No Surprise Here...

"Obama Supporters Were Ignoramuses"- John Ziegler survey

Thanksgiving 2008

Well, it had been a while since we'd had Thanksgiving dinner with more than just John and I, or John, Susan and I. We are grateful to have more family close to us, and it paid off when it came to dinner! Mom cooked a turkey breast, and a delicious glazed Smithfield VA ham, gravy and stuffing with apples. I took on the sides, and even added on a few new recipes. Although my back hurts and my feet are swollen, it was worth it because everybody liked everything-- and I was mostly able to keep everything hot in time for dinner.
Since I have been pregnant, it seems like I have been forgetful at times, so I made myself a schedule of what to do and in what order to best keep the food hot. I first made some homemade sweet cornbread which was pretty good and stayed moist, then I started these croissant bacon-egg-cheese tartlets that were really good and easy,

then I chopped the red potatoes up with my new vidalia chopper,

and boiled them about 20 minutes. Next I made (my favorite) candied yams with pecans, made some more stuffing, and a green bean casserole with sliced almonds, heated up some dinner rolls, and lastly I used my new Presto deep fryer to make this new recipe of Cranberry Fritters.



I was pretty worried that nothing would taste right, or stay hot,(one of john's major pet peeves), but everything was great and I can't wait to celebrate Thanksgiving next year with little Lucas. Mom graciously left us the hambone with a bunch of good ham still on it, and the turkey breast. I think I like the ham even better cold! I haven't been able to stop heating up leftovers since dinner last night lol. John had to work today, but then he gets a 4 day weekend finally, and tonight we have game night at Jim + Shawna's.
After we all digested, we were all up for one game of "Ticket to Ride" and this time Mom was the one Norman pissed off really bad! John felt good about himself though because he won by a longshot. All in all, this Thanksgiving was probably the best we have had since we have been married and we are very thankful to have everything and everyone we do, here in Virginia.

Thanksgiving even paid off for the little doggies...if you look closely at the last picture you will see Tyrone trying to steal some turkey!

Family Game Night

John bought this game we have played at Jim + Shawna's called "Ticket to Ride." It's pretty easy to learn and fun! Norman went with us once to game night and so he knew how to play. We all taught Mom and Susan how, and they caught on pretty quick.



Norman pissed off Susan really bad, by doing a move specifically to block her, with no benefit to himself lol. And then he ended up winning, by meeting 8 out of 9 of his destinations. We will probably play more tonight after eating. This game is better than Scrabble--John Norman and I played scrabble the other night, and John always wins, and I get mad...well it got switched around on him when my first word was, "Broilers" using ALL 7 of my letters, earning me an extra 50 points! And BTW, he usually wins by adding "es" or "ed" at the end of my good words. Next time I will get pictures because John really wanted to punch me in the face. I think the final score was Me-250, John-158, Norman-120. It was too much for John to handle. We will be investing more in other cool board games, probably next on the list is Acquire (John's favorite about investing/merging hotel chains). I recommend everyone try these games out with your family and friends!

Guess my weight?

I am 32 weeks, + 5 days today, Thanksgiving. I'm finding myself to be more and more hungry--and eating without completely being satisfied. I am pretty sure I will make up for all the weight I didn't gain in the 1st trimester. So far, I am within (what my doctor says is) healthy weight gain for my pregnancy, but I still have about 7 weeks to go, and in that time, Lucas alone will be gaining 1/2 lb a week. I still can't believe how bad my skin is being stretched-- I thought I had more elasticity.


Anyway, I'm looking forward to more stretching with todays meal- I'm ready for the tryptophan!

This Story Gave Me Chills

This is an article from the Catholic News Agency Online:
MADRID, November 13, 2008 (CNA) - The Spanish daily "La Razon" has published an article on the pro-life conversion of a former "champion of abortion." Stojan Adasevic, who performed 48,000 abortions, sometimes up to 35 per day, is now the most important pro-life leader in Serbia, after spending 26 years as the most renowned abortion doctor in the country.

"The medical textbooks of the Communist regime said abortion was simply the removal of a blob of tissue," the newspaper reported. "Ultrasounds allowing the fetus to be seen did not arrive until the 80s, but they did not change his opinion. Nevertheless, he began to have nightmares."

In describing his conversion, Adasevic said he "dreamed about a beautiful field full of children and young people who were playing and laughing, from 4 to 24 years of age, but who ran away from him in fear. A man dressed in a black and white habit stared at him in silence. The dream was repeated each night and he would wake up in a cold sweat. One night he asked the man in black and white who he was. 'My name is Thomas Aquinas,' the man in his dream responded. Adasevic, educated in communist schools, had never heard of the Dominican genius saint. He didn't recognize the name."

"Why don't you ask me who these children are?" St. Thomas asked Adasevic in his dream.

"They are the ones you killed with your abortions,” the Dominican saint told him.

"Adasevic awoke in amazement and decided not to perform any more abortions," the article stated.

"That same day a cousin came to the hospital with his four months-pregnant girlfriend, who wanted to get her ninth abortion - something quite frequent in the countries of the Soviet bloc. The doctor agreed. Instead of removing the fetus piece by piece, he decided to chop it up and remove it as a mass. However, the baby's heart came out still beating. Adasevic realized then that he had killed a human being."

After this experience, Adasevic "told the hospital he would no longer perform abortions. Never before had a doctor in Communist Yugoslavia refused to do so. They cut his salary in half, fired his daughter from her job, and did not allow his son to enter the university." After years of pressure and on the verge of giving up, he had another dream about St. Thomas.

"You are my good friend, keep going,” the man in black and white told him.

“Adasevic became involved in the pro-life movement and was able to get Yugoslav
television to air the film 'The Silent Scream,' by Doctor Bernard Nathanson, two times."

Adasevic has told his story in magazines and newspapers throughout Eastern Europe. He has returned to the Orthodox faith of his childhood and has studied the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.

....Today the Serbian doctor continues to fight for the lives of the unborn.

Bernard Nathanson was an abortionist, and had even performed an abortion on a woman he impregnated. He has written that he was responsible for killing 75,000 babies while working for abortion clinics. He and Betty Friedan founded NARAL Pro-choice America, in 1968. (Betty Friedan is a highly respected feminist author of,"The Feminine Mystique" also, was awarded by the American Humanist Association...)

However with the advancement of technology, and the invention of the ultrasound in the 70's, Nathanson began to reconsider his position on abortion, and in 1984 made the now infamous video "The Silent Scream," to protest abortion and finally try to reveal to the public that the fetus, was no inanimate, unaware 'blob of tissue.' He also claimed that while he worked for NARAL, the actual abortion figures given were false. He was raised Jewish, considered himself, "Jewish Atheist," until 1996 when he converted to Catholicism.

sidenote*- I always think it's a bit funny when people try to degrade human life in the womb, by calling it a "fetus" instead of a "baby." The word "fetus" is latin for "offspring," not "blob of tissue."

I am not a very knowledgeable catholic, and therefore don't know too much about St. Thomas Aquinas other than that he is considered a great philosopher and theologian, and one of the most important figures for those studying theology (he wrote prolifically about theology- most famous being "Summa Theologica") and those considering entering the priesthood. Here are some quotes I liked of his:

~*“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

~*“Love takes up where knowledge leaves off.”

~*“Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do.”

~*“Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason.”

The Mute Swan

This photo was a random one I found online--mine aren't nearly as clear! Aren't they beautiful?

There is a short-cut drive we take to the new Target shopping plaza by our house, and sometimes when we drive by I look in this one area of the woods where there is water, and sometimes see these huge bright white birds. I am usually with John and so he never wants to pull over so I can see them, but I went with my mom and Norman today and we parked and I got fairly close enough to take some pictures, although they are a bit blurry...the settings on my camera weren't the best for these, and I was zoomed in all the way, which takes away some of the quality. But they are huge beautiful BRIGHT swans. I looked up some information on them too.


I will get better pictures soon- if they don't migrate further south. It's pretty cold today, I don't see how they would want to stay here and wade in that freezing water. It was in the upper 30's/lower 40's today.


Some interesting info on The Mute Swan:

~*are quieter than other swans, but not mute.

~*Mute swan subfossils, 6,000 yrs old, are found in post-glacial peat beds of East Anglia, Great Britain.

~*males are larger than females and can stand over 4 ft tall-males also have bigger knobs on their bills.

~*they are the heaviest waterfowl recorded, and one of the heaviest flying birds, with males averaging 27 lbs.

~*the total number of Mute Swans in North America has never exceeded 16,000, but they are sometimes classified as pests in certain areas, due to potential competition with other species.

~*the pair off and remain monogomous for the most part, although "divorce" does sometimes occur, usually following nesting failure.

~*they reuse the same nest every year, and male/female share in the responsibilities of caring for the nest. When young cygnets are born, they sometimes search for food as a family.

~*they can be tame to those who feed them, but are territorial and protective of their family.

~*The phrase swan song refers to this swan and to the legend that it is utterly silent until the last moment of its life, and then sings one achingly beautiful song just before dying; in reality, the Mute Swan is not completely silent, but has a kind of guttural warning call it will give when approached.

Here's a beautiful picture from some photographer online:


Hopefully I can go back and get some better ones- maybe with susan's camera.

More Spending!

Well we bought some rugs from target today that were on sale for $12--mainly for the dining table, and the couch, but also so the dogs have somewhere warm to lay. While we were there, John decided to buy this graco travel system, which is a stroller, car seat, and car seat base. He put it all together just now!

Putting it together, and the dogs enjoying the rug:



Almost done:

And although he may not look happy, he is very excited. He just got done working overnights, and stayed up most of the day yesterday for the flooring to get done. He's a true man and works hard to give me + Lucas so much*.

Mike's Flooring

I am just getting used to using the 'stitch photos' setting on my camera...

So we had our flooring done today (free installation through Haynes furniture!) And they did a wonderful job. They will be coming back this week to finish the molding around the fireplace--but I can't believe the finished everything else in one day- this was a big room. The 2 guys worked very well together and paid attention to every detail; I know this because we had a learning experience with our kitchen flooring, which as you can see, looks pretty good, but there are a few mistakes here and there, AND the kitchen flooring was more than TWICE the price, even though it was a smaller area--and though the guy worked alone that time, he took a week to finish:
The pictures I took tonight aren't the best quality because we don't have good lighting in our house. None of them are bright enough, so maybe tomorrow morning I will get some better ones. We have so many things we want to do, like get new freaking couches, but it's not a necessity, as much as baby stuff, or a fence for the backyard. Here is another panoramic stitched photo:

i haven't figured out how to do the matrix stitch so it cuts out a lot...but you get the idea!

Our stupid dogs already enjoy sliding on it. And they already had to prove me right about hard flooring making it easier to clean their messes...one of them pooped. I was so mad, Tyrone put himself in the crate. Idiot.

Seculars on the Offensive

Dr. Laura's latest blog is about this holiday seasons attack on not just Christianity, but theism itself--the newest battle in the culture war breaking up America. The 'American Humanist Association' has started a $40,000 campaign this holiday season to put up ads like this on buses:



A spokesman for the group Fred Edwords defends the ads with,

“Our reason for doing it during the holidays is there are an awful lot of agnostics, atheists and other types of non-theists who feel a little alone during the holidays because of its association with traditional religion.”


Dr. Laura's response:

"No matter what side of the Christmas and God wars you may be on, that is one lame excuse for challenging the majority of people in the United States who are “believers” (92% according a poll by the Pew Research Center)."


Don Feder, editor of the “Boycott The New York Times” website, demanded equal space in the New York Times for the display of religious symbols as he perceives the paper to have a “relentless drive to secularize society." Feder's response:

“The New York Times gives the game away when it insists that public property ‘must be open to all religions on an equal basis - or open to none at all.’ In other words, a town that chooses to display the Ten Commandments - which are sacred to 90% of the American people and an integral part of our nation’s heritage - has to give equal space to every other faith and New Age sect that’s out there. In reality, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment was intended to prohibit a state church, like the Church of England.

“If the Founders thought giving one religion preference was odious, why was Congress’s first official act to hire a Christian chaplain? And why did the first Congress appropriate sums of money for Christian missionaries to the Indian tribes? What about ‘In God We Trust’ on our currency and ‘One Nation under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance - which clearly give preference to Judeo- Christian tradition over Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Summunism?”


MY response:
While to most this ad may not seem offensive and inappropriate, you have to realize this group's agenda in the secular wars against, not just Christianity and it's values, but morality itself. As former honorary president of AHA Kurt Vonnegut says in his book 'God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian':

“I am a humanist, which means, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without any expectation of rewards or punishments after I'm dead.”

Which, regardless of your beliefs, seems like a noble way to live your life. But a deeper look into who these people really are, and what they endorse, allows you to see the real problem in their philosophy; their definition of 'decency' is a bit skewed to say the least.

Kurt Vonnegut was an American author, widely known for his novels Slaughterhouse Five, and Cat's Cradle. He has been praised by Michael Moore in one of his pseudo-documentaries Sicko, and also on everyone's favorite educational program, The Daily Show. His life and writings are heavily influenced by communism and socialism. Needless to say, he hated George Bush; he may have even been one of the first to compare him to Hitler. And of course, he was a lifetime member of one of the most despicable organizations stealing our tax dollars to defend the worst of the worst in our world, the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU. (It should come as no surprise that they successfully defended NAMBLA...the North American Man-Boy Love Association...look it up-it's no joke.)

*side note- The ACLU is currently suing 7-11 convenience stores for their motto "Thank Heaven for 7-11". Ooh! How offensive! We can't even use the term 'heaven' anymore...are we becoming fascist?


Another loved-by-the-left humanist award winner, was billionaire Ted Turner in 1990. Ex-husband to another liberal beloved by Vietnam POW's, Jane Fonda (she called the returning tortured and starved POW's "hypocrites and liars.") Turner founded just about every channel you see on TV. From CNN, to TNT to TBS to TCM. He owns more land in this country than anyone else. According to a NY Times article, he once called observers of Ash Wednesday "Jesus freaks" (though he soon after apologized), referred to Christianity as "a religion for losers", and dubbed abortion opponents "bozos." Are we seeing a pattern yet?

Along with Planned Parenthood presidents (and their eugenics-endorsing founder Margaret Sanger), and feminazi (feminists who hate stay-at-home moms, i.e. 'parasites'), many others awarded with the AHA humanist of the year award are very intelligent people. Many of them deeply obsessed with science. The epitome of their leaders, 1996 humanist of the year was Richard Dawkins (author of "The God Delusion"--see the documentary "Expelled" to hear his crazy explanations of how we got here...) But they all pretty much think of Darwin as a saint--pun intended. And it's not just that they endorse evolution/natural selection over intelligent design--it's that they condemn any teaching of the possibility of a God to explain how we got here. Since there is no empirical proof to show either way, why not allow it to be presented in schools as a possibility, alongside evolution? Instead, we have all been taught evolution was a proven fact; that we evolved from apes. Well, there is no proof there--while certain species have had minute changes to adapt to their surroundings, i.e. a change in hair color, my dog Shmoopy cannot evolve into a horse. That's the difference between micro and macro-biotic change.

Science always meets faith. And despite what many of the secular persuasion would like to believe, we all share that faith in a Higher Power responsible for our existence. I have been reading a book called "Slouching Towards Gomorrah" by Robert Bork and I share his belief that the radical secular liberals deny the cliche belief in God as much as possible, and therefore forever endeavor to find a substitute to give their lives meaning, hence a 'politics of meaning' (Hillary Clinton's borrowed mantra from self-hating Jew, rabbi Michael Lerner). This faith-substitution is nothing new; all the totalitarians did the same, with communism, fascism, and Nazism. Not a good sign huh?

I will end this novel with a few of my favorite quotes from atheist-turned-agnostic-turned-christian C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity PLEASE read them and truly ponder their meaning..and then read all of his wonderful works!:

"My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?"

"The Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or — if they think there is not — at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it."

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would be either a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

"The most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of your own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs. There's not one of them which won't make us into devils if we set it up as an absolute guide. You might think love of humanity in general was safe, but it isn't. If you leave out justice you'll find yourself breaking agreements and faking evidence in trials "for the sake of humanity" and become in the end a cruel and treacherous man."

Petition

Please DO YOUR PART and sign this petition against the Freedom of Choice Act.
http://www.fightfoca.com/
Sign the Fight FOCA Petition
Over
150,000 signatures!
Barack Obama is now the incoming President.

And he made a promise to Planned Parenthood last year they expect him to keep.

"The first thing I’d do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing I’d do."


The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) would eliminate every restriction on abortion nationwide, including:

~FOCA will do away with state laws on parental involvement, on partial birth abortion, and on all other protections.

~FOCA will compel taxpayer funding of abortions.

~FOCA will force faith-based hospitals and healthcare facilities to perform abortions.

~FOCA is a radical attempt to enshrine abortion-on-demand into American law;

~FOCA seeks to sweep aside existing, protective laws that I and the majority of Americans support

~FOCA will prevent states from enacting protective measures in the future.


Barack Obama believes this legislation will "end the abortion wars." To him, "ending the abortion wars" means eradicating every state and federal law on abortion — laws that the majority of Americans support.

The time to Fight FOCA is now. With Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in charge of Congress, we can expect a fight over FOCA to begin as soon as the next Congress begins.

Please add your name to the Fight FOCA petition and let your friends know about President-Elect Barack Obama’s promise to expand abortion throughout the country.

http://www.fightfoca.com/

More of the Nursery

I was able to exchange the broken piece of the crib and finish putting it together. We also bought the mattress and some bedding.



So now these are the main things we have yet to get:
~*mural*~

~*faux-wood blinds + Valance*~

~*Glider+Ottoman*~
OR

We keep receiving things from friends that had babies and no longer need certain things. Our game night friends Jim + Shawna just gave us a playpack, a bouncer, a bumbo, and more cute boys clothes. I am 31 weeks now, and the days are going by even slower. At least Thanksgiving is just around the corner--so far John has it off *keeping my fingers crossed*. And mom is going to make a big turkey and ham, and I will make all the sides. It will be nice to have a big family dinner--it's been a few years. I can't believe this is the last year we will be celebrating the holidays without a baby of our own! I can't wait to see what Lucas looks like and what his personality is like.
By the way I have been finding his heartbeat with the monitor fairly easily recently--it's only a matter of time before I can find a way to record it--even if it's with my digital camera. It's so comforting to be able to check up on him without going to a doctor. He sure does get the hiccups a lot though.
Oh, and one more thing on our list of things to buy:
~*chevy equinox (family car)*~

An Open Letter

This guy has commented on my blogs a few times and I've held myself back from responding out of the hope that he would realize he was wrong/inappropriate. This was his last chance.

His quotes on Sarah Palin:

"1. First of all, she's weak-chinned. A weak chinned hoe can never be Vice President.
2. She's from Alaska. Which means she's not even from America. She can't be Vice President.
3. She gave birth to a retarded kid. A RETARD! Any woman who squeezed a lil tardie out of her va-jay-jay cannot be Vice President.
4. Hella contradictory. McCain clown Obamber because he's young and inexperienced, but now if he wins we are a heart failure away from having a retard-bearing, rookie eskimo who's younger than Bamber. She can't be Vice President.
5. They named the retarded kid 'Trig'. This actually counts for points, because that's a hood name. But Hood points and Vice President points are two different things. She can't be Vice President.
6. That bitch needs to brush her teeth."
(really nice things to say to me, all the while knowing I am ecstatic to be pregnant and to be a mother--even if there is something wrong medically/mentally with Lucas.)

On Obama's win:
"Bush set the bar really LOW. You, Samantha could have done a better job. all we can do is HOPE our new next President will take us where we need to be."

His general philosophy:
"It's not about what you know, but what you act like you do."

His response to my video on people born alive after failed abortions:
this video (i've already seen) where George Carlin says, "Why are pro-life people, people you'd never want to fuck anyway?" and also tried to say that conservatives only care about pre-born babies, but not after they are born since we don't always support social programs like "daycare and welfare". Ironic because my video was showing babies WHO WERE IN FACT BORN- I guess he's the one who doesn't care about them. Not to mention the fact that many social programs are detrimental to everyone; even the 'beneficiaries' suffer because they remain dependent on government handouts instead of getting jobs and attaining success. And surrogate care for kids should not be aided by tax dollars merely because women choose not to love & raise their own kids by living responsibly.

It is just depressing to realize geniuses like this are in the majority ain't it? It's insulting that someone so obviously incognizant of anything political, can act like he has enough clout to throw stones. It takes true concern and ambition to take personal responsibility and learn the facts about the given topic, not just parroting what you hear on "The Daily Show" and "SNL". Does he really think that 'comedic' sketches are valid responses or support? Does he have any thoughts of his own? Does he have a conscience? And why is it so threatening to him that prolife people want to see babies born and not butchered? Aside from mispelled words and incoherent 'points' (if you call them that), there is an "attack" here. I am always told I am attacking, when I merely present facts, and question people's stances. I get called the dreaded, "judgmental." While she is no comedian, here is what Dr. Laura has to say on this issue:

"This not judging others really gets me going. If, indeed there shalt be no judging, then where do we get laws and basic rules of conduct upon which we can all be free and upon which we can count on each other?...
Face it, it is bad to do wrong, especially when you persist in the knowledge of its wrongness. Doing wrong, having regrets and remorse followed by redress, is the behavior of a basically good person. Consistently doing wrongs, compounding wrongs with more of the same, scapegoating while denying contribution to the wrongness eventually makes you a bad person. This statement of mine was challenged by someone who recently interviewed me. "How can you ever say someone is bad? Isn't it just the deed that was bad?"
How do you know a person if not by the consistent nature of the person's deeds? So, measure yours because we'll be measuring you."


Maybe he hates me and has a personal problem with me, or maybe something about me threatens him. Little old me- the "unschooled housewife/parasite". Well I would be paranoid too if I weren't paying my taxes (by the way, what do Obama's tax breaks matter if you don't file?), drove without a license, constantly tried to live above my means at the expense of responsible tax-payers, or weren't legitimately employed, had a "lying problem", and did nothing in my life that was remotely respectable by my family. You can make jokes at my expense all you want; it only exposes your own insecurities, disregard, and hatred.
Yes it would be nice to HOPE Obama doesn't damage this country beyond repair, but if you knew anything about your candidate you would already be aware of the fact that nearly everything he intends to do will directly harm America.

I am not going to sit back on my blog and take these uninvited unfair jabs anymore- you need to learn some personal accountability one way or another.

Having character means doing what is right, not necessarily what is popular...but I guess when your livelihood depends on favors from friends, it becomes a priority to conform to the overwhelming majority of hedonistic non-values.

Dr. Laura's Blog

I have added Dr. Laura's blog to my friends- you should all check her page out. Her blogs are all divided into specific categories if you should need advice on particular situations. Here is one of her most recent blogs about the abortion industry, which stands to gain so much from the recent election of Barack Obama:

Planned Un-Parenthood Strikes Again

This information doesn't surprise me after having read about the Born Alive Infant Protection Act which Obama opposed, abortion survivor Gianna Jessen's account, and testimonials from nurse Jill Stanek. I guess what surprises me is that a PP employee was willing to even tell the truth.

Please watch this new video about BAIPA:


Here is an NBC news video from just last month PLEASE WATCH:

~*Bobby Jindal 2012*~

This is Piyush "Bobby" Jindal. He is currently Governor of Louisiana, and previously was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He is the true conservatives presidential 'hope' (am I allowed to use that word?) for 2012.

~*A Little Background Info*~
He is 37 years old and an Indian-American (his parents are Punjabi-Indian immigrants)--a big 'change' (oops! am I allowed to use that one?) for the Republican party. His parents immigrated to Baton Rouge, LA in 1970 so his dad could attend graduate school at Louisiana State University, and Jindal was born in 1971. He has been referred to as "Bobby" since the age of 4 in reference to his favorite Brady Bunch character. To his parent's dismay, he converted from Hinduism to Catholicism in high school. He attended Brown University, majoring in Biology and Public Policy. He was accepted to Harvard Medical School, AND Yale Law School, but decided to go into politics; he graduated as a Rhodes Scholar from New College, Oxford with a masters in political science. He then advised Fortune 500 companies with a management consulting firm. He married Supriya Jolly in 1996 and they have 3 kids:


Jindal took over as Louisiana's 55th governor in January of 2008. He has since had to oversee "one of the largest and smoothest evacuations" in his home state last August, during Hurricane Gustav. His keen observations and quick action is to thank for the very low fatality rate. I remember seeing his press conference during the hurricane and he spoke in depth about every detail and every preventative step taken for at least 45 minutes.

~*Bobby Jindal on the issues:*~
* 100% pro-life voting record; opposes embryonic stem-cell research.
* supports constitutional amendment to define marriage as one man-one woman.
* opposes affirmative action
* supports drilling + nuclear power.
* supports building fence along borders.
* supports declaring English as the official U.S. language.
* supports lower taxes for capital gains and dividends.
* supports 'intelligent design' in schools. (i.e. a belief in God)
* he signed and authorized a bill in LA that required mandatory CHEMICAL CASTRATION FOR SEX OFFENDERS! (whereas the liberals want to give them a house in front of a schoolyard)

Here is a recent interview he did with Laura Ingraham (author of "Power to the People" and "Shut Up & Sing!"):



Can you tell I like him!?

Just for Norman

Yup- that's my belly at 28 wks. Tomorrow I will be 30 wks so I am sure it has grown even since then. I have 10 wks left and I am kind of scared about how big I will get, and how difficult it will be to get around and upstairs.
Can you believe my doctor telling me I have:
1.) A 'beautiful belly'
2.) Great MUSCLE TONE!?
By the way, Norman is really grossed out by my stretchmarks (he was embarassed to go to the water park with me this summer because of my growing stretchmarks on my hips). I thought maybe since these ones weren't from my being fat, maybe they would be less digusting, but no- he still covers his eyes. My belly button has a ring stretching around it, and my linea negra gets longer and darker-splitting me in half!
BUT I did have a nice experience today; I have been trying to use this Bebe Sounds Prenatal Heart Listener since I was about 23 weeks, but only was able to hear him move and the placenta working away.

For the last few weeks when I would use it, I could tell Lucas responded to the little mic thing being pushed into my belly and he would kick it directly and do somersaults. But today I was lying on the couch and after a few minutes of yelling at the dogs for barking (which was amplified in my ears...) I was able to hear a distinct and fast heartbeat in my lower right belly! I got up and tried to put the headphones to the comp mic, but couldn't pick up anything..:( But I definitely did hear him which was a great relief as I haven't felt a lot of movement today or yesterday.

More Video +Pics of Raquel

Sorry Sarah- I know I keep stealing your pictures, but she's just too cute. I was bored and haven't made a video for a while, so enjoy some more of Raquel during her trip out here to Virginia:

Lucas thanks you!

Thanks to gift cards and checks, we were able to furnish our nursery! So this is a big 'thank you' to Grandma Louise & Grandpa Stan Hodge, Great-Grandma Ida Croce, Brothers-in-law Matt & Kevin, Kevin's girlfriend Mary, and my neighbors Sharon, Jeff & Dillon Leviner.

Here is the changing table with all the accessories I received at my shower:
Cute huh?
The drawers next to it were a gift from Lina Dieirling- thanks for the much needed storage!

Here is the cradle my sister Sarah bought us, with some more gifts from my shower- this cradle will be in our room once we put the crib together, but it looks cute together with the table!:
I love the little seahorse that lights up from Great Grandma Emma & Great Grandpa Charles.

We picked up the matching crib and started assembling it, but failed to fully inspect each piece first and found this:
So we are waiting for a new one to be shipped to Target since the manufacturer (Simplicity) is no longer in business, but at least they won't make us return the whole crib; just exchange the part. But I think it will look very nice when we finish:

Here is a picture of what the crib will look like. It is convertible to a toddler bed, to a kid bed, to an adult bed:

The next thing we need to get is that beach mural!