32 years

32 years ago, at 8:40am CST, I was born.

It took me becoming a mother for me to appreciate that it is also my mother's birthday, that at that moment she became a mother to a daughter.

Thank you Mom and Happy Birthday to you, too!

McCain: Bush-only Older

I'm not one for much politicking, other than to encourage EVERYONE I know to go and to vote, but these were just, well, they sum up how I feel perfectly. Americans, indeed the world, has had to deal with Dubya for 8 looooong years, add to that his father's term, and that is 12 years of Bush. I think we ALL have had enough of it.

In the brilliant and immortal words of Forest Gump, "My Momma always said, 'Stupid is as Stupid does.'" and "That's all I have to say about that."

Cold Wet Rainy Wonderful Stonehenge!!!

Here is the gratuitous picture post for your viewing enjoyment.

The above picture was taken just after "dawn",eh sun? what sun? we don't need no stinking sun, we are English!!! (the time was about 5 am, but in the summertime here, it starts to get light out around 4 am-Blimey!)

The above and below pictures were the ones taken by the free-lance newspaper photographer, I love love love them!

The above was a rain spattered self picture :)

I LOVE STONEHENGE!!!!!!

Summer Solstice at Stonehenge 2008

Just back from Stonehenge and England brought in summer in her stereotypical fashion-cold grey and rainy. However we did get several blessings

* Our 5 1/2 month old was very serene even in the cold and we had so many comments and complements about how sweet and calm he was and they loved that he was in a mei tai either on my back and on my husband's front.

*My husband got a lot of attention while he was caring our son, (granted it was after sunrise and people could see them better) and my husband gave the off handed comment to a man with a walking staff that he could use one of them as the grass and mud were very slippery and the umbrella that he was using as a cane wasn't cutting it. The man, who had walked all the way from Glastonbury with it, just up and handed it to my husband and said "Here ya go, you have it." He gladly used it the rest of the morning and has now stated numerous times that he's going to take it anywhere we move.

*We were by the Heel Stone and a man was admiring my husband and son and wanted a picture, and my husband obliged and posed. As a gift he gave our son a very clear and, according to the man, world travelled crystal. I was so pleased and grateful I asked and then hugged the man, and then in return he gave both my husband and myself a crystal each!!!

*As is usual there were reporters and photographers there, and one very respectfully asked us to pose with the stones in the back ground. We ended up with a nice family photo and one with just my husband and son artfully posed. He took our family email addy and sent us them almost right away.

*More people than I can remember wished blessings on us and our baby--mostly our baby, but that is fantastic for me!

...and the lightbulb goes on!

For years I have had a myriad of diagnosi for my wonky noggin. Depression, Depression with suicidal ideation (I can safely and honestly say that offing myself hasn't presented itself since the day I found out I was pregnant with my now 11 year old son--I have to live to bring forth this innocent's life and I want to live to see this child grow up), depression with Bipolar tendency, and then the most recent-Bipolar II disorder with rapid cycling. Whew! Well there may be a new one that makes me say, "well du-U-uh!" Hypothyroidism, my mother has it, my grandmother had it (she passed away 7 years ago), and so the family history is there but the big thing is all the symptoms I have and mental illness is one of the many many symptoms. So, in the morning I am going to the doc and telling him to have my blood drawn for a thyroid panel. This may sound silly, but I really really hope that I have hypothyroid (or slow/low functioning) and ONE little pill will take care of (inhale a dep breath here)
*excessive tiredness
*weight gain
*obesity
*cold extremities-also include my cold bum
*breathlessness
*dizziness
*palpitations
*lack of coordination
*loss of libido
*poor response to treatments
*muscle cramps
*loss of stamina
*cold intolerance
*exercise intolerance
*sweet/carb cravings
*3:00pm crash
*jumpiness
*unrefreshing sleep
*Swelling of hands, feet, shins, and ankles
*sensation of lump in throat-like trying to swallow a lump of phlegm
*dry mouth
*halitosis
*oversensitive hearing
*noises in ears-hissing ringing
*INNER EAR ITCH--OOO drives me batty!
*body hair loss
*head hair loss
*brittle hair
*eyelash loss
*Brittle, flaking, peeling nails
*dry, flaky, coarse skin
*Dark rings under the eyes
*numbness and tingling in feet and hands
*back and loin pain
*sore feet
*constipation
*hemorrhoids
*low blood pressure
*Irregular menstrual cycles (previous to pregnancy, one of the many perks of breastfeeding is no period right now)
*Poor focusing (vision)
*double and/or blurred vision
*dry, gritty eyes
*wandering eyes-mine go wall-eyed when I am tired
*panic attacks
*memory loss
*confusion
*mental sluggishness
*poor concentration
*phobias-I have a bridge phobia and sometimes darkness phobia
*loss of drive
*post partum depression
*nightmares
*easily upset
*wanting to be solitary
*mood swings
*depression
*nervousness/anxiety
*personality changes
*feelings of resentment
*lack of confidence
*exposure to fluoridated water
*use of products containing flouride (ahem-TOOTHPASTE)
*smoker present or past (past for me)
*use of products containing flourine (Prozac)
*certain anti-depressants (geez, you name it, I have more than likely been on it)
*Epilepsy drugs (Iam not epileptic, however many of the same drugs are used to treat Bipolar I and II)


...and breathe. There are more that don't apply to me, but you get the idea. Oh to feel normal again!

ok, several months later.....

Yes yes, bad me, f.o.r.e.v.e.r. taking my time to post, especially about my diaper stash (which by now has grown to enormous proportions with the addition of 18 small All-in-ones,[think cloth version of disposable diapers] 18 large a-i-o, 5 medium super soft a-i-o, and 6 blue super soft fitted diapers WHEW!!)

Alex is now 20 weeks old and rolling quite well. He wants to sit by himself and is almost there, but isn't quite balanced yet. He does enjoy standing, with our help, on our laps so he can jump and bounce whilst making happy squeeking and squeeling noises.

He is teething like mad right now, as it is a right drool fest over here. So we have invested in an amber teething necklace. It is supposed to work by the natural oils from the amber absorbed through the skin. The oils are supposed to act as an pain reliever. So far we have noticed a reduction in drool, we will see how it works for general owie crankiness.

Alex is, as of May 7th, an official American Citizen born on foriegn soil. We went to the US Embassy in London and he got an American Embassy birth certificate, and we applied for his passport (which came last Tuesday) and his Social security number. He is sadly, no longer British, as dual citizenship is nie on impossible and impractical for us. But in my mind, and I am sure M's mind, Alex is both.

We are one step closer to moving back to the States, with having Alex's passport. Next is getting M's visa. It has nearly been a year since I was home, and I am physically aching to be home, to see my friends and family and to reunite my children. Oh.my.goodness! I day dream all the time about being with my sweet, wonderful children again. I want to breathe them in and hold them tight. I want to do fun things with them, like playing at the park, or swimming, or just simply being in the same room as them.

There is a slight possibility (knock on wood) that we might have a 3 1/2 bedroom house to move into by the time we are ready to move. It is right next door to some good friends of mine and their kids. My kids adore their kids, in fact, Zach's "girlfriend" for the last 6 years or so is their oldest daughter Ali, and Lily's "boyfriend" is their son Axil. I wonder...does that make Aura, who is 6, Alex's "girlfriend"?! Yeesh! Anyway the town is small, everyone knows everyone, and kids are free to be kids and ride their bikes to the park, or even across town (there are only about 5 whole blocks in the town). The school is great, and the bus driver looks out for the kids really well. It sounds ideal as far as kids go, and my friend says that the hospital nursing home that she is working at is always looking for help, pay is good and benifits are excellent. We could carpool especially with gas prices set to sky rocket even more than what they are now ($4 per gallon in Iowa and Minnesota and about $10 per gallon here in the UK) we will find out more the 23rd of June when we talk to the seller after he returns from a fishing trip. Until then, we will keep our fingers crossed.

Cloth Diapers-my stash-i will write explainations later

1 The explainations are mostly for those who don't cloth diaper. These are my fitted diapers with the white in terry cloth, the cream in bamboo fabric, and green in a super soft "teddy" diaper. These velcro on much like disposible diapers do. They are the absorbent part of the diaper, much like the terry cloth squares of yesteryear sans pins to fasten.

2 This is what they look like opened up, complete with an oval booster for extra absorbancy in case of a heavy wetter like Alex. Ooo! they are so soft and fuzzy and lovely against my baby's skin.

3 This is the teddy with out the booster in it, just so you can see.

4 With these kind of diapers, we use a waterproof wrap that velcros over top the diaper. Think of the rubber pants of yesteryear, but more diaper changing friendly as well as baby skin friendly. The wrap have proven to be the "fun" part in cloth diapering as you will see further on. This one is just a basic white one.

5 Diaper in!

6 This is where you imagine baby wearing the yummy softness that is this diaper!

7 All done up.

8 We also have some prefold flat diapers that we use. and the following few pictures are just showing a fold or two and wearing those in a wrap.

9

10

11

12 Cloth diapering can be versatile as well. We have used a couple of boosters on some of the small wraps to go under some outfits that require slimmer, or less fluffy diapers.

13

14 My pocket diapers... these are great for grandmas or other care takers as all they have to do is put them on baby without worrying if they have all the parts in the right order or right way around (poor sweet mother-in-law on one of her first solo changes got the order right, just the wrap in backwards.) These diapers have a pocket that an absorbant cloth is stuffed into before hand and are similar to a disposable in that once assembled is basically one piece.

15 Here are the blue and green diaper opened up with their absorbant cloths on the outside.

16 Partially stuffed--kind of like putting a pillow in a pillowcase.

17 And fully assembled. Once used, simply pull the cloths out and put into a dry pail with a lid and wash when you have a full load. Or, I am L.A.Z.Y. and wash the whole pocket diaper together, and separate the parts when I hang them up to dry.

18 The fun part! Wraps! This is my collection of wraps--I have some more plain white ones, but I wanna show off the better ones. This is a front view, but it is the next picture that delights me so much.

19 Fun Hineys!!! I love the floppy ears of Dudy Dog and the adorable Tractor Ron (the company we purchased them from gave them the names) The Blue Propeller Butt (our name) is made of faux velvet, but so soft. The red cow butt makes me giggle and the angels are sweet. The wraps can be worn as outer clothing on warm days when most babies are sporting white disposable butts, the wraps are dual purpose function and fun, and I love it when I buy things that have more than one use, as I feel I am getting more bang for my buck! Wraps need not be changed at every diaper change like the inner diaper, unless they are dirtied by number two.

20 Like I said before, I am lazy, but washing and drying diapers, dare I say it, is a breeze. We got into a routine and it is second nature to was and dry and fold. If *I* can do laundry like this, anyone can!

21Neatly stacked and put away with love

Woot! An assortment of pictures!

1 Z and L in the pool. I figured since we are in the middle of winter, we all could use some warm pictures!

2 Cousins Becky and Ruth, my older brother-Scotty, and me in the cement stock watering tank down on Grandpa and Grandma Evans' farm, circa 1980.

3 Z and L in the same stock tank circa 2007

4 Happy Z :)

5 Sad Z :(

6 Warm and cozy inside, brrrr cold outside. I love my parents' big picture window. L and I used to sit on a couch right by the window and I'd look outsite at the birds and squirrels as she nursed.

7 Sometimes we'd see things like this Amish horse and buggy.

8 L showing off one of her new dresses

9 Pretty in pink!

10 Brave L! She had blood drawn and here is her bandage.

11 A child of mine *actually* likes doing dishes!!!

12 I *heart* the apron!

13 Silly L!

14 My dad broke his ankle by standing up too quickly, and his foot was on the floor wrong and *CRUNCH* it broke and he fell over. You know why he got up quickly? To answer the phone---UH my Dad loathes talking on the phone! His new name--Grace.

So I am a Picture Happy Mom

Finally! A picture of Alex and I that I like!


Pictures using my cell phone