Fast Food Funny!

Hey there everyone, I'm BACK! For today at least.

I've been super super busy, AND I have a confession to make. Yes we did it. We caved. We got home super late one night and bought some fast food to eat for supper...UGH!!!

BUT......I have a funny story because of it and wanted to share it.

If you didn't read my former post about Eating Out, well we have had decided to NOT eat out so we can save money and that just seemed like the easiest thing to cut out. Well that was until.....the other night.

Just to get you up to speed with what we do at our house......we hardly EVER run through a drive thru for food, so our kids are not accustom to this type of thing. And now on to my story.........

So I had been gone almost all night working with my sister (which I also NEVER do, but I was helping her paint her house) and got home uber late, so we picked up some food through the dreaded Drive-Thru.

My husband handed everyone their food and when he handed Ava's food to her(my 2yr, old) she exclaimed "THANK you Daddy!" and then turned to me and said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Momma!!" LOL!!!!!

She had us rolling! The fact that we were eating fast food (to her) had to mean it was someone's birthday! :)

That's a good thing, right?! ;) Haha!


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Heartache

It's been a hard couple of weeks for me. I haven't wanted to blog about it because it's very personal. I know I've shared some personal things of my own on here, but the recent events aren't just personal for me, they involve others. People close to me. Dear to me. People that I would lay down my life for, close to me. My heart is hurting right now.  I guess I'm blogging to get it off my chest. Being vague isn't interesting to most, but I'm doing this for me, not anyone else.

I'm in a very happy marriage. Yes we fight. Yes we get annoyed with each other, but we are still NICE to each other and LOVE each other and RESPECT each other. That's normal, though, right? Well, that's what I say most of the time. I realize that this is not 'normal' for everyone, though. It's my normal. What is normal for most?

For most, I would say 'normal' is what you allow yourself to be comfortable with. From the outside looking in, it's easy to point fingers and say what's 'right' or what's 'normal'. But does anyone really have it all figured out? Of coarse, I like to think I do because I am happy.... with my life... with my marriage. 

Perhaps, I have no room to talk because I haven't ever experienced the horror other's have in relationships. Maybe this is for a reason. Maybe I know how to stray when I see something bad. Maybe I know what I'm talking about because I haven't experienced those things. Maybe not.

I will however never be able to understand the trap that people fall into. The horror they allow in their lives (and YES, I mean allow) and believe somewhere inside of them, that this is acceptable. It's not THAT bad. It hurts , but yet maybe I deserved it. Maybe I shouldn't have said what I said. Maybe God will change them. God doesn't approve of divorce. Maybe he wants me to learn something from this horror. Maybe God is using me to change them. I should stick it out. For them. Blah, Blah, Blah.

I don't get it. I never will. It frustrates me. There are certain vows you take when you get married. BOTH of you. One of you doesn't  honor those vows. I'm pretty sure God will understand if you decide to leave it behind and NOT stick it out. Also pretty sure that God doesn't live in a 'chapel' in Vegas. I'm just sayin. I think he has bigger plans for you. Why can't you see this? Why do you live to torment yourself?

Nevermind my heartache for you. Nevermind my worrying (although it never stops) What about you? You really believe that God wants to put you through this? No. He wants to heal you. He wants happiness for you. Since when do you NOT deserve this?

I've never felt so much anger in my life. Anger towards him. For making you believe these lies (even though you know better) For controling your mind like this. Your thought process. Why are you so afraid? And yet not afraid of him?

I don't understand, I know. I haven't lived this, so I can't talk. I know I would have left long ago. Yes, really. Even now, with all the ties I have. I would leave. Because I know God wouldn't want this even for a second. I'm not that forgiving. God can forgive him now, you can do it later.

I love you and can see such a bright future for you. It hurts so much to watch you in the middle of this. That's why I did what I did. Maybe it wasn't my place. Maybe you won't forgive me. I think I can live with that. Knowing you can start over. Be happy. That's what we all want for you. I know you didn't ask me to do it, but it needed to be done. If it were me, you would have done it. You would have done worse. Pulled me out by my hair. Because you love me.

Stop believing the lies, please! This is not the work of God. I know God can change people. I've seen it happen. It takes longer than a week. God doesn't intend for you to get hurt in the process. If the process has even really taken place. Of coarse he's going to tell you these things. Tell you what you want to hear. He's afraid right now. Afraid he's loosing you. Afraid he's not really in control anymore. Let him know he's not. Don't give in to all the bull!!! That's all it is. I know you think you know him. You know when he really 'means' it. But this is the time for him to lay it on thick. Don't you understand that? Let it go. Let him go. Let God be in control now. I love you.


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RE-POST - You Didn't Have Your Baby in a Hospital!?! No Drugs!!!

These are the shocked responses that I get when I tell people that I had my babies in a Birthing Center... with no drugs... and Not in a Hospital. If you've heard of people having their babies at home, well a birthing center is similar. They are usually in a home like setting, in an old house, equipped with everything they would need to deliver a baby safely.



My mom had 3 of her 4 children at home, so the idea of having my babies in a birthing center was not so strange to me. It felt natural to me. When I was pregnant with my first child and I was supposed to find a Dr. or Midwife, I had never heard of Birthing Centers. I knew of people having their babies either at home or in a Hospital. A childhood friend of mine referred me to Inanna, a Birthing Center, where she had delivered her 2nd child and had nothing but good things to say about her experience, so I knew immediately that's what I wanted to do.


I was actually surprised by the number of people that use centers like this, mainly because so many people I talk to have never heard of a birthing center or would even consider this as an option. This is the reason behind me wanting to share a little bit about it and my experience. My first and second experience laboring at the birthing center were completely different, but both were amazing and memorable and I couldn't imagine doing it any other way.


Laboring at the birth center the first time, laboring and everything was a new experience for me. They encouraged me to walk around, to eat, to drink, to do anything that felt comfortable to me. Hospitals don't usually allow laboring woman to eat, and usually they don't allow you to walk around. In my opinion, being able to move around helps a great deal in getting you through the laboring process. My husband and I spent many hours there walking around inside the bedroom and outside on the porch, sitting down to rest in the porch swing when I felt like I needed a change. The midwife was in the other room and would come in and check on me periodically. When it got closer to time to deliver, she stayed in the room monitoring the baby's heartbeat every few min, while she still allowed me to move around. I sat in the bath for a little bit to ease some of the pain and once I was out of the bath everything had progressed. The pain had increased greatly and I was offered a mild pain medication that would not harm the baby. It was my first pregnancy, so I figured if they were offering, I should probably accept. Two hours later my baby arrived and I was able to hold her in my arms without anyone trying to take her away. No epidural to potentially harm my spinal cord, no harsh drugs to affect my baby and we we arrived home with our baby just 5hrs. after she was born!


My second experience was a little different. After going in for my regular checkup and telling my Dr. that my water was leaking, she told me to stick around because I was in labor. At this point, I was in no pain, so my husband and I went and ate supper and returned to the birthing center. I was not having contractions, so my midwife suggested that we walk at the park across the street to start contractions, and Voila! About 30 min. later I was having contractions. Not little ones, but full blown contractions. I barely had time to blink between these very painful contractions. Slowly I moved my way across to the bath because the midwife suggested that it was time since, this time, I wanted to have a water birth. I couldn't believe that it was really time to push already...I hadn't been there but a couple of hours. Even though I didn't believe it was time...it was. My baby boy arrived very quickly with NO drugs and we were home within just a few hours!


I certainly can't give too many pros and cons of a Hospital Birth as I haven't experienced one, but I do know that when you have your baby in an atmosphere like the Birthing Center, your baby is there with you the whole time. The baby is never taken out of your sight. The midwives do everything they need to do right there with you in the same room. The midwives are there from the very beginning for you and that's who will be with you when your baby arrives. You don't see a million different people come in and out to have you fill out various paper work. It is a calm atmosphere with people around you that you know and love. You and your baby are cared for by people who really do LOVE what they do.


"It is my belief that women's bodies were designed by God to give birth; Therefore, pregnancy, birth and much of women's health care can proceed with little intervention, in most cases."
Jean Sala, MSN, CNM
(A quote from my midwife)


Many woman have a hard time comprehending labor without pain medicine, and I think this is sad. Society has made woman believe that having a baby has to be treated like a medical problem, not like the beautiful experience that it is. God created a woman's body to be able to bear children and it is possible to have a baby without medical intervention. Woman are capable of so much more than they believe. I wish that every woman could experience birth in such a beautiful way.




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Re-Post- "Family Night"

When my husband and I first married, we had only the one child, Ariana. Even though our lives were not quite as chaotic as they can be sometimes now, we still found it hard to make sure and spend quality time with her. My husband came up with the idea of 'Family Night'. The idea was to set aside time (make time) just for her and spend time as a family. We chose one night to be that special night every week, so she knew when to expect it. On this particular night, we would cook popcorn and put in a movie (one that she picked out) to watch as a family. Sometimes if we were running short on time for any reason, we would play a card game with her...UNO or something similar. Every now and then, we would have a 'special' dessert for family night, just for something a little more fun.




When our daughter, Ava, was born we found it more and more difficult to watch a movie on family night, due to all of the screaming coming from her (she was a difficult baby). More often than not, we chose to play a card game with Ariana while juggling Ava between the both of us.



Ava is now 2 and we have since added yet another baby to our routine of 'Family Night'. Ava is now slowly becoming more and more interested in watching movies, which makes doing family night a whole lot easier to manage, especially since our newest addition is calm by nature and doesn't cause us to plan everything around him.



Making sure that we are committed to 'Family Night' is important to us. It is the one and only time, out of our busy schedules, that we dedicate solely to spending extra quality time with our kids. The only problem that I have had with this lately is that I've noticed since having our babies, family night revolves around them and what they want (mainly Ava). Ava is now picking out every movie, which is fine, Ariana had many years to herself before Ava came along and is plenty old enough to understand that Ava is the little one that gets to decide now, but I've realized that much of our time now is spent juggling the baby and catering to Ava and a lot less time is actually spent with Ariana.



Family night is supposed to be about ALL of us spending time together, and since it is really the only time we have set aside for this, I came up with a different idea. In addition to watching a movie together, I thought it would be a great idea to let the girls cook supper AND a dessert, on this night, every week. This allows us to all be in the kitchen together and gives us a chance to spend a little more one on one time with each child (mainly Ariana, as she is the oldest and doing most of the work). By doing this, I feel like 'Family Night' is again, serving it's purpose. I guess as our family grows, we will have to adjust to different ways of doing things. What worked for us when we had one child doesn't necessarily work for our larger family.



And in addition to letting the kids cook supper on those nights, I am going to create a special recipe book for each of my girls (and my son, when he's older).....I got this wonderful idea from here.



















Here, the girls are cooking Mexican Cornbread and Oreo Fluff for dessert.



















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Make Memories NOT Bills for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is coming up and even though this is supposed to be a day of celebration, for me, it can get a little overwhelming. This is only because I make it this way. I worry about what to get my mother and then the regret starts setting in over not having ordered that mother ring for her in enough time for mother's day....and I do this EVERY year! For me, this is mentally exausting. I put things off way too much.

For some reason, all year long, I seem to be able to afford all kinds of little extra things here and there, but when mothers day or fathers day or even someones birthday rolls around, it seems I go broke just in time to not get a decent gift. This ever seem to happen to you? If you're not like me, and you don't procrastinate, good for you! Really, I mean it. I wish I was as organized as I think I am in my head, but sadly, I'm not.

You want to know what I think about mothers day? I think there should no longer be gift giving anymore. What?  Yes, I think spending money on things like this is overrated. (by the way, this has nothing to do with the fact that we are trying to save every penny we have right now, I promise) Maybe a little!

Even during Christmas, we go nuts getting gifts for our kids and end up with credit card dept over it every year. It's not worth it. Why? Because they can open all these wonderful (expensive!) things and will still only care about the $5 stocking stuffer more than anything! Ugh! That's how we feel every year.

So, I think that days, such as Mother's Day, should be about creating memories instead of bills. This can be done so easily. We are going to take a camping trip this year for mothers day.It's going to be fun, I can't wait! It will be memorable and no one has to frett over what to buy. Sounds good to me! Be creative and you can find many ways to make a great Mother's Day happen without 'breaking the bank'.


What do you think?

Do you think you should DO something with your mother rather than BUY something?

Or do you enjoy the gift giving on Mother's Day?


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Re-Post - Circumcision

It's been a while since I've posted, I know. I really hate excuses, so I'm not going to give any! :) Until I can blog again, I'm going to re-post some old blogs of mine. I promise to get back to blogging soon!

This story below that I have linked to is a good read, even if you disagree with me, so take a look at it.



I came across a blog today that I wanted to share and I have posted a link to it below. It was an incredibly interesting story about circumcision that I think everyone should read regardless of your choice in the matter. My husband and I had discussed this issue (To circumcise or not to circumcise) before we ever new we were having a boy and so when that time came it was a no-brainer what we wanted to do. We chose NOT to circumcise.




We strongly believe that it is completely unnecessary and just horribly sad. We had our Dr. confirm that it is not a necessary procedure, but is mainly performed because of religious beliefs and just by popular demand. Parents want their child to look like their father or don't want them to be self-conscious in gym class. As much as I don't want that either, it's still not enough for me to want to mutilate my child. We do not mutilate our daughters do we? Well in some places they do and we call this mutilation, but this is not how they see it. The blog in the link below talks more about this.



I certainly do not place any judgement on the decisions or beliefs of others, this is just how my husband and I personally feel about the subject and it is the best thing for us.



http://mycharmingkids.net/2008/06/liar-liar-pants-on-fire/


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