of bad for doing this, because I am the one who essentially broke it.

I must say though, that the thing was extremely cheaply made. As soon as I took it out of its package I felt disappointed that I spent $15 dollars on a really small flimsy piece of plastic that seemed as if the whole thing would just crack into pieces if you twist the lens off with a little brute force.

Its apparent poor quality wouldn't have bothered me one bit if it were meant to be a one-time-use kind of test, but the directions boast that you can use it month after month for as long as you like. That was actually the whole reason I bought it.

As I was rinsing the slide off w/ water, as the directions advise, I noticed that there was fuzz or a smugde of sorts on the lens. So I decided to rinse the lens off as well. I dried the pieces with a dry Q-tip and set them on the counter to air out. When I came back, I noticed that there was a big bubble obstructing the view through the lens. Apparently when I rinsed the lens, water had gotten in between the two lens-pieces, which rendered the whole thing useless since it was now impossible to see the saliva through the scope. Doh!

When I took it back, I didn't lie, but I didn't give ALL of the information. I told the girl that there is a bubble in the plastic lens that makes it so you can't see through the scope. She didn't even ask me if I had already used it. She took it back with no questions. Wal-Mart's return policy is unbeatable. One time, I took back a blatantly-opened package of Hanes Her Way undies because they didn't fit. No questionas asked. You gotta wonder what happens to all that already-opened (possibly used???) underwear that people bring back. Do they re-shelf it?? I shudder to think.



You could be wearing my underwear right now.

I used the $15 dollars to put a tiny bit of gas in my car and buy some Jell-O to make for the "Couple's Night" thing that our church is having tomorrow night. Boy, that's just great. I used ill-gotten money to buy refreshments for a church function. Shame.

I wonder if anyone at church notices that everytime there is a potluck function I bring some sort of Jell-O.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Breakfast:
1 cup unsweetend generic Cheeri-os
1/2 cup skim milk

Lunch:
5 bites of leftover chili
An egg sandwich made w/ 1 yolk, 3 whites, 2 pcs wheat toast, 1/8 cup shredded cheddar cheese (might as well face it I'm addicted to cheese), and a squirt of lo-carb ketchup (has Sucralose in it. Doh!)
1 apple

Snack:
20 or so mini-marshmallows

Dinner:
A turkey reuben (2 pcs wheat bread, 5 slices turkey lunch meat, a bunch of saurkraut, and you guessed it....1/8 cup of CHEESE! Oh, and a squirt of dijon mustard)
No veggies....SHAME ON ME!!!



I ended up drinking 8 oz of coffee, but still had a splitting headache until I went to bed. I'm prepared for another headache today. I'm going to drink 4 oz of coffee and I know that won't be enough keep my head from pounding. Note to self: Don't get all jacked up on caffeinne during the weeks leading up to trying to conceive. You knew you were gonna have to quit! Why did you do that???!!! Gggrrrr.

Labels: product reviews, ttc

Ha ha! Psych! I bet you thought with all this talk about "trying to conceive" that my title was talking about um...uh...ahem. Ya know.

Well, nope. This is the first time I've posted 2 entries on my blog in 1 day. Yee haw. Yep, I'm addicted.

Meme of 4's

I've tagged myself from Well Mannered Frivolity.

4 jobs I've had:
Switchboard Operator/Receptionist @ an oncology clinic
Barista @ an espresso cafe
Lunchlady @ a public highschool
Sales Clerk @ JC Penney

and many many more.................


4 movies I could watch over and over:
Back to the Future (the entire trilogy)
Romeo & Juliet (the cheesy 90's one w/ Leo DiCaprio and Claire Danes)
The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe
High Fidelity


4 Places Ive lived:
Akron, OH
Nashville, TN
Fayetteville, AR
Lincoln, AR


4 TV shows I like to watch:
The Office (Oh my gosh! Jim kissed Pam!!!!!!!!!!)
My Name is Earl (Wendy digs it too ;)
Last of the Summer Wine (British comedy on PBS...'tis a guilty pleasure)
House (Geez, that dude is mean.....and I love it!)


4 Places I've been on Holiday:
Hawaii
Sanibel Island, Florida
Hong Kong
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina


4 Websites I Visit Everyday:
Mothering.Commune
The Diaper Pin
eBay
Thingamababy


4 of my Favorite Foods:
Crablegs
Pizza (from Luigi's in Akron, OH.....too bad I live 900 miles away)
Sushi
Any kind of Thai food


4 places I'd rather be:
Eating at an outdoor restaurant on the beach (any beach)w/ DH
Walking the steets of Manhattan w/ DH
Hanging out in Portland, OR doing whatever people in Portland do (w/ DH)
Doing "the deed", trying to make a baby w/ DH


Tag yourself if you want to play along!

Labels: me-me

Each day, I'm going to try to list all the food I've eaten and its amount. I really want to have a healthy pregnany and I haven't done a very good job of losing weight over the last few months to prepare for conception.

I stumbled across mention of Dr. Tom Brewer's Pregnancy diet while browsing through some threads on the Mothering.Commune pregnancy discussion boards. It does seem like a healthy well-balanced diet, for the most part.

But I think some of it may conflict with the diet guidelines the midwife I plan on using gave me. It's really amazing how many different schools of thought there are on healthy pregnancy. It's confusing to know whose advice to follow.

Here are some of the guidelines the midwife gave me (keeping in mind that she is a vegan and I am not):

No Fish. The traces of mercury could be harmful for baby. Although a very limited amount of fish would probably be safe, it is just better to stay away from it altogether to be on the safe side.

No Pork. I kind of new this without her telling me. Pork is really one of the dirtiest meats one can eat. Pigs are scavenger animals, and although we have processing plants to get rid of (most of) the grossness, I still think there's a reason it was one of the meats God forbode the Hebrews to eat. (Don't get me wrong, I do eat bacon every now and then. I'm not bound by the Law, since we are not living in Old Testament times, and therefore my right-standing w/ God does not rely on what kinds of meat I do or don't eat. But I really believe that God's OT Law on meats were also health guidelines given to the Hebrews for their own benefit.

No Beef. She said that there is just stuff going on in the beef industry today that people don't know about. Sounds borderline conspiracy-theorist to me, but I don't eat that much beef anyway, so I'm not too worried about it.

Eat ONLY free-range chicken, if you must eat meat.Woman, I'd love to eat only free-range chicken, but I really don't have the money to spend $12 or more on just one fryer chicken.

Supplement protein w/ powdered rice protein from the whole foods store. Mix it w/ fresh fruit juice and ice to make a smoothie. I already have a big container of egg white protein, so I asked her if that was comparable to the rice protein. She said it's not as good, but it'll do. I forgot at the time that she is vegan, so of course she is not going to be keen on egg products.

Eat 2-3 servings of red/orange/yellow veggies a day

Eat all the green veggies I can possibly stand and try to eat many of them raw.

Eat 3-5 servings of fruit per day

Drink 1/2 my weight in ounces of water. So, if you are 150 lbs, you need to drink 75 oz water per day.

Drink red raspberry leaf tea every day. Midwives have differing oppinions on what the exact benefits of red raspberry leaf tea are and the amount a pregnant woman should consume, but it is believed that it promotes uterine health by toning its muscles.

Take a good NATURAL prenatal vitamin. The best one for the money in her opinion is Nature's Plus "Source of Life" Prenatal Vitamins.

She didn't mention much about the intake of carbohydrates during our conversation, but she did ask me what my current diet consists of and I told her that I usually eat about 1/2 cup of brown rice at dinner (along w/ meat & veggies) or one slice of wheat bread. She seemed fine with that.

An example of a perfect breakfast is:
granola (didn't specify amount)
1 banana
handful of nuts and raisins
a bit of natural maple syrup
a splash of rice or soy milk

Sounds yummy to me, but I should have asked HOW MUCH granola to include in this concoction. I am the kind of person that needs boundaries. If you don't give me a specific limit, I'll likely fill up my mop bucket with granola and shovel it in with the biggest spoon I can find. It's good she limited the maple syrup to "a bit".....but that just leaves it open to my interpretation. Is a bit 1 teaspoon or 2 overflowing tablespoons? I would surely choose the latter.

I will add to the list as the day progresses, but so far I have eaten:

Breakfast:
1 egg cooked in a dab of olive oil
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 pieces wheat toast
2 bites of the sweetened oatmeal I was feeding the toddler I babysit
1 12 oz cup red raspberry leaf tea
1 8 oz cup coffee (trying to wean myself off of it by this weekend - yikes!)

Snack:
6 animal crackers (Doh! Dang that toddler snackie-food.)

Lunch:
1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
1 handful pecans
squirt of honey
1/2 apple
1/2 cup mixed veggies
4 slices turkey breast lunchmeat

Snack:
1 white flour tortilla w/
1 tbsp natural unsalted/unsweetened peanut butter

Dinner:
A big bowl of chili (made w/ organic pinto beans and crumble veggie burger)
1/2 cup brown rice
1/4 cup shredder cheddar cheese
1/2 cup green beans

Snack:
1 handful o' peanuts

Okay, I think what I've learned by looking at this day's meals is that I need to eat WAY more green veggies and no animal crackers.

Labels: food, health

I bought an Ovulation Scope today, which is supposed to aid in predicting ovulation. I wasn't going to get all psycho-crazy and buy those super-duper fertility pack deals that include a ba-jillion ovulation test strips and a 15-pack of pregnancy tests, but my enthusiasm and impatience got the best of me and I decided it wouldn't hurt just to buy one conception tool.

The Ovulation Scope seemed to be an economical way to test my fertility as opposed to the pee-pee tests. At Wal-Mart, 7 urine test strips were at the very minimum $11.97. So if we took say, 4 months to conceive, that would be $47.88 spent on pee-pee tests. I'm hoping it won't take that long.....that would be horrible.....doomed to have sex all the time like bunny rabbits for the next 4 months! How awful! Totally kidding.



'Twas $15.

I just tested my saliva. From what I can tell, I'm not ovulating. You put a little saliva on this clear slide and then view it through a cheap plastic microscope lense after it has dried. If you see a bunch of scattered bubble-like dots, you are not fertile. If you see a "ferning" pattern, much like the shape of ice crystals, you are fertile. I just saw bubbly-looking things, so if I did it right, I am apparently not ovulating at the moment.



Mine definitely looked like the first one.

DH made a good point a while back: "Instead of testing fertility, why don't people just have sex every single day when they're trying to get pregnant?"

"Hhhmmm....", I thought.

So up until now, that was our plan of attack. I posed the same question to my sister today and she pointed out that if the man sort of...um..."saves up" his sperm for a little bit before the woman's fertile time, he will have a higher sperm count than if he were constantly releasing sperm up until that point. Makes sense to me.

Sorry, DH, looks like your all-sex, all the time strategy might not work.

That said, I certainly don't plan on being abstinent throughout the entire non-fertile time leading up to ovulation. That would just be crazy. Sis said that some suggest to do-it every other day throughout your projected fertile time.

I feel like I'm overthinking this whole thing. I'm sure it doesn't have to be this complicated. After all, I bet if I were a teenager getting busy with my boyfriend in the back of a car, I'd get pregnant in a snap.

Labels: ttc

Warning: This post may include what some would deem "TMI". However, since this weblog IS called "Making a Person", it would be silly not to include this little detail in our journey leading up to parenthood:

WE ARE OFFICIALLY TRYING TO CONCEIVE.

Actually, we haven't really...ahem...uh..."started" trying to conceive yet, as AF just ended and I will not ovulate until around July 25th/29th-ish. I will assume you're a smart little cookie and can make an educated guess on what AF stands for.

So, unless DH decides it would be better to wait until my end-of-August ovulation for whatever reason, looks like we will no longer be taking preventative measures whilst engaging in......der....um....the marital act.



I definitely believe that God created sex for more than just the purpose of procreation. It is an awesome display of the love and covenant between husband and wife. With that said, I am also looking forward to the freedom and excitement of having sex for the purpose of procreation......that will be something I've never experienced before. And then there's a whole 9 months of prevention-free sex to enjoy after that!

My mom and step-dad are coming to visit at the end of September and it would be nice to know for sure if I'm pregnant or not before then. If we wait until my ovulation time in August to start trying, I would be expecting to get or miss AF while they are here visiting. I'd rather be several weeks pregnant by then and able to tell them for sure that they are going to have another grandchild (via my womb this time and not my sister's. (bless her fertile little heart) hee hee :)

You all must be thinking I'm being overly optimistic in expecting that DH and I are going to get pregnant our first go-round. Eh, maybe I am.....but I just have this strong gut feeling that we are not going to have any trouble at all trying to conceive. On the other hand, if it does take a few months, I certainly won't be heartbroken. It will just mean that God hates me and wants me to be a giant preggo cow in the midst of the South's hellishly steamy summertime heat. Totally joking.

God loves me.

Labels: family, sex, ttc

After posting photos of my own car in my last entry, I got to thinking, "Wouldn't it be neat to cover the entire surface of my ugly blue Taurus, inside and out, with little plastic toys and figurines?" That would certainly take care of covering up that awful tar junk stuck to the rear bumper.

A few years ago, DH and I went to a little festival held on the square downtown. Parked all along the square were crazy looking "Art Cars". I had never seen anything so endearing. I loved that people took perfectly good cars - some of them were even nice old classic automobiles like Benz's and Beetles - and glued/painted/wired/mosaiced their favorite things all over them. One in particular that sticks out in my mind is The Sashimi Tabernacle Choir Car, hailing from Houston Texas. The car is covered with singing Billy Bass fish and plastic lobsters. They are all mechanically wired into a computer of sorts so they can dance and sing to songs like "Bohemian Rhapsody". They sing other songs too, but I can't remember what they were. All the critters' dance moves are really well orchestrated. There is a "conductor" lobster complete with a little baton, as well a soloist fish standing upright with a microphone on the roof.




I doubt if I ever get quite that imaginative with my "Art Car", but it definitely sparked my inspiration to glue random junk to my vehicle.

Harold Blank has a very interesting website called ArtCarAgency.com that boasts such oddities as the "Camera Van" and the "Mondrian Mobile"





This post really has nothing to do with preparing for having a child in any way..... Except that it is testament to just how embarrassing of a mom I may end up being to my child. Sure, when he/she is a toddler it will be fun and exciting to ride in mom's crazy toy-mobile. But at 13 years of age, I can just imagine that I will be like Uncle Buck dropping the child off in front of the school while he/she is completely mortified.

Then again, would an American-made vehicle really run that far into the future? I seriously doubt it. Junior, count yourself lucky that I don't drive a Toyota or Honda.

Labels: art cars

I found out that one of the items on my last post's wishlist totally sucks. Score. That way, I don't feel like I'm missing out....because, let's face it, I'm not going to spend $600 on a highchair (no matter how great it would look in our kitchen). I found a page chock full o' bad reviews on The Mozzee Nest highchair.

Quote from a dissatisfied customer: "We just received our Nest chair and are sending it back. It was such a disappointment. The design and style are beautiful but the chair lacks functionality. My rather large 8 month old kept sliding down into a slumped position because of the shape of the seat. By the time he had finished his second meal in the chair he had figured out how to remove the food tray, sending it crashing to the floor. The chair definitely needs some modifications before it is actually functional in real life."
If I spent $600 on a piece of baby furniture, I would expect more than that.

Now I have shifted my lust for that pretty orange hunk of modern plastic on a wobbly base to something that looks a little more solid and no less aesthetically pleasing.

The Svan High Chair is $240, which is still way more than I feel right about spending on a highchair, but seems very versatile.



Not only is it an infant high chair, but can be used during each stage of the child's development....even as an adult sized chair.

I will, however, keep the Britax Marathon on my list of wants. Fellow blogger Heidi assured me that it is totally worth the money. She owns the Marathon in the sweet "Camooflage" print. Yes, that would look so awesome in my car.

BTW, my car is a piece of crap '94 Taurus that I have pimped out a la trailer trash couture.


The car was given to us. It runs great and AC works like a champ, but it's not all that pleasing to the eye. The material and foam on the ceiling was peeling off and hanging down, so I decided to cover it with white faux fur.

I found some of my old childhood toys while visiting my parents this spring. It seemed only right to superglue them to my dashboard. I'm also collecting Homies figurings from those vending machines you find in all the Mexican restaurants 'round these parts. I eventually want to have so many plastic figurines that the dashboard becomes invisible.

I love the back window, although the fringe is starting to droop and needs to be re-glued. Between the fringes and the fur I probably used 856 hot glue sticks. Apparently, I should've used 857.

We bought cheesy flame decals from Autozone and plastic "spinner" wheelcovers from Wal-Mart. Somewhere along the way, the ones on the driver's side of the car have fallen off, which makes my ride extra ghetto.

The car came with some sort of mystery tar/paint substance all over the trunk and back bumper. I just can't figure out a way to make it look cool, but I thought silver flames might help.

I will have to drive this car until it is junkyard worthy because I'm not sure that anyone shares my taste in car interiors. My poor husband is embarrased to drive the thing.

Labels: art cars, baby gear, my car

DH officially has a job! He starts Monday at a company that prints tickets for national sporting events and concerts. He will be one of their database nerds. There is no dress code, which he is absolutely stoked about. If he had his way, he would wear holey pit-stained t-shirts and polyester pants from the Salvation Army to work everyday. He will be making $4k less per year than at his old job, but I think the pay cut is worth it for him to be able to work in less "corporate america" type environment.

Baby-making kick-off is scheduled for the end of August. Woo hoo! After years of trying to prevent pregnancy, it'll be pretty refreshing to just let nature take its course. I am so thankful to the Lord for this time in our lives. He has entrusted DH and I with making a human being. We will shape this child's world. His/her perception of who God is will largely rely on how he/she perceives us. We must comfort and chastise. We must provide boundaries as well as freedom. We must love and protect unconditionally and instill wisdom from God's Word. What a mind-blowing responsibility! Yet, I am not worried or scared....only excited and in awe of God's design of the family unit and how it reflects His relationship with us.

I just want to pause right here and say that the Lord - Yahweh - is so infinitely good to me! His Son Y'shua (Jesus' Hebrew name) died so that I may have life filled with God's peace and joy. He is my supreme example of what a human being should be: overflowing with love and compassion for others, filled with a burning desire to know the heart of the Father. Father God, please help DH and I to be the parents you want us to be.

Okay, here's where the entry turns from heart-felt and serious to materialistic and shallow :)

In honor of DH getting a job, I have created a small wish-list of baby things I would like to accumulate over the next 10 months. Actually, these are all crazy frivolous things that are way out of our price range and I would never buy. But, boy are they fun to covet!

1. The Bugaboo Cameleon Stroller
Price: $879.00



2. Mozzee Nest Highchair
Price: $575.00



3. Britax Marathon Carseat
Price: $269.99


4. Modern Tots Alex Dresser/Changing Table
Price: $1,195.00

Labels: baby gear, dh, spirituality, ttc

The little 1 yr old squirt I babysit accompanied me to Aldi today. For those of you who are not familiar w/ the awesomeness that is Aldi, it's an uber cheap grocery store. This was our very first outing, aside from stroller walks and playing outside in his inflatable kiddie pool. He was BEYOND cranky this morning, and I was a little afraid of what kind of scene he might make while in the crowded aisles of a grocery store, but I decided it was worth the risk since all we had left in our cupboards was some gopher jerky and cream of toast. That was for you, Simpsons fans.

He slept most of the way there. I thought I'd get lucky enough for him to sleep while we were shopping, but he woke up as soon as I took him out of the car. In addition to my fear of him throwing a wild tantrum, I have to admit that I'm a little embarrassed of his hair. He has beautiful LONG curly brown hair that both his momma and I keep pulled up in a neat ponytail the majority of the time. If we didn't it would quickly turn into a tangly rat's nest full of dog hair, applesauce, and graham cracker crumbs. Because of his lovely locks, long eyelashes, and cute chubby cheeks, I'm pretty sure people tend to think he's a girl. I hate to say it, but I can totally see myself letting strangers comment on what a cute "girl" he is without bothering to correct them, just to spare them the embarrassment.....well, and so they don't think I'm a really mean "mom" for making my little boy look like a girl.

I understand why his momma doesn't want to cut his hair. It is really pretty. Plus, one of his older teenage brothers has long hair, so the fact that they match is pretty darling. But I wish she would just break down and cut it anyway. Not necessarily to make interaction with doting strangers more comfortable for me, but just so I don't have to deal with trying to comb out the tangles and contain it in a ponytail all while he is screaming at the top of his lungs, fighting me tooth and nail.

During our little trip, he REFUSED to sit in the cart and I had to carry him on my hip the whole time. I actually didn't mind that much - I think my arm muscles are getting pretty buff. I just wish that when I do need to sit him down for any reason he wouldn't throw such a fit. He is spoiled rotten. I definitely need to make a sling for us FAST. His momma brought me a Snuggli carrier, but it is way uncomfortable on my back and I don't think they are very ergonomically healthy for baby. All baby's weight ends up on his spine, since he is essentially just suspended by a tiny strip of fabric under his crotch. The one I have doesn't even seem to have this much padding and support:



My husband is at a job interview as we speak. He informed me that our plans to get pregnant in a few months should still be on track financially. That made me very happy. Even though I'm having a rough time with the cranky teething little booger I watch right now, I still can't wait to have one of my own.

Before I started frequenting some of these crunchy baby-hippie forums, I had never heard of TEETHING NECKLACES. Apparently, amber has natural healing properties that can ease the pain of teething simply by placing it around baby's neck. Am I going crazy? This actually seems like a good idea to me.


I am becoming the antithesis of everything my mother believes. "Give him Baby Tylenol", says mom. "Put him down and let him cry. It'll be good for him", says mom. It's a good thing I live so far away from my mom. No doubt, she would think I'm nuts for hanging an amber necklace around Junior's neck to make his pain go away. I haven't told her yet that we are not planning on vaccinating our kids. Yikes.

Labels: babysitting, general complaining

I've been reading up a little bit on the advantages of leaving one's little baby boy UNcircumcised. The more I read, the more it makes sense to leave a baby boy's penis totally intact instead of cutting off the foreskin. I used to ignorantly think that circumcision is beneficial because it makes the penis easier to clean. What do I know, anyway? I thought that "smegma" was a yucky odorous buildup underneath the foreskin of an intact penis that has not been properly taken care of. In fact, when I think about it, I believe I have always thought that smegma is a slang word, not a technical term, that I have only used jokingly in movies using dirty humor. I read on Mothersagainstcirc.org that "Smegma is clean, not dirty, and is beneficial and necessary. It moisturizes the glans and keeps it smooth, soft, and supple. Its antibacterial and antiviral properties keep the penis clean and healthy. All mammals produce smegma." I really had no clue.

My husband is circumcised and I have only ever been with men who have circumcised penises. After reading the supposed ill effects of circumcision on men's sex life, I wonder what my husband's take on the issue is or if he has ever even thought of it.

A long time ago, after seeing that a couple we know left their son's foreskin intact, I remember asking my husband if he thought we would circumcise our son if we ever had one. I think he said something along the lines of, "I'd always assumed that we would."

I wonder if his perspective has changed any. He is a proponent of natural birth, using cloth diapers, and eating natural foods. It seems as though someone who embraces the process of birth in its natural state as well as eating natural unprocessed foods and also seems to like it when I don't shave my legs and underarms would also embrace the practice of leaving a baby boy's private parts intact and shun the practice of circumcision. I think he is just uneducated on the subject, just as I was before I started reading all these horrible things about circumcision.

I am definitely going to present him with some facts so he can make an informed decision.

Here is a VERY graphic video of a routine circumcision being performed. I really don't want this done to MY BABY!!



Then, there's the spiritual aspect of circumcision.....

God commanded Abraham to be circumcised. It is an outward sign of the covenant between God and His people. However, as Gentiles that live in the New Testament age of Grace and Freedom in Christ, is it something that God still expects? Honestly, even after reading all the research that supports the benefits of leaving a child's foreskin intact, if I knew that circumcision is something that pleases God and that He expects His children to do, I would disregard what the world says and go with what God says.

I intend to read and pray about it, but it is now my understanding that circumcision is an Old Testament observance that does not need to be followed today. According to Romans 2:25-29, circumcision of the HEART, spiritually speaking, is more pleasing to God than physical circumcision. In Acts 21:25, it is decided by the early church leaders that Gentiles who had decided to follow Christ were not to be expected to become circumcised. Instead, that they keep themselves from immorality.

Click below to read: "Newborns Care of the Uncircumcised Penis Guidelines for Parents" by the American Academy of Pediatrics

Labels: controversial topics, health, spirituality