Daddy, look what I can do!

Happy Bastille Day

(Not that I even remember what that means any more. Or that my DH would appreciate me celebrating anything French.)

It would also be Happy Anniversary to Us Day if the calendar-keeper at the church had done her job right. So that one instead has to wait for next week.

Rear-facing toddlers

Commenting on someone else's blog about car seats tonight reminded me of something I meant to post a while back... I went through a phase where I was concerned about Katie's feet being flush against the back of the seat when she was buckled in her car seat (if she stretched her legs out, which she rarely does). I was afraid if we were in an accident, her legs would get broken. She was over a year, but only 18 lbs. (The law in CO is at least 1 year and at least 20 lbs.)

I asked her doctor about it. First she said, Oh, you're not going to get in an accident, so don't worry about it. (Nice that she was so optimistic, but I just couldn't share that, with us about to take a trip home.) She said the issue was head control, and that Katie could control her head well so she would probably be OK. But if I got stopped, she wasn't the one who said that.

I called 2 different car-seat checkers in town. One said I should definitely turn her around, that sometimes he had to turn around 6 month olds because their legs were too long. The other one said not only should I not turn her around, but I should consider keeping her that way well past 20 lbs, because broken legs heal, but a spinal cord injury is permanent and potentially deadly. When I was talking to her, I remembered that they had said the same things in our carseat safety class (was that really almost 3 years ago!?!?!?).

Confused about what the truth was, I decided to keep her rear-facing since that was the law, and I was scared of getting caught and them taking her away. (Unlikely, I know, but if I can prevent it, shouldn't I? Okay, I admit it, I'm just a paranoid freak!)

Shortly thereafter, a friend sent me some links to this article and this one (and for good measure I'm including this link to the AAP's policy too) that have convinced me to keep her rear-facing, even though she is now over the 20 lb. minimum weight. If they're wrong, I am not really losing anything. If they are right, she's many times safer the way she is than turned forward.

I also thought hard about turning Sammy back around, but he was so close to the 33 lb. max rear-facing weight of his Britax Marathon, I decided against it. Although he did really seem to really enjoy sitting backwards in Katie's seat when I had him try it out to see if he could get his legs situated comfortably (which he did immediately!).

Is anyone else out there keeping their older babies rear-facing, or considering it? Or have you even heard of it?

Rant: BCPs

As if it wasn't enough that stupid birth control pills totally screwed up my body at the ripe old age of 19 (despite the GYN's reassurance that they couldn't possibly), and that they make thousands of unsuspecting women more vulnerable to strokes and heart attacks and a host of other nasty stuff, AND that they have killed who knows how many millions of babies by not even giving them a chance to implant in their mommies' bodies... now they are being passed on from peoples' pee into the water supply! How gross is that! If they are transmuting the gender of fish all over the world, who knows what they are doing to US! No wonder girls these days are going through puberty so much earlier than even my generation! Sure makes me glad I heeded my nurse practitioner's advice to drink only filtered water!

If you are on the Pill, please please PLEASE, for the sake of life as we know it, get off! Check out NaProTECHNOLOGY as a cheaper, healthier, environmentally-friendly, life-friendly alternative.

Rave: www.foryourmarriage.org

Kudos to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for launching www.foryourmarriage.org, a site for anyone who is married, or who is contemplating marriage. Please check it out, and pass it on to your friends.

What have you done for your marriage today? Enquiring minds want to know. I sent my honey an email letting him know that I missed him. And of course prayed for him.

Louisiana Agenda

I am starting to get confused with all the people I want to see, people who want to see me (or really my kids), people who will be offended if they don't see us.... So here is my attempt to sort everything out.

I am having a really hard time carting the kids around to see everyone - they are super cranky and don't like being in the car (go figure after how long it takes to drive here!) Plus you have to factor out the 3 hours in the middle of the day that they need to be napping (including time to drive home so they actually will nap) and that we need to start winding down for bed about 7:30 or 8. And the fact that Katie is not doing well in group settings, but will mostly warm up to people if there are only 1-2 new people at a time.

So... if you want to see us and can possibly get yourselves out here instead of us coming to you, it would be greatly, GREATLY appreciated. And if you want to get in on this agenda, comment or email me. (I would love to see you, but at this point am so overwhelmed and not sure how to fit everybody in, I'm probably not going to bring it up myself.)

Tues - Visit Mimi 11-1, help dad replace garbage disposal, visit mom's neighbors pm
Wed - photos with my kids & Roomie 10 am @ Studio Rouge and then lunch, Swimming @ Ms. Rosann's ~4
Thurs - Visit Bianca in am; Granny, Donna, & Cameron in afternoon
Fri - Visit mom's friend Cindy and her grandkids (?am), Visit Sarah (pm)
Sat - Mass @ 5:30? 6?
Sun - gathering w/ Daddy's family @ Nanny's (afternoon/evening)
Mon - ?Play at Cameron's?
Tues - Maybe leaving this day
Wed - Daddy's birthday (And Kerry's too!)- definitely leaving today if we haven't left yet. (Possibly depends on Granny's blood thinner check)

Who/what needs to be fit into the agenda:
Debbie whenever she can, Wendi Gayle if I can get ahold of her, Aunt Kim, cousin Aimee, Granny's sisters, parents' neighbors, Amanda, Ms Nancy & Brande & Dakota???, buy and put together shelves for my mom's living room, take down the perpetual Christmas tree, plan trip home & coordinate w/ brother & people we plan to stop to see

The Catch-up blog

Haven't been spending as much time on the computer, what with all the travelling. Lots has happened though!

• You already saw (or can see below) the photos from the family gathering early last week
• Celebrated mom (MIL)'s b-day on Friday
• Wished Grandma (MIL's MIL) a happy b-day (Sat)
• My now out-of-warranty laptop developed a row of dead pixels. :( (Still useable but annoying!!!)
• After a week of being there, Katie finally let her grammy hold her the night before we left!
• Left Grammy & Grampy's Sat lunchtime, Daddy headed north (for home/back to work) and we headed south. Stopped in Pearland (Houston) to visit my Roomie for about 3 seconds. Or at least that's how short it seemed to me. Didn't get to do much but tend to kids, although I did get to meet her fiance and see her wedding dress. Forgot to ask her how she got so skinny. She looks fabulawesome! (I couldn't think of a regular word to say how great she looked, so I had to make one up. Just for you, Roomie!)
• Tried to attend Mass with her family Sunday morning but the kids were just too grumpy and we ended up spending half of it in the nursery (of course I was not allowed to leave... couldn't really hear the speakers for all the kid noise, so I read the readings on my PDA and hoped God counted my effort for something!) and the other half of it exploring the grounds.
• Got to see Todd, Amanda, & Addie in League City
• Didn't get to see TJ, Ellen, & Aiden because we passed through Sulphur too late (very sad about that one! Hope we can catch them on the way back!)
• Got to MawMaw's last night
• Had an unfortunate encounter with a bleeping rodent after a 5am potty trip, have been awake ever since (and am considering taking the kids and staying at someone else's house if the stinking little thing isn't caught and expelled!).
• Visited with (the other) Roomie, Mason, Aunt Donna, Granny, & Cameron this morning. What a SWEEEEEEET baby!!!
• Visited Ms. Rosann & Mr. Ray this evening, plus stopped a minute to say hi to MawMaw's Keno buddies.
• Katie is playing super shy around anyone new this trip, except that if you offer to take her outside, you are automatically her new best friend.
• Sammy will say hi to, and eventually hug, anyone we ask him to. And seems to have a homing radar for the "toy room" no matter what house we go in. (Although he doesn't seem to get the concept that some houses don't have them.)
• Katie started walking (apparently that's going around her crowd... Morgan, what about you, baby???)
• Katie is about to sprout 2 more bottom teeth any minute now. And has the crankiness to go with it.
• Though fondly about Aunt Julie, whose b-day is today. (We celebrated her b-day last week when we were all together.)

A close-knit family?

Fun in Grampy's Pool

Surprisingly, my little daredevil, who loves the bathtub, wants NOTHING to do with a swimming pool. She screamed the whole time I had here in there, except when I could distract her with the dog. All the other kids, however, had a blast, and didn't want to get out.

I had some reservations about spending as much money as I did on a nursing bathing suit, but after using it for what it was intended for, I think it was worth it. Although I had to get my mother-in-law to help me take 3" off the straps so it would actually fit me. Do they think all nursing mothers are 5'11"???

Merci Beaucoup to my Suite-E Julie for sharing her photos with me to share with you!

Family Photos

Well, we accomplished it - all 4 kids plus spouses, and 10/11 grandkids, all together at the same time. Here is the evidence:

The kids: John, Jeff, Julie, Jena


The grandkids: Jonathon (13), Julian (13), Paige (13), Jenna (11), Emily (10), Rachel (9), Lance (4), Sammy (2), Brooke (2), Katie (1).


John, Denise, Jonathon, Jenna, & Rachel


Us


Emily, Julie N, and Julian


Grammy & Grampy with their grandkids


Everyone!