Big Boy Bath!

I used a Babies R' Us 15% off coupon to get this bath seat. He has outgrown his little bath, and is getting better at sitting up so I thought it was the right time. He did like it, but he needs to get a bit stronger to hold himself up. I put my bath cushion behind him to help a little. He mostly kicked at the toys and tried to grab them with his toes lol. The seat wouldn't attach to our big bath, so we used susan's bath.



This is the funniest face ever




Kicking the toys instead of grabbing them




He didn't like that!




So cute and innocent

Funny

So, I have been having an alright day, other than the stupid tricare bill for my ER visit in october for my kidney stone. I have been dealing with this bill for $580 for 3 months, and everytime I call they say it's been paid or there is no patient responsibility. I got a bill today for it, saying if I don't pay within 15 days it's going to collections. Ugh! So I called and they did the same BS as last time, which is "put the account on hold for 30 days for manager review". We'll see if it doesn't come back again.

Anyway, I was also kind of frustrated because I was looking for a pool in our area of Williamsburg to take Lucas to this summer. I found a nice one in the Queens Lake community, and it's right by the York River. Well, I called the ahem..."Pool Committee Chair" John Walters and found out that the only way I can take Lucas swimming even for one day, is to pay a $400 application fee for a 'family'-meaning anything more than one. So, I was kind mad because the people that can afford $400 for a hole in the ground with water in it, have their own pools. The lady was bitchy about it too when I called.


Well, it's been a few hours and I have been talking to my friend Shawna about going to the beach or getting seasons passes to busch gardens instead (which by the way would be cheaper and more worth it than a stupid pool anyway), when I get a call from a "cell phone VA". I thought maybe it was John on a friend's phone or something so I answered. I heard some music and a girl talking in the background...I kept saying, "hello?" and then this song came on that I liked so I stayed on a little longer, as she started horribly singing it..lol. So I eventually hung up, but everytime I picked the phone back up, she was still there singing to herself..I left the phone and was feeding Lucas when the phone rang again, from the same number...her singing again. I hung up and called the number back to tell them to lock their phone or something, and it went to voicemail for a "Heather Walters". It was the little rich brat daughter of the "Pool Committee Chair", probably accidentally calling my number that was stored in their phone. I wanted to tell her to embarrass her but I didn't. Thats all. Kind of funny though.

Morning Play

Lucas and Mommy playing in the morning:

Working in the Yard

Lucas joined us outside this weekend to work on the yard. Doesn't he look like such a big kid now!?

Busch Gardens

We live about 10 minutes from Busch Gardens Theme Park, and we've only been once, 3 years ago on our anniversary trip. Norman has a season pass, and they give military/dependents one free pass a year (plus lucas got in free), so we decided to take a little trip yesterday afternoon when it cooled off a little.
The Tram Ride to the Park
My Handsome Brother Norman
The Lochness Monster-one of the first Roller Coasters--here's an award to prove it
Big Fat FattiesI was burning up, so I went on a water ride once with Norman. Fortunately there was a sesame street kids area, and Lucas liked it okay, but I am sure when we go again, he will like it more. He doesn't watch the show yet, but I do read him the books and he likes Elmo. We got to meet some of the characters, and he just stared at their furry hands like, "Dude, what happened to those?" Norman and John went on the big coasters (which I would get sick on) and Lucas isn't quite big enough to go on anything but the carousel--which he did like--and it was worth it because it's the only ride you can just stay on continually!

This is a video I put together of Lucas' first ride experience--with a song I recorded about 4 years ago. When I played this recording for Lucas, he automatically recognized my voice and looked at me wondering how I wasn't moving my mouth lol.There was one roller coaster Norman and John have yet to go on, and it's crazy. It's called The Griffin, and it's really wide, like 10 people across 3 rows. And it stops on top of a vertical drop for a few seconds...looks terrifyingly sickening! They went in line, while Lucas and I waited. Well, after 45 minutes and Lucas crying, I realized the ride had stopped operating. The line was still there so I waited even longer. Then, I saw the ride start again, but the coaster was empty for 4 times around--obviously something broke or was about to. I finally found John and Norman in the line still far from getting on, (although it started operating normally again) so we decided to leave that one for next time, as it was already dark. Here is some crappy video of some of what the ride looks like:

In the dark..still waiting..here's a better video of the drop:
Lucas was a good boy! I hope we can go again soon because I know Lucas will recognize everything!

Miss California vs. The Gays

Beauty Pageants: The one place where "rednecks" and gays alike, come together--there was bound to be drama. For those of you who live under rocks, well, stop living under rocks. But also, there was a scandal recently at the Miss USA beauty pageant, involving Miss California, and Perez Hilton, a loser who makes a living making fun of celebrities while kissing up to liberals and their 'causes.' I'm guessing he's gay, but you can never tell nowadays with how flambouyant and involved men are with themselves.

Anyhow, Perez was selected to be a judge at this year's Miss USA pageant--no, not the one The Messiah Obama just won, the one where they are asked actual tough political questions. Miss California, who was apparently in the lead, was fortunate enough to be asked a question by Perez. Guess what topic of MAJOR importance he asked about? Gay marriage...blagh. Miss California's response:

"We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage," Prejean said. "And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

She lost to Miss North Carolina who was asked about the bailouts (who isn't against those though?).
Anyway, the scandal is that Perez mocked her on his video blog calling her a 'dumb bitch' that should have answered in a more politically correct way--admitting she basically lost for her beliefs on the frivolous topic of men marrying men. How appropriate that he wants her to be PC, while he makes a living drawing mustaches on paparazzi pictures. Other judges as well as other jealous contenders were disappointed and disgusted with her belief, essentially stating she should 'know her audience/judges' and compromise her beliefs accordingly. Why do they treat this like it's racism? Everyone wants to make themselves a victim of some kind. But this is a 'trumped' up pseudo-issue (ha ha..Trump owns the pageant) BS to get attention. Everything is so politicized...

While I think her answer wasn't very well thought out, (I have no idea what 'opposite marriage' is, and she shouldn't have said 'no offense, that's how I was raised' as if she was blaming this 'condition' on her parents) the way people are so offended and butt hurt about it makes me laugh. Celebrities are scoffing and so angry that she could disrespect their new civil right's cause...what a joke. Who cares!? It's so unimportant and inconsequential in comparison to today's pressing issues. Or even in comparison to the hoax that 'global warming' is.

And more importantly, why aren't these celebrities and that Perez loser offended and dismayed with the president they elected? Obama is against gay marriage too---but he just looks too good in a bikini to be docked points for that. Pretentious hypocrites.

She is a beautiful girl who sounds like she has some values. How offensive huh? Fortunate for her, she has gotten more attention than the winner, Miss North Carolina. Move on to something more important and influential--little girls don't look up to pageant queens anymore...looks like only drag queens do.

For Those of You...

who have:
1. a brain
2. a sense of humor
3. and a cable box with a DVR

I have a reccommendation. My newest favorite show is "Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld" on the Fox News Channel. It's the greatest show because you get some news, and some very humorous entertainment at the same time! The only thing is, it comes on at 3 am (eastern time) so I only catch a bit of it when I feed Lucas around that time. So I started recording it and John, Susan and I enjoy it regularly together.

The host is very quick-witted, as are the regulars on the show. The newest member of the show, Pinch, is a New York Times correspondent puppet and he's hilarious. The whole show is really great. Here's a recent clip talking about the Tea Parties, and other news station's coverage of them, mocking them as 'tea baggers':


By the way, the comedian guest, Jim Norton, is the guy Lucas sometimes resembles!

Here's a better clip about the idiot Janeane Garofalo and her crazy comments--watch it!:

Embryonic Stem Cell Debate-dead?

Hi everyone who reads my blog! I haven't made a blog for a while--just been busy with baby Lucas.
But I came across an article that linked to the Oprah page (boo..) and it was a recent episode that she had Dr. Oz and Michael J. Fox on to talk about Parkinson's and the Stem Cell debate.

I already expressed my views on embryonic stem cell research and people like Fox and Christopher Reeve pleading for it in my past blog : http://johnsamanthahodge.blogspot.com/2009/03/there-is-no-good.html.
In short, I have always thought killing innocent babies to experiment, to possibly relieve someone else's discomfort is evil and counterproductive; a total result of today's hedonist society.
Well, according to this Dr. Oz, the debate is over because science is very close to being able to simply take an adult's cells to cure them of diseases, which is a lot more dependable since embryonic cells can and do morph into cancerous cells. Who knows how trustworthy (or sane) this Dr. Oz guy is. After all, Oprah is the one who brought us Dr. Phil. But even if this information weren't true, any kind of utilization of human embryos is wrong.

The desire and ambition to help the needy and cure the sick is a very American quality. But not at the expense of human life. It isn't fair to deem one group of humans as disposable, or better yet usable for the betterment of another group. I hope this does actually end the use of embryos for stem cell use. Then maybe we could learn to treat a fetus like it's definition: a young human.

BTW,here is a great article on the subject of Stem Cell Research by Greg Koukl:
You have to have a human being before you can get human stem cells.

Here is an excerpt from it:

To say that an embryo goes from an embryo after a certain level of development into a human being is to create a kind of category error, it is mixing terms. It is kind of like saying this thing went from a ten-day-old to a young rabbit. A ten-day-old what? Well, a ten-day-old baby rabbit into a young rabbit. These are terms that represent two different categories of things. To be clear about these things, we have to acknowledge that distinction. So when we say embryo, we are talking about a stage of development, we are not talking about the thing.

Some New Clothes

They may be a little too big, but I bought Lucas some new clothes and some cute shoes since he's so ready to walk! :)



I put Veggietales on and he smiled :) These clothes were for 12 month olds!

Peninsula Tax Day Tea Party

Oyster Point City Center Newport News, VA
Susan and I attended the tea party in Newport News today to protest Obama's already ridiculous wasting of billions of tax dollars. I am angry that our tax dollars are going to bailout companies who made bad decisions, and citizens who live above their means and can't afford their houses, but I am totally disgusted that my tax dollars are also funding the evil that is abortion.
We only stayed a short while since it was cold and getting rainy, but everyone loved Lucas' outfit and it was nice to feel some kind of unity against the socialist dictatorship--people of all ages, races and religions attended. Here are the few pictures we got:






This is my favorite quote by Margaret Thatcher




THE RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS HAVE BEEN LOCATED:



I made this outfit for Lucas:


People took pictures of Lucas in his outfit and we saw the news stations come, but we got too cold and Lucas needed to take a nap. It was nice to attend though- and I hope to be more active in local meetups/political activities in the near future.

Out To Eat

As some of you may well know, I gave up eating out for lent. So yesterday, Susan, Lucas and I decided to try the new 'Astronomical Pancake House.' (Here in Williamsburg, there are hundreds of pancake houses!) I got a club sandwich for $6.50 and it was pretty good!

Susan got a western omelette which she said was okay.

Lucas just had breastmilk but he sure loved looking at this ketchup bottle...

not to mention, the waitress!


The food and service were good, and we have a 1/2 coupon so we will be going there again. For my first meal out in a while, it was pretty good.