John + Samantha + Lucas + Olivia

Humble Home Progress 4

2012-02-01T21:57:00.000-08:00

Today was a frustrating day...little painting, mostly small, but necessary tasks that were time consuming. We had a "rent-a-husband" guy from Ace Hardware come out to give us a quote on putting a small fence through the back yard to fence off a dog run, and a quote on installing 3 new toilets, and on painting the high walls in the living room/foyer. His price was basically $65/hr, which makes me hesitant...I mean, wouldn't he work as slow as possible? idk. We decided to at least attempt the paint ourselves, and we will probably have the Ace guy replace the toilets and put up the fence later on.

First thing I did was finish up painting the master bath--all except for one wall, where we took out the lighting fixture (it was that ugly strip of round bulbs..like all 80/90's bathrooms had..you know, the "im a movie star" dressing room lights.) So after removing that, we saw there were 2 large holes to be patched. Still waiting for it to dry so I can sand it--so that wall will be painted tomorrow.

I spent a lot of the day doing correctional crap...I am astounded by the previous owner's..not only the dirtiness, but the carelessness--they obviously took off outlet covers to paint, but didn't care about paint getting on the sink, tiles, bath, shower baseboards and trim....it literally looks like wherever some paint dripped or ran, they decided to just paint another line. No matter what tools/sprays I used, I couldn't get the paint off the grout/caulk in the tile, so after all that trouble, I decided to just put a thick bead of caulk. It's good enough, but i have to touch up some of my paint along the edge (came off from scrubbing).
Befores:
The pictures make the paint look more green, but it's the same color as the accent in the master.

They painted part of the door frame too. These baseboard pics don't look as bad as they did in person...looked like a dog continually peed on them, and scratched them up. And apparently this bathroom has been painted 3 different colors before...all of them leaving messes somewhere.

I patched up these holes and we bought new light fixtures...to do tomorrow after sanding and painting.

This orange paint just made the room look horrible after all that work...

After:

Retouched and caulked:

Caulking was not easy..what a mess. Ended up using tape too.---need to touch this little bit up at the top of the shower though.

I'll do better pictures when it's all done.

Doesn't this make you wanna jump in and shower!? I wonder what these people looked like...yuck.

Then we took a break to go to Lowes and get more miscellaneous stuff...John bought some replacement planks for the back fence (to keep those big dogs from eating Tyrone or Shmoopy.) Then he got some top soil and bricks to fill in holes where shmoopy was digging under the house..
And all day John took on the huge task of taping the big walls....using the new extended ladder..he was nervous...I was nervous...but he did it! He only let me show this picture if I blocked out his body lol. He had his shirt off because it was so hot and humid today and he was sweating bullets up there!

Then I took down the living room curtains...They had 8 anchors per window...AND they drilled right into the METAL frame supporting the window...which explains the cracks and uneven-ness of the walls surrounding the holes....Why would they continue drilling through the metal frame (instead of moving one inch up or out..) when they saw the walls bending and breaking?! It was a bitch to get those anchors out in one piece. Filled the holes--will sand tomorrow.

Tomorrow's task:

I hate the bathrooms...always find unfinished work. Tomorrow's first tasks will be:
-sand hole patches in master bath
-touch up baseboards under/around vanity
-paint main (mirror) wall
-attach lighting fixture
-sand hole patches in Living room
-paint kitchen, start cutting living room
-clean out bath of debris
-call plumbing...
So, after all the work when we were getting ready to leave, I brought all my brushes to be cleaned in the big kitchen sink...I went to move the faucet head to rinse out the other sink, and something popped and water sprayed everywhere....Everything in this house is retarded. We got mail today saying we have an automatic 1 yr home warranty so I called to schedule a technician to check the sink out-it says we have a $100 deductible, so I think it's worth it. Pretty much everything needs to be replaced...and we probably will, little by little. At the price we paid, it will still be worth it.

John's tasks:
-finish taping up foyer/living room
-take out master toilet, plug hole (he's an expert at that ha..ha..)
-tape up master toilet room
-spray paint pantry shelves, linen shelves
-begin cutting kitchen
-remove washer/dryer (put in garage)
-tape utility room
-remove lights from half bath.
-replace light switches/dirty plates.

And the "wanna-do, but don't know if we can afford yet..in time or money" list:
-replace all door knobs
-replace locks
-replace blinds
-get new windows
-get air ducts cleaned/checked
-install garage opener
-new mailbox
-buy new bathroom mirrors
-remove all doors and repaint/spray them
-clean out all drawers and shelves and put down clean liners.

will think of more tomorrow I'm sure.

Humble Home Progress 3

2012-01-31T21:43:00.000-08:00

We decided to stay the night last night after John got off work, so we brought the dogs and a bunch of supplies. It went as predicted--Olivia and John went to sleep pretty quickly, and Lucas visited me sporadically to see what I was doing. He eventually got in bed with daddy and went to sleep.

I lost track of time. I worked on this nasty upstairs bathroom. Good news is our makeshift plug worked; I didn't detect any methane gases. We are anxious to put new toilets in but we have to wait for the flooring...which is waiting on our paint...
I taped up the nasty baseboards and trim:

gross...

Then I painted, and touched up with second coat:

When it dried, I taped along the wall to paint the baseboards. I put a thick coat of satin "ivory tower" paint and I think it looks a lot better.

We also took out this unnecessary and bothersome door and cleaned up the frame.

At that point, we could officially say the upstairs is all painted!
So I touched up the baseboards in the formal dining room, and used my tiny brushed to get in between the chair railing. Then I decided to start the master bedroom.
I took out the ugly dusty curtains which had heavy duty rails..with 4 anchors...pried them out, sanded, filled the holes with this cool pink stuff (turns white when it's ready to sand/paint), took off the outlet/switch cover plates (probably one of the germiest of places in a home..yuck) and taped up everything. Was too tired to embark on the painting. Saw the clock was 3:30am, so I moved Lucas over and slept on the aerobed pretty comfortably too!

John took this to prove to co-workers that he 'made me paint the whole house' lol.

But I got up at 7:30am and got back to work. John helped me tape up the tray ceiling since we decided it needed paint too. As I was painting the master bedroom this "seal gray" color, I wanted to do some kind of accent, so I decided to tape off either side of the main wall and paint the center this "soft suede" color. John had doubts because it was hard to get a straight line, but changed his mind when he saw how good it looked: (and that it still felt 'masculine' haha).
Before:

After--getting crazy with the cheese whiz lol...my last minute decision. First time trying a 'design' with tape:

Then we began my least favorite task...another dirty bathroom. But the master bath and half bath ceiliings were painted this wierd orange-y color...which made the room feel small and dark, so we painted the ceiliings white...painting ceilings sucks!
We removed the heavy mirror, filled holes, sanded, and taped--ready to paint walls tomorrow. But we had to come home today to get cleaned up and get better rest. Even with virtually non-stop painting and going up and down stairs (I always seem to need something on the opposite floor..and then when I get there, I forget it. lol) I managed to eat quite a bit. So even though I was exhausted and feet and back ache, I decided to get a quick workout. Back in the AM to hopefully start the big walls/big foyer....scared to use the extended ladder!

The kids ate, slept, pooped, and played a bunch. They love going to "the house" (Lucas cries when we leave saying he wants to stay!)
Olivia loves being in this pack and play...like it's her personal castle...then Lucas jumps in to bug her lol.

He's getting really good at these puzzles!

Lastly we took down the ugly kitchen/nook curtains and filled the anchor holes..taped it up and it's ready to be painted...not sure what color yet lol.

Our messy kitchen...

Tomorrow? maybe..

I'm Jealous

2012-01-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

so jealous...i used to play this song at open mics when i lived in Canoga Park CA...I wish it sounded like them. These guys are so talented I can't get over it. They covered my favorite zero7 songs too...wish I had all the equipment and software...it's depressing at first, then inspiring. I wish I had something better to record with than my digital camera. Maybe someday :)

What this guy does with the layering of all those instruments is amazing, and her voice is spot on!

Stay.At.Home.Mom :)

2012-01-29T15:52:00.000-08:00

My true talent:

Everytime I am dancing to this song, I think John probably feels this way about me :)
Olivia was dancing to it earlier but I didn't catch it, so I put up some video of them doing their circus dance from "Coraline" :) Another favorite (of mine too!):

Funny People

2012-01-27T22:18:00.000-08:00

Everyone's sleeping and I am watching a movie I happened to record the other night. It's called "Funny People" with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen. It's really different...I mean, I guess I haven't watched any real movies lately other than "Kung Fu Panda" or "Finding Nemo" etc, but this movie is really funny and dark. I haven't finished it yet but I recommend it. I know John will enjoy it when he has time off to watch it with me. It also has that girl that is in all those romantic comedies never as the star..Leslie Mann. I just read she's married to Judd Apatow so that explains why she's always in his movies. Anyway, I think she's a good actress.. I especially liked her part in "The 40 yr Old Virgin"--I had a friend that was just like that character lol.

Okay that's all. :)

If you didn't see my friend on Idol last night...

2012-01-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

My eyes look wierd huh? Must be the Red Bull....or the whip-its we did with Demi Moore that night.

Last August I waited 13 hrs to be initiated into the elite group known as AIR--American Idol Rejects :) BUT I feel fortunate that out of the thousands in line, I was next to Kristine Osorio. We had a lot in common and it made the time go by faster. She's really good! I remember getting the texts every time she got through to the next round--so exciting! Then we went out to dinner before she went back to Amarillo. I haven't heard from her lately, so I'm not sure if she's still in the competition (fingers crossed!) but I know she got to Hollywood :)

Here's her clip from last night:

Damn I can see the weight difference from August til now...15 lbs difference :) I had just started WW the month before.

Here's a little clip of the night we went out to celebrate. We went to a club/thai restaurant and waited a while to get a table but the pad thai was really good.

Her good friend Samantha was a blast too. And Jasmine was another gal we met in line. Also a great singer. I am re-thinking my audition and the choices I made--if I decide to try out next season this summer (which would be my last chance at age 28) I would definitely pick a better song and wardrobe..I don't know why I picked the song I did--especially without my guitar! Maybe I'll get better and give it one last shot :)

But man how exciting to be right in front of Jennifer Lopez (pronounced "Hennefare Lopayz..taco flavored keesses!") and Steven Tyler! I wish her luck and hope she lets me ride her coat tails! ha :)

A little early..but call in if she makes it! I've never voted on American Idol before, but I would if she made it. Good luck!

Spaghetti Garlic bread recipe

2012-01-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to try this recipe I saw online. I needed to go grocery shopping anyway, but I usually wait for John to be home to help me with L & O which can be difficult in the store. I wanted to surprise him with this recipe so I went alone. It wasn't too bad, but they just got a cold so I wanted to hurry back and let them nap.

No stores or deli/bakeries had fresh dough to make bread, so I made my own with some rapid rise yeast and it turned out great! I first made John's grandma's spaghetti recipe with mini-meatballs so they cooked quicker. I let the sauce simmer for a few hours and used a little more paste to make it thicker. I made some spaghetti and mixed it in the sauce. Then I made the dough and let it rise for almost an hour. I rolled it out and cut slits on either side. Then I put spaghetti and meatballs and sauce down the center, with cubes of mozarella cheese on top, and braided the slits to close it up. I brushed the top with egg white and sprinkled parmesan cheese, parsley, paprika, and garlic bread seasonings on top. Cooked it for 35 min at 350 degrees.

John came home from work and has caught the babies cold, so he wasn't feeling well, but he really liked it and ate a couple servings before going to bed early. Lucas won't try it--he's pretty sick. Olivia was sick yesterday and seems much better today. Here she is enjoying dinner:

I packed some up for John to take to work :) Next time I'll get some good pepperoni or salami from the meat market and make strombolis!

Humble Home Progress 2

2012-01-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

John had 2 days off and we spent almost every minute of them on the house! We are both anxious to move in, so we are working as fast as possible.

We got a great deal on the house....yes...but, the previous owners never cleaned! And the lights in many rooms are so dim (25 watt bulbs!) that I wonder if they just couldn't see the filth they were living in. But for me, I don't want to feel like I am in a hotel, in my own home....so we are re-doing the bathrooms throughout the house. Instead of paying thousands to install new baths, I found a company online that does resurfacing: www.tubsandtops.com We had a guy come out yesterday morning and resurface the master bath, master shower, and upstairs tub for $600! Look at how clean and white they are---can't use abrasive/bleach cleaner on it though:

Haven't painted in there yet...and we definitely need blinds...neighbors window looks right in!

John went and bought this ladder that extends to 22' so we can do our big walls soon (gonna be scary to be that high...hope it looks good though!) and I needed it to reach the crown moulding in the office(especially to tape it off--but at least that meant I didn't need to tape the ceiling. It's hard to see with the light on in there because it casts shadows, but we will take it out and put in a ceiling fan soon, since it won't be a formal dining room anyway. The colors are dramatic, and John didn't like it when I first started with the light green, but when I was done, said he took it back :)

And then after second coat:

I like the colors and think they will look better after the dark laminate wood floors are in. I still want to get that tree branch decal too. The colors don't look exactly like the pictures--they aren't as bright or lime-greeny...it's called "soothing green tea" and "dark olive".

I finished my second coat of the gray in the upstairs bath, and was about to start taping off the inner bathroom room, with the actual tub and toilet, when I noticed how filthy the walls and trim and baseboards were....caked on pee..obviously a boy splattered his pee everywhere while standing...disgusting. I couldnt' even scrub it off, so I was about to paint the baseboards and trim white, but asked John to take the toilet out. It was a long process.....with multiple trips to the store...the bolts and pipes and everythign is corroded...it was like it was never washed. He was able to take it apart and put it in the garage, but the hole was an odd size so the rubber stopper we bought:

didn't fit....and we didn't want the house filling up with methane and stinking when they installed the floors so we had to just stuff it with a towel. so gross all the wax from the seal, mixed with dirt and you know what...yuck. The carpet is just as gross..we keep finding earrings and bugs and hair and trash...I feel bad for the floor installers that have to haul all this dirt and nastiness away...but they're getting paid well :) The house was built 10 yrs ago, so it's collected a lot of filth. Can't wait to get the new floors and new toilet and paint in. That bath is pristine though! Sadly, the other 2 toilets are just as disgusting (as well as the baseboards.) Anyway, I like the gray I painted in the bathroom. We took down the big mirror for me to paint, and since its old ugly and heavy, we are gonna buy new vanity mirrors to put in there. I was thinking these:

But it'd probably look better to get a white framed mirrors huh?

Before:

After:

So we are almost done with the upstairs...toilet held us back today. But John has a good amount of time off after the next 5 days, so we might just stay the night on the aerobed, especially since we can use the bath and shower now...it's a little far to drive 45 min each way after painting 12 hours, only to drive back again the next day. And with gas prices going up (thanks Iran!) we should stay up there a few nights to paint...but that means I need to make better choices even though we are eating out since we don't have a fridge yet.

Oh and we decided to take the dogs with us today so they wouldn't sit in the crate the whole time at home. They enjoyed the house but of course stupid Tyrone had to poop in the house as soon as he came in. They also liked the yard, but it POURED all morning so it was like a sea out there.

My feet ache, and my calves won't stop cramping. My shoulder blades hurt and my hands are calloused. And now we are home and hungry!

And I bet you're wondering how the kids did this whole time lol.. Well, we took turns tending to them, but we had a little TV with their dvd's on, and they played with their puzzles and coloring books on the aerobed. And occasionally ran through where I was painting and touched the wet paint...lol, but they did well, and love being at the new house.

Oh I also finished up the guest room closet--and I think it made the room look bigger. I did some touching up of where the previous green paint went over on the ceiling or baseboards. It made the room feel more finished:

new floors new floors new floors....clean house clean house clean house! Soon :)
I'm so impatient...I can't wait til next tuesday when we can get back to work. Meanwhile we just got a notice from our apt saying our lease is almost up (March) and will automatically renew at $500 MORE than our current payment...AND that new management requires renters to buy renter's insurance. Good thing I have a signed copy of my notice that we are moving from a month ago. It's so convenient that they apparently "lost" it. Gotta get outta here and into the house soon!

Lo Que Callamos Las Mujeres

2012-01-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a walk to the park with the babies, and the channel happened to be on some spanish channel. I put the babies down for their nap and told John was about to go workout, but I got sucked into this show lol. I have retained a little spanish from high school, but its fairly obvious what's happening in this episode---an unwanted pregnancy, and a girl contemplating abortion. It's pretty interesting to watch a show in another language! I also had google translate out, so I could grab words here and there to make sure I know what's going on.. (i.e. "verguenza"--shame, "barbaridas"--lot, "embarazada"-- pregnant, "hijo"--son). I think I am gonna stay for the end or record it just to see what happens, but from the look of it, it seems to be cautioning women against it--although the girl's friend keeps trying to tell her it's safe and legal etc, but it looks like her cousin just died because of an abortion so she may have changed her mind. The episode is called "Madre, No Delincuente." (Mother, not criminal).

This would never have been written for any major American network shows. It would have ended with no regrets and happiness...okay really though, I gotta work out and stop watching telenovelas! enfarto!

Attabator

2012-01-20T21:34:00.000-08:00

I was just looking through some of the pics and video Susan took on the days she babysat so we could paint the house, and there are lots of cute ones. This one is of their walk to the nearby park on the bayou. It was around naptime and they were getting sleepy on the swings--the dialogue is particularly entertaining from 1:45 on :) I will have to do some kind of video montage with all the cute clips during her trip soon.

Oh and just a little update---Susan's slumber parties have officially broken Lucas of his pacifier dependency to sleep! It was long overdue, but we were waiting til we were moved into the house since he had already left marks on the walls and door and screamed relentlessly when we tried a few months ago. I am so surprised and glad that it was so easy. His bedtime demands are now just his blankie, his car's pillow and blanket (he has to have his head directly on the odd shaped car pillow lol) and his snake..named 'Snake the snake.' And as long as I read a few books each night, he goes to sleep very easily. It's a big load off our minds, as I was worried it was affecting his teeth. Now that he's fully potty trained, I feel like we have made a lot of progress. I guess as evidenced in this video though, his speech needs some work!

Humble House Progress

2012-01-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

For the last 2 days that Susan was here, she graciously babysat the kids while John and I began painting the house. It is such a long process with so many different surprises and extra trips to the store. But it's much cheaper to do it ourselves, and is a fulfilling task--you see results right away and typically get a little better at it each time. We decided to aim for completing all of the upstairs first, so we bought all the different paints we would need for that floor (ended up getting 16 gallons---didn't use it all though). We bought all the supplies we needed, and brought our step ladder and drill and cleaning supplies. I tried to learn from the mistakes I made in VA in painting that house. That house was ~1600 sq ft and all one color. This house is ~2760 sq ft with lots of angles, and I tried to be a little adventurous with the color schemes in each room. Fingers crossed that it will look good. The great thing was that we didn't have to waste time and energy worrying about getting paint on the carpets since they're all goin---I got pretty sloppy!!

My camera can't really convey what a difference the paint made...so come visit! The fresh paint makes the house look and feel new! The blue carpet still throws it off a little, but as soon as we get this paint done, the floors are out!

A walk thru...not sure what is more accurate to see the results...probably a mix between pics/video...I also wanted to show the layout of the house since the pictures are kinda hard to put together in your mind:

A short one of the upstairs bath:

And the first floor before:

The first step was to clean the baseboards. I didn't bother scrubbing too hard because they were dinged up and the previous owners got paint on most of them. So I figured after we finish painting, we would do a little touching up with some off-white paint, and then re-caulk the baseboards neatly, to cover up their paint. We will also have to paint a little off-white to cover up where they got paint on the ceilings.

After the cleaner dried, we taped up everything we could, and unscrewed outlet and switch plates. Then I used this :

which was alright...I was looking for a roller with a flat edge-guard type thing to do a straight edge or corner...guess it hasn't been invented yet. The edger worked fine, but this house has textured walls, and all the corners and areas where walls meet ceilings at all different angles etc, it was all uneven and bumpy. Sometimes I let one wall dry after painting, just to be able to put the tape directly on that wall and create my own straight line. Basically after cutting each wall in with the edger, I had to use a smaller brush to fill in the cracks.

We were looking for an electric paint roller machine but they only had sprayers at lowes and home depot, so we tried out this roller with a pump tube. It worked pretty well the first time with the "Toffee Crunch" color in the game room, but no matter how much time we wasted cleaning it, it didn't work the next time because there wasn't a complete tight vacuum to be able to suck up more paint, it just kept sucking in air. So rather than waste precious baby-less time messing with it, we did the rest manually. We are sore in our legs and feet, and have callouses but I say it was worth it :)

First we did the game room. I decided to do an accent wall for where the TV will be on the wall. I picked a gray color. For the rest of the room (and probably will use it downstairs too) I picked this "Toffee Crunch" color.

Game room Before:

Game room After:

Music room Before:

Music room After:

Then the little room off the game room, I call the music room, we painted a darker gray. I think it looks good against the white trim and white french doors. The ugly carpet makes it look blue so once the carpet is in, I am sure it will all come together..here's the carpet we chose:

Oh! Also, when I picked the colors, I was using Behr's color palette, but when we got there and saw samples of how well Glidden's all in one (primer included) covered in one coat, we decided to get it--was also a buck or two cheaper than Behr. So they did color matching with the Behr colors I picked. Glidden worked very well; most colors only required one coat. Only the light yellow color in the kids' room needed a second layer. Their room had these gnarly flames, but we took off the red tape and painted over it all with "Gobi Desert" and really liked the color. I picked this manilla tint color to go with it--I like the combo...but Lucas was PISSED that we erased his flames lol. I am gonna put a better decal on it soon though!

Also, the dark purple didn't seem to adhere very well in the guest room over that horrid green...I started wondering whether the paint the previous owners used in that room was possibly oil-based or something? idk. I put two layers and I think it covered well. When I opened the purple paints for the guest room, I started regretting picking such dark colors. But John and I are trying not to judge anything fully until the paint is fully dry and everything is put back in place, with the new floors.

Still wet and has tape--may have to do second coat on lavender color...

Today was very overcast and the lights in the bedrooms are dull so it was hard to see the colors. I hope it looks good...dont wanna have to paint over all that dark purple! John started taping off the fairly large closet in the guest room, but I didn't start painting it yet. not sure what color to use yet. Don't want to use that purple. Any color suggestions?

The hallways we used that "Gobi desert" color we liked in the kid's room. I think it looks really good in the hallways especially with the recessed light. Also used Gobi on the stairway.

The bathroom upstairs is gonna suck...a lot of painting in between narrow spaces etc...I think I will use that gray color from the game room accent wall. After that, the whole upstairs will be done!

I am gonna work on my drawings tonight to pick out a final color scheme for the first floor. Once John has some more time off, we will take turns painting and entertaining the babies. It's pretty fun actually! It's really exciting to be transforming this house together and I'm so grateful we found this house when we did. :) I think having all this room will make me a better wife...I'll be more inspired to clean and organize and cook! The kids and dogs will have room and a yard. John will get his lazy boy! lol. Thank you Texas!

And thank you Susan for really getting us that head start on this project. We hope to see you in another few months and have the house ready for you to really have a dance party with the kids. :)

Kemah with Susan

2012-01-14T21:17:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Kemah--was the perfect day for it. The weather had been windy and cold, but today was warm and sunny with a light breeze. We enjoyed games, food and rides!

And here's Lucas' new girlfriend--a girl was celebrating her quincinera at Kemah and looked like a disney princess--you can see how excited Lucas was to take a picture with her :)---Olivia's face was pure elation too!

Gonna miss Kemah when we move...gotta find some new fun things to do throughout the year :) Can't believe it was a year ago when we first came here and lived in a hotel, visiting Kemah for the first time...it became an almost weekly thing.

Gonna miss Susan too--Lucas is gonna have a hard time getting to sleep after she leaves tuesday :( But she is probably coming back around May, so the house will be ready for more Susan fun!

The Berthday Bash

2012-01-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

The Almost-Too-Much Birthday Kiss lol.

We celebrated a group birthday party on friday-- Olivia turned 2 on 1/6, Lucas turned 3 and daddy turned 28 on 1/12, and Susan will be 32 on 1/18. There are even more January bday's on John's side!

We went and jumped at the Fun Max Jumpin place first--tried to get them tired so they would behave at dinner. It was fun for all of us!

And delicious Barcena's Mexican dinner:

She was very whiney most the dinner, but shut up while she ate her beans and rice and fruit!

Our friends Monica & Josh joined us too--I didn't really organize it very well and got the dates confused, so I am glad they still made it :) Thanks Monica for taking some great pictures!!

This was the cake I made--found an easy homemade frosting recipe, and got some food coloring. When I realized how dorky it was looking, I decided to make it un-dorky, by spelling it bErthday lol. You know, that theorem of 2 dorky's cancelling each other out :)

Had to let Olivia blow one out :)

They got some Zhu Zhu pets to go with all the accessories grandmama just sent them--they were very excited! Also got some new Veggietales/Minnie Mouse coloring books.

The Birthday Gang

Happy Birthday all you weirdo Capricorns!

The House

2012-01-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

We went out to show Susan the house and also to let Flooring America measure the house...didn't realize he would take 2 hours to measure our overly geometric-shaped house lol. But here are the floors we picked out:

The carpet will be in the master bed and closet, and then all upstairs, and on the stairs. The laminate wood will be all downstairs.

All the bathrooms, kitchen, and utility room will have this vinyl since it's more durable against water damage (and since we are most likely going to move and rent this out in a few years, we need durability!)

This is how possessive Lucas is with Susan--always keeping her at his side and holding her hand :)

This is Olivia's new boyfriend: the pillar in between the kitchen and living room..don't know why she wanted to kiss it!...and I don't know why John's butt is in the pic either lol. Not intentional!

Then on the way home we drove by John's work to show Susan how beautiful La Porte is lol.

We just now picked up all the paint and supplies, to start tomorrow. Once we are done, we will schedule the flooring. Already paid for and ordered---can't wait to see it all come together...hope my painting skills, and color scheme's work...:)

Susan Has Arrived :)

2012-01-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

Susan flew in on Wednesday and Lucas and Olivia were very happy to see her. But, it's obvious Lucas really remembered and missed her, as he hasn't left her side since she came. He shares his comfy big bed with her, so I know when she leaves he will be hard to put to sleep, and will miss her a lot. She is probably going to come out again before summer though, when the house is ready. Here they are at the airport terminal:

And giving a tour of her room :)

Then we had lunch at the meat market--delicious bbq.

And that night we had a little dancy time :

Was About To Go To Bed...

2012-01-10T21:17:00.000-08:00

..but I saw this video and thought it was pretty funny:

"How to trick people into thinking you're good-looking" :)

Isn't this hot!?

2012-01-09T20:02:00.000-08:00

Once we get settled in and have some money to spend lol, I really want to get a drumset. This looks so fun. Isn't this girl cute? Especially starting at 2:44

Thank you Grandmama!

2012-01-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

My mom sent us some more toys for the kids' bdays this month--Can you believe I have TWO 2 yr olds!? for a few more days anyway :) They were so excited to see boxes at our doorstep---they've been getting spoiled with all the Christmas stuff they got throughout last month, and their birthdays extended that! Here they are enjoying part of their loot (apparently there's more to come lol):

Some New Covers

2012-01-03T22:12:00.001-08:00

This one is a cover of Zero 7's "Spinning". I know my music videos are all pretty boring, so I decided to use the kids toys to direct a high budget one. It was awesome fun--and the babies watched confused lol. This one is a cover mashup of Zero 7's "The Space Between" and Boz Scagg's "Lowdown" (slowed down a lot). After layering the guitar and harmony tracks, I decided to dare myself to do a vid without the guitar. Still used a mic. It was fun---another high budget one with the backdrop and all. :)

Thinking Outside of Your Ass

2012-01-02T22:37:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to get up the energy and focus to do this blog. It is a collection of the many arguments I've had over the years about abortion.

A little background, for those who don't know: For some reason it became a big deal circa 2001 after overhearing some students in my high school talking about abortion and how it's the woman's choice. All of them agreed, being the teenaged-feminists they were--even kids that were very Christian in faith. I don't know how it ended up being so important to me, as although we were loosely Catholic in my household, it was never forced on me, but from then on I decided I was going to talk to everyone I could about it and get answers. The more I did that, the more disappointment I felt...in so many people I had looked up to and respected, the sadness of their ignorance and/or indifference to the murder of babies, sort of made me 'grow up' and stop fearing authority (at least in my lame high school). Teachers that I admired, were now shaded with, well...death, in my eyes. After getting in trouble for wearing my pro-life shirts (was even scolded and taken into the bathroom to turn my shirt inside out by a security guard) I contacted the Thomas More Law Center who wrote a letter to the school demanding they allow my shirts---which by the way, only said "Abortion Sucks" or "Abortion is Homicide". I carried my legal paperwork in my bag around school just in case. However small that seems, I am proud to have my peer's (whether they hated me or not) remember that about me rather than something inconsequential. It empowered me to think for myself. (And to think that the bully, who mocked those shirts, became my super-intelligent and compassionate husband who has emboldened my position, and inspires me even more, is amazing to me*.) I was even mentioned by Dr. Laura :) If you search my maiden name "Gallardo" you might still be able to find press releases. That was fun to search my name back then!

I don't even think this guy was pro-life lol..I still made him hold my sign :)

My dr. seuss pro-life shirt.

This shirt I wore (before legal defense) said "I'm sorry, does this offend you?" lol..getting an attitude with the security guards lol.

This was jazz band--so fun! My sister and I even did a song at the school talent show calling out the principal for being a liar (about ever having me in his office and telling me I couldn't wear my shirts..) Hey, I was a little drama queen lol.

Okay so basically I wanted to write a blog comprising all the arguments I've had over the years. I used to have long drawn out debates online and in person--neither side backed down, but eventually it just turns into them personally attacking me (which sometimes hurt, but ultimately it meant they gave up). I haven't done it in years...pretty much since becoming a mom, because I have no energy. Believe me it is SOO exhausting, mentally, emotionally and even physically. I also avoided it because it always leaves me feeling that the world is hopeless. But every now and then I'd hear news about it and hear people's thoughts and they frustrate me so. I know most people don't know or care about the details of the issue; they stay on the surface with terms like "women's rights" instead of digging just a nano-meter deeper and defining what 'right' they are agreeing with. After a while, I realized the best way to cut through all the crap in an argument about abortion, is to actually ask the 'pro-choice' person questions. I don't even have to defend my stance typically, because they aren't able or willing to answer simple questions--which shows you how much thought they've really put into their position. But I don't care how annoying it might be, I will never stop trying to inform people what I learn. I feel the tide is starting to turn because it's getting harder to deny truth about life. By sharing the main arguments I can remember (and some recent ones), and why they are wrong, I hope to get people to face their own beliefs, or lack thereof. I have known people and had friends who have had abortions. I feel horrible for them, and wish I could help them. I know that regardless of what they say, they are paying a heavy price and feel demeaned, not empowered. While women who make that decision do have to eventually be accountable for it and I believe, work to help other women from making that decision, the culprit is really the abortion industry: the doctors who perform them and lie to women, and the ones in power defending their right and funding the industry. It's never too late to change--many former employees of Planned Parenthood have quit and some even exposed the sad details of the business. If you have had an abortion, please get involved with the silentnomoreawareness campaign. Once you become educated about any given issue, you have an obligation to do something.

Where to start? I suppose the most common one is 'what about rape/incest?'

I thought the religious right believe that a child should have a mother abd a father? Well guess what, a child born out of rape, will never want anything to do with their father!

cujomade101 4 hours ago

(yeah--I can definitely see the baby peeking out his mom's vagina saying, "welp, oh i'm one of those? ok yeah go ahead kill me."--can't stand when people try to turn murder into an act of charity. After all, my dad was a product of rape. He had a very loving mother and a wonderful, adventurous and full life. )

It's so easy to think about the atrocious act of rape and say, 'hmm, yeah, that's totally not fair. The woman shouldn't have to deal with that baby.' Stop for a minute. That kind of thinking is like applying a 'merit and demerit system' to life; because she was wronged, she should get a

get out of jail free' pass. First off I would ask, if in cases where the woman wasn't raped, if she was just careless, is it wrong then? Usually when they ask 'what about rape', they are saying, "yeah abortion is wrong, but.." If you accept that abortion is wrong, that it is murder, the circumstances with which the baby was conceived, don't change that. The intent behind the act of sex doesn't determine that baby's value. Besides, telling a victim of incest/rape to cause another victim, isn't going to help anyone. No matter how uncomfortable 9 months of a pregnancy and birth can be, it cannot compare to the baby's plight being diced up or burned from the inside out with saline.

Remember this statistic--abortion in the U.S.-- less than 2% of abortions are because of rape or incest. And almost half of abortions in this country are repeat ones...

This was my initial comment in response the people who made the actual video...a backward and very ill-informed wanna-be political channel called the young turks:

Right...because killing babies is justified by rape? How callous can you be to say a baby being a "rapist's kid" determines their value. Open your eyes. It's not about the circumstances of conception---the right to LIFE is the most important basic right.. but you all like to act blinded by 'women's rights' rhetoric, and somehow incorporate murder into a "right to privacy." If you are so sure abortion is a right, go to this site and see video of what you support abortion no dot org

jsnukem

@jsnukem Your posing as "protectiors of unborn life" is DISGUSTING!

The abominable crimes Agent Orange part I+II are unpunished yet you rightous US fundies kill doctors and dare to infringe upon womens rights.

RegioLunar

@RegioLunar ---irrelevant assumptions and attacks aside, what do you think abortion is? Do you think it is killing?

jsnukem

@jsnukem "irrelevant assumptions and attacks aside,"

You idiot fairy tale?

In case you´re realy too retarded to KNOW what this agent orange crime means go google it!

RegioLunar

@RegioLunar --i'm talking about you're assumptions on my stance regarding a separate issue (apparently you're favorite, agent orange) and saying I kill doctors. Those are irrelevant and inaccurate assumptions...still waiting for an answer...

jsnukem

@jsnukem I´m not interested in your phantom debates! In case you´re not a laughably retarded 12 yrs old you will face reality that matters.

Go punish your responsible US citizens maybe then the rest of us is inclined to stop regarding you as fundie religious nuts armed to the teeth!

RegioLunar

@RegioLunar --alright. I guess you forfeit...baseless attacks show you have no answer to my very simple question. Thanks for showing the readers how illogical your side is. :) Happy new year!

jsnukem

They couldn't even answer as to what it is they are defending. And it's always the pro-choice side that LOVES bringing up God and religion. I never need to in a simple debate about abortion.

Same answer applies to people who time and time again say, "yeah one abortion is fine. but three? come on! That's wrong." If it's murder, even one is wrong. That one life taken, hurts the mother (and father) for a

lifetime.

I remember hearing a guy say, "the baby won't remember it since they die." Besides the total irrationality behind trying to justify murder with the fact that, they will be dead, and therefore not recall being cut up, I can't stand the thought of excusing something based on whether it will be remembered or not...what about the CURRENT pain and torture the baby feels? And the life of possibilities stolen? Weird argument, but this is why I am showing you the things pro-choice people come up with when confronted.

I hear about 'overpopulation.'

Overpopulation is going to happen, and they want to stop abortion?

blackbird309 27 minutes ago in playlist Uploaded videos

Okay, this is one of the most frustrating excuses ever. First off, if you want to get all scientific, the world isn't close to being overpopulated. The fact that the powers that be waste money and enforce policies that shrink the middle class, and cause rampant unemployment and foreclosures, doesn't mean we are overpopulated. Especially in this country, we are actually being outnumbered compared to other countries. (And there isn't a shortage of commodities and resources to support more life---there are only stubborn bureaucracies that squander/block them.) Which is why only in this country, are the poor, obese. Aside from that fact, EVEN IF it became a concern, a civilized democracy would never resort to killing babies as any sort of solution.

The argument that abortion is equivalent to contraception methods like condoms, and the pill...look up the word 'contra-ception'. Before conception. Abortion always happens after conception...after life has been conceived. (this one's for another blog, but even the pill isn't always contraception...if you look at the purpose of the pill, it is to keep the uterine lining thin enough that a fertilized egg (read--'embryo') cannot implant itself and stay alive...which causes a heavy period, in which often times the embryo is too small to be noticed, when it is flushed out with menstruation.)

And most of the time especially on youtube, I get people telling me to stop saying 'baby'--informing me it's a 'fetus'.

This is funny to me. I don't care what you want to call it. Here's a little bit of the convo I had earlier--my name is 'jsnukem.':

Fetus--from the Latin foetus, meaning "offspring." It's a developmental stage of a human being, as in toddler, teenager, adult etc. Doesn't matter what you want to call it. It doesn't magically turn into a human after coming out of a vagina.

jsnukem

The obvious moral distinction is that a toddler, teenager or an adult are capable of suffering. Until the nervous system develops a foetus is incapable of thought or suffering.

Now if you're about to say "But what about after the nervous system develops?", well then now we're having a debate as to WHEN, not IF an abortion is morally permissible.

MrCommentingisfun

@MrCommentingisfun --so, in your opinion, there is a point during the pregnancy that it is in fact a baby, capable of suffering? When exactly is that point?

jsnukem

You're very fixated on whether or not its a "baby". That's a label, and is unimportant.

As for when it becomes capable of suffering: that's a very good question. Even once the nervous system develops we're faced with all sorts of other questions: is the brain well-developed enough to allow the foetus to experience pain, or fear?

A woman, on the other hand, is fully capable of suffering through, say, being forced to have a baby she doesn't want.

MrCommentingisfun

@MrCommentingisfun --so while you're philosophizing on when a fetus can feel pain, just keep killing in the meantime? Yes the woman suffers--especially when she's told it's okay to kill her baby for convenience. And even more so when she is maimed or killed in the process. Go see how respectful Kermit Gosnell was to women and babies. The most un-american idea ever.

jsnukem

It's amazing how much people want to assume about a baby's, or excuse me, a fetus' thoughts or 'self-awareness' or ability to feel pain. It's like dr. kermit gosnell saying "It's just reflexes," when a baby is squirming while he cuts their spinal cord." I don't understand how people can say a human life is not worth as much as a person's lifestyle. They like to (un)answer everything with empty philosophical 'nothing can ever really be known' Master Oogway BS. lol.

@jsnukem

Can we stop with this "killing babies" nonsense? A foetus is not a baby. if you think you have a sound moral argument you shouldn't have to resort to this kind of hyperbole.

A question to my pro-life YouTube counterparts:

How do you morally distinguish between abortion (which prevents a baby being created) and:

A) Using a condom (which prevents a baby being created)

B) Refraining from having sex (which prevents a baby being created)

MrCommentingisfun

@MrCommentingisfun ---so mysterious blob of tissue magically becomes a human after being pushed out of the birth canal? also, look up "fetus" ...and "hyperbole" while you're at it.

jsnukem

@jsnukem It is a matter of when we consider it a human being. A single cell is not a human being yet, 100 thousand cells is still not a human being. Is the legal limit for abortion too high? maybe. But not all abortions are "killing babies".

RHawkeyed

@RHawkeyed --so your stance is basically, to not take a stance? Let me know what the magical mystery number of weeks is for you to say "okay! your oddly bulging belly has actually become a human baby". If you can't determine where it is, why would you stand by it being legal?

jsnukem

@jsnukem There is no magical mystery number, and I believe the legislation takes this into account, the later the abortion the better reason you need for it.

My opinion:

Morning after pills are perfectly fine. Of course one should use condoms, but sometimes they break.

Second trimester should be avoided, or you better have a very good reason for the abortion, and for not having it done sooner.

A third trimester foetus is a baby, but the mother takes priority if her life is in danger.

RHawkeyed

So it's now a sliding scale..how hilarious..in the tone of a disciplining father:

"you'd better have a very good reason!"

Such a concrete and precise stance to take huh? As if you can kill just a little bit. It's not full on killing if the baby is this big, right? But one more inch, and you have some 'splainin to do! That's severely defining deviancy down. I guess it means that the bigger the victim is, the bigger the crime. Or the older you are. Or how much these all-knowing people deem your self-awareness to be.

@jsnukem the problem is to define what a human being is. Using the word soul does not make it any clearer in case you were going to do that.

There is a lot going on in the head of a baby, but there is not really anything completed before birth, only foundations are laid.

You probably feel very secure in your religious (I assume) definition of life, but do you really understand it? like really really understand it? (I don't expect an answer to this one, just please think about it)

RHawkeyed

Read that again. If anyone is a religious whacko, i'd say it'd have to be the person who keeps bringing it into a debate based on science, logic, and basic decency. Do you sense the moral relativism yet? The conversation filled the exact purpose I wanted it to; to show you that it will always turn into the pro-choice essentially saying there is no right or wrong. BECAUSE that's all you have left to defend senseless murder--it's easier to generalize everything and say my religion inhibits my ability to comprehend "life", at least on the level that this genius does, than to face that you are supporting dicing up babies.

Another argument that I hear, which is almost embarassing for me to confront because the people that say it don't fully think through what they are saying, and they are usually good people. Just very misled.

"What if there is something wrong with the baby? or a genetic abnormality/defect? or down syndrome?"

That person is unknowingly defending genocide. The justification for wiping out a people based on their physical/mental handicap.

That's where I stopped. Mainly to build a couch fort with the kids, but do you see how exhausting and mistaken people are? Nonetheless, these discussions need to happen.

Also, know that whenever you see Sarah Mclachlan asking you to donate money to help abandoned and hurt animals, remember that she is vehemently pro-abortion. She won't even allow pro-life vendors to sell anything at her feminazi "Lilith Fair" concerts. How can she be so blind to her own hypocrisy?

And contrary to what Obama said,

"I don't want my daughters to be punished with a baby for a mistake."

a baby is not a punishment.

If you are disgusted by my previous post on Dr Gosnell, realize that THAT is the dirty truth of all abortion at any stage; it's all about making money and doctors know they are killing.

Please join the discussion if you'd like.

By Request

2012-01-02T00:29:00.000-08:00

I've been asked my views on the Republican candidates recently. I really don't know a lot about all of them, but this is my take on it all.

Let's start with Herman Cain. I liked his pro-life values and his successful business background. I liked the way he spoke (at least initially) directly and confidently. The more he was tested though, the more his weaknesses glared at me. He is not only unprepared for a political career, he is apparently a chauvinist perv too. He didn't have any solid plans regarding foreign policy---all he really had was his 9 9 9 plan for the economy. Pfft..done.

I initially really liked Rick Santorum because he seemed very conservative. And perhaps he is. He isn't going to win this primary, and definitely doesn't have the appeal necessary to oust B.O. My opinions on a few conservative issues has changed--or at least what is currently being defined as conservative. More on that later.

Michelle Bachmann. Sweet lady. Good heart, but I just don't think a woman (especially a pro-life woman) will ever be respected enough to be president. And I've never been too impressed by her in debates. In fact, the only thing I ever remember her saying over and over in her Minnesota accent is "as president of the United States of America I would do that..." Wasting precious time saying those 12 unnecessary words every time instead of directly answering the question and proving her stance/plan is better than others'. Add to that the controversy of her husband running a 'pray the gay away' type camp....not worth my vote. As previously noted, any candidate that makes gays an important topic (whether for or against) is not gonna impress me. You're either catering to the idiots that make 'gay rights' into a civil rights fight on par with racial segregation or the Salem witch trials....(BTW, can you do or read anything without being bombarded with gayness? It's as if it's discrimination not to be talking about homosexuals 24/7)..or you're making a joke of yourself with the 'pray the gay away' stuff. Whoever cares so much about this issue, has too much time on their hands but is too lazy to find a real issue to fight for, that might require a little more effort than slapping a rainbow sticker on your Subaru.

Mitt Romney. I've always sorta liked the guy. Just sorta though. He's the "..well, if we have to.." candidate to me. He does well in the debates. I just don't believe his stances to be sincere. I think especially coming from Massachusetts, he has had to change stances according to who's asking, and who's paying. His health care plan, which apparently Obama-care was modeled after, is questionable. I know his response would be that his model worked at the State-level, not necessarily Federally. The fact that he only recently claims he is pro-life, just seems all too convenient---I don't believe he would appoint strictly pro-life judges.

Rick Perry..ugh. Before I knew him, I liked him. lol. I mean, when I first heard his name being said as in the presidential running, I was hopeful. As a new resident of Texas, I can say this is the place to be. He has done a good job keeping this state afloat in a drowning economy. But again, the more I see of him, the more ridiculous and unprepared he seems. I get nervous when he speaks. In the debates, he seemed really umm...immature..like his answers weren't well-thought out and confident. It seemed like he was cornered and then just spewed out things that were irrelevant character attacks. I didn't like his attempt at mandating the HPV vaccine...His ad emphasizing frustration with "gays openly serving in the military" was the straw though. I guess there weren't any bigger issues on the table huh? Glad he has done a lot for the pro-life movement on the state-level, but that's where he should stay.

Newt Gingrich...I really liked Newt. Even back in 2007 I was hoping he would run. I didn't know a lot about his record (professionally, or otherwise...) but everytime I heard him speak or read his books, I was impressed with his knowledge. He did so well in the debates--his answers were poignant and delivered with calm confidence. His personal life is disappointing but didn't necessarily discount him as a candidate. The fact that he was Speaker of the House and had numerous ethics investigations is bothersome. He isn't something fresh and new. He's smart--I just don't quite trust him.

And Ron Paul. To be honest I sort of disregarded him in the beginning. Although I liked that he is pro-life and delivered thousands of babies as a doctor, his extreme views and support from annoying kids that just want to do drugs, turned me off. In fact, I even now see that Fox News really doesn't like him. Everyone on both sides treats him like a stigma. Which in addition to my disappointment in the other candidates, led me to investigate a little more.

If you ever see him in the debates, I think you'll agree that he is sort of like that grandparent that doesn't hold back--brutally honest at times. He's a guy that doesn't change his tune according to who's listening. He knows his stances in and out, no matter how many times people try to poke holes in them because they aren't understanding. After looking at the reasoning behind his polarizing views, you will see that they are actually the most faithful to the constitution and to American prosperity. It was hard at first to see things as they have been presented on the surface forever, and then acknowledge that the basis for those things was backward. This is getting too vague huh?
Well, basically Ron Paul's motto is as long as no one hurts another person, let people do what they want. The government's intended role has been laid out, but it has been given more and more power and control, that has led to a totalitarian way. Lead by example not force.
Here's a very educational video on why he takes the 'isolationist' stance he does:

His stance on making drugs legal---his argument is that most prisons are filled with people who had non-violent drug charges..How much money is being wasted on incarcerating people who committed non-violent drug crimes? He says making drugs legal won't result in everyone going to do heroine. He asserts that telling people "this is bad for you, so it is illegal" is not the American way-that it's a slippery slope to outlawing fatty foods, or any given thing deemed to be potentially harmful. To Ron Paul, you have free will to make bad decisions as long as you take responsibility for it. I agree.

His stance on foreign policy was a little odd to me. But it makes sense. He wants our troops home to protect OUR country. He wants to stop wasting money on wars and keeping troops throughout the world for no purpose. He wants to trim the fat---although I agree the troops need support, respect and good pay, there is a lot of wasted money and 'jobs' in the military. Watch the video and see--Ron Paul has received more donations from veterans than all the other candidates COMBINED. They appreciate that he listens to them.

Even his somewhat scary stance on 9/11 is understandable now. I don't think he ever said we 'deserve' to be attacked--but he basically shows that it was inevitable given our interference which began in the 50's. I never knew all this stuff. It is a little less scary to think that the Al-Qaeda just wants us out of their country, than wanting to kill us just because we are 'successful' or because of our Western values etc. If we could pull all our troops back in, reinforce our borders and strengthen our economy by cutting all the wasted foreign aid (because it isn't going to the people who need it---and those efforts would still be made by the private sector) our country's success might have a domino effect---to lead by example, not force. Our status hasn't improved in the world, no matter which party was in control--and yet billions are still being wasted on other countries.

He seems to have been predicting the troubles we are currently facing for decades. It's obvious how frustrated he is because as a member of Congress he has been trying to stop the wasted dollars--and he was always alone. Saying no to wasteful bills regardless of their popularity. He intends to cut a trillion off the deficit if he wins, and to do away with a few top governmental agencies that are wasting tax money and not serving their intended purposes. The primary reason being that the government was not intended to mandate health insurance, education or environmental policy, and most importantly, the Federal Reserve (but I think with the Fed it would have to be revamped, not totally done away with)--these are all issues to be dealt with at the state level. The government's job is to preserve liberty. Basically providing equal opportunity--NOT equal outcomes.

I liked this guy's take on why Ron Paul isn't racist--basically Ron Paul said he wouldn't vote for the Civil Right's Act ---seems racist but it's not. A business' success is determined by the free market --me and you--not the government. If a business were to only cater to whites, they would go out of business next-door to the business selling to everyone. Again, free will to make dumb decisions. If you can ignore this guy saying "know what I meen?" over and over, watch it--he's smart:

And I hate the daily show. Don't like Jon Stewart, but this was pretty good:

What do you think? He's changing more and more minds with his conviction and honesty.

Consider me a conservative-libertarian. :)

You Need to Know

2011-12-30T23:25:00.000-08:00

I hadn't clicked to read or see more about the previously mentioned Dr. Kermit Gosnell, because I feared what I would learn..I decided I needed to learn more about all of these atrocious people and share it with who will listen...it disturbs me to the core...it will take a lot of distraction to get to sleep.

This is the truth unbiased.

However you feel about the issue, everyone needs to learn what's really going on. Please spend some time thinking about where you really stand, and read this Report of the Grand Jury on the Philadelphia clinic run by Gosnell.

I am not going to paste any pictures because it is horrifying to see babies weighing as much as my babies as newborns, with slits in the back of their necks, and I couldn't bear to see them on my blog next to my kids' happy faces. I couldn't help but cry and pray for these babies and for all the defenseless ones to suffer this fate. If you'd like to read the Operation Rescue article on his arrest click here.

Here are crucial snippets from the Grand Jury's report IN THEIR WORDS:

This case is about a doctor who killed babies and endangered women. What we mean is that he regularly and illegally delivered live, viable, babies in the third trimester of pregnancy – and then murdered these newborns by severing their spinal cords with scissors. The medical practice by which he carried out this business was a filthy fraud in which he overdosed his patients with dangerous drugs, spread venereal disease among
them with infected instruments, perforated their wombs and bowels – and, on at least two occasions, caused their deaths. Over the years, many people came to know that
something was going on here. But no one put a stop to it.

Let us say right up front that we realize this case will be used by those on both sides of the abortion debate. We ourselves cover a spectrum of personal beliefs about the morality of abortion. For us as a criminal grand jury, however, the case is not about that controversy; it is about disregard of the law and disdain for the lives and health of mothers and infants. We find common ground in exposing what happened here, and in recommending measures to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.

The clinic reeked of animal urine, courtesy of the cats that were allowed to roam (and defecate) freely. Furniture and blankets were stained with blood. Instruments were not properly sterilized. Disposable medical supplies were not disposed of; they were
reused, over and over again. Medical equipment – such as the defibrillator, the EKG, the pulse oximeter, the blood pressure cuff – was generally broken; even when it worked, it wasn't used. The emergency exit was padlocked shut. And scattered throughout, in cabinets, in the basement, in a freezer, in jars and bags and plastic jugs, were fetal remains. It was a baby charnel house.

The report goes on to say that in his clinic, Gosnell was the ONLY licensed physician, not even a nurse was employed. The other women there were still called "Doctor" to make the patients feel comfortable. The other employees were also able to diagnose, prescribe and kill too. He himself wasn't certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Because it wasn't about health--it was a profit. By day, although Gosnell wasn't there, (he left signed script pads to be filled out by other employees) the business was prescribing painkillers--which brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars. He stayed home "relaxing and exercising." By night, it was an abortion mill, many times late term---and I mean, like up to their due dates. The Grand Jury continued:

With abortion, as with prescriptions, Gosnell’s approach was simple: keep volume high, expenses low – and break the law. That was his competitive edge. Pennsylvania, like other states, permits legal abortion within a regulatory framework. Physicians must, for example, provide counseling about the nature of the procedure. Minors must have parental or judicial consent. All women must wait 24 hours after first visiting the facility, in order to fully consider their decision. But Gosnell’s compliance with such requirements was casual at best. At the Women’s Medical Society, the only question that really mattered was whether you had the cash. Too young? No problem. Didn’t want to wait? Gosnell provided same-day service.

The real key to the business model, though, was this: Gosnell catered to the women who couldn’t get abortions elsewhere – because they were too pregnant. Most doctors won’t perform late second-trimester abortions, from approximately the 20th week of pregnancy, because of the risks involved. And late-term abortions after the 24th week of pregnancy are flatly illegal. But for Dr. Gosnell, they were an opportunity. The bigger the baby, the more he charged.

There was one small problem. The law requires a measurement of gestational age, usually done by an ultrasound. The ultrasound film would leave documentary proof that the abortion was illegal. Gosnell’s solution was simply to fudge the measurement process. Instead of hiring proper ultrasound technicians, he “trained” the staff himself, showing them how to aim the ultrasound probe at an angle to make the fetus look smaller. If one of his workers nonetheless recorded an ultrasound measurement that was too big, it would just be redone. Invariably these second ultrasounds would come in lower. In fact, almost every time a second ultrasound was taken, the gestational age would be recorded as precisely 24.5 weeks – slightly past the statutory cutoff. Apparently Gosnell thought he would get away with abortions that were just a little illegal. In reality, of course, most of these pregnancies were considerably more advanced.

And the report says Gosnell's staff would give labor-inducing medications to late-term patients at night, and he would come in at 9 or 10pm, and only deal with the women that were ready to deliver--although some delivered before he came in. He maximized pain and danger for his patients, so as to minimize cost and effort on his part. The only problem for him and his staff, was that they delivered live squirming babies...his solution:

Gosnell had a simple solution for the unwanted babies he delivered: he killed them. He didn’t call it that. He called it “ensuring fetal demise.” The way he ensured fetal demise was by sticking scissors into the back of the baby’s neck and cutting the spinal cord. He called that “snipping.”

And many times when he wasn't in the office for a delivery, his fake 'doctors' or even administrative staff (and now we learn even his wife..) did the 'snipping'...like it was nothing. How callous could they be? Of course when the pregnancy was a little too far along (>35 wks..) he didn't want his staff there..only his wife..he saved those for Sundays. And he would then take the medical records home to destroy the evidence. The babies were so grown that he even joked, "this one could walk me to the bus stop!" after murdering him.

After the baby was expelled, Cross noticed that he was breathing, though not for long. After about 10 to 20 seconds, while the mother was asleep, “the doctor just slit the neck,” said Cross. Gosnell put the boy’s body in a shoebox. Cross described the baby as so big that his feet and arms hung out over the sides of the container. Cross said that she saw the baby move after his neck was cut, and after the doctor placed it in the shoebox. Gosnell told her, “it’s the baby’s reflexes. It’s not really moving.” The neonatologist testified that what Gosnell told his people was absolutely false. If a baby moves, it is alive. Equally troubling, it feels a “tremendous amount of pain” when its spinal cord is severed. So, the fact that Baby Boy A. continued to move after his spinal cord was cut with scissors means that he did not die instantly. Maybe the cord was not completely severed. In any case, his few moments of life were spent in excruciating pain.

Even the staff took pictures of this baby boy...because they "knew it was wrong." The picture is a huge intact baby boy in a box...so sad. The 15 yr old employee Ashley recalls another full term abortion:

Ashley heard the infant cry. She saw the baby move while it was on the counter. She estimated the infant was at least 12 inches long. When Gosnell arrived at the clinic, she recalled, “he snipped the neck, and said there is nothing to worry about, and he suctioned it.”

Another employee witnessed Gosnell's disgusting sense of humor:

Tina Baldwin told the jurors that Gosnell once joked about a baby that was writhing as he cut its neck: “that’s what you call a chicken with its head cut off.”

The report then exposes the numerous injuries and even deaths of the patients Gosnell 'treated'. Some were left for hours after having their uterus punctured, bowels and colon torn, unconscious, bleeding, and when family or friends wanted in or out, he wouldn't allow them!!!! They had to threaten to call the cops. He even sent home patients he knew still had baby parts inside them, even when they exhibited signs of serious infections.

He left his untrained and unlicensed staff to administer labor-inducing drugs, not monitoring vital signs or dosages, which left the women in horrible pain---but he didn't like the screaming or moaning, so he advised them to be drugged into a stupor. The more money you paid, the more pain relief you'd get.

And if you want to hear some real racism:

Only in one class of cases did Gosnell exercise any real care with these dangerous sedatives. On those rare occasions when the patient was a white woman from the suburbs, Gosnell insisted that he be consulted at every step. When an employee asked him why, he said it was “the way of the world."

So who cares about all the black city families who you know can't afford to sue you?

Karnamaya Mongar was not a 'privilged' patient. She was a 41 yr old Nepalese refugee who couldn't speak much English:

When she arrived at the clinic, Gosnell, as usual, was not there. Office workers had her sign various forms that she could not read, and then began doping her up. She received repeated unmonitored, unrecorded intravenous injections of Demerol, a sedative seldom used in recent years because of its dangers. Gosnell liked it because it was cheap.

After several hours, Mrs. Mongar simply stopped breathing. When employees finally noticed, Gosnell was called in and briefly attempted to give CPR. He couldn’t use the defibrillator (it was broken); nor did he administer emergency medications that might have restarted her heart. After further crucial delay, paramedics finally arrived, but Mrs. Mongar was probably brain dead before they were even called. In the meantime, the clinic staff hooked up machinery and rearranged her body to make it look like they had been in the midst of a routine, safe abortion procedure.

The report goes on to say that even after paramedics arrived, they were able to generate a weak pulse, but the emergency exits were padlocked and exits so cluttered, it took an extra 20 minutes to get her out. And since there was no one to monitor how much, when or who administer anesthesia, there was no way to know how to treat her. She was taken off life support the next day.

The Grand jury then expresses frustration at all departments in place in Pennsylvania that are supposed to oversee clinics..who decided it was politically correct for them to stop investigating clinics at all---for fear they would be "putting up a barrier" to women seeking abortions...Even after confronted with deaths, injuries, even reports from a former employee over a decade ago describing the filth, the over-prescribing painkillers, the underage girls, the late terms...NO ONE did anything.

Why has this all come to light? ONLY because police raided his offices because of his illegal prescription selling business...and they walked in to find dead babies in freezers and fridges where employees kept lunch, in shoe boxes, in juice or milk jugs, bio-hazard bags in the basement, and even babies' feet (big enough to be full term) preserved in mason jars for Gosnell's personal pleasure. He paid off complaining victims, whose claims were filed with the health dept, but none of Gosnell's long record cause any red flags...for decades.

A search of his home revealed a filing cabinet in his 12 yr old daughters closet--it had inside patient files, $240,000 and a hand gun.

The report estimates that he took in as much as $10,000-$15,000 a night mostly in cash for a few hours of killing delivered live babies--the amount doesn't include the drug sales he made.

The deaths of women and of countless viable babies were a direct and foreseeable consequence of the reckless and illegal manner in which Gosnell operated his clinic.

When [employee] Latosha Lewis began work at the clinic in 2000, the practice would perform approximately 20 first-trimester and 5 or 6 second-trimester abortions every procedure night. (they performed abortions on mondays, tuesday, thursdays and Saturdays...and he and his wife did the really late ones on Sundays..)

Apparently Gosnell used to follow the 24-hr waiting period law, but when patients stopped returning after their initial $125 visit, he disregarded the law and did them the same day, so they wouldn't change their minds (and he could get paid, typically cash).

Patients poured in from out of state to obtain illegal late term abortions..Some of them left to sleep in the dirty office, with no monitoring--all staff went home. They were given meds to cause painful labor, then knocked out to shut them up, with heavy strong painkillers. Many of them gave birth on the floor, on a lounge, even in the toilet:

A lot of times this happened when [Gosnell] wasn’t there. If . . . a baby was about to come out, I would take the woman to the bathroom, they would sit on the toilet and basically the baby would fall out and it would be in the toilet and I would be rubbing her back and trying to calm her down for two, three, four hours until Dr. Gosnell comes. She would not move.

A supposed janitor of the building mentioned having to clean out the pipes:

He testified that sometimes patients “miscarried or whatever it was” into the toilet and clogged it. He described how he had to lift the toilet 31so that someone else – he said it was too disgusting for him – could get the fetuses out of the pipes.

When babies didn't come out on their own, Gosnell had his staff push on the women's abdomen to force them out....debilitating pain for the woman and baby. Most of his staff had no relevant training, but he told them of a "grandfather clause" whereby he would train them, which counts as certification...even employing an employee's 15 yr old daughter--who worked 50 hr work weeks in this shop of horrors. Another employee had Hep C--no precautions to prevent spreading it.

A woman who worked for Gosnell very briefly was simply instructed on how to administer anesthesia in a 15 minute lesson by Gosnell and expected to deal with a full clinic at night alone...she made an excuse and drove away never to return. She subsequently filed reports:

“she has never experienced an illegally run, unsanitary, and unethical facility such as the Women’s Medical Society operated by Dr. Gosnell.”

Other's testified that they continually for days drugged up women for their procedures, putting them out with meds if they complained or moaned...they said Gosnell even would slap the patients on their thighs to shut them up--and then drugged them. (Some complained of marks on thighs afterward).

Even when patients had changes of hearts, he wouldn't stop the procedure or remove the laminaria (to dilate cervix) because he didn't want to get caught doing late-term abortions, and he didn't want to refund them. Thankfully one 28 yr old woman pregnant with her first baby, went to a hospital and had the laminaria removed. Her daughter was born premature, and it was verified that she was much further along then Gosnell stated. She is a healthy kindergartener today.

Obviously he had no qualms with breaking the law--he also commited fraud by collecting funds even from out of state pro-choice funds, insurance companies, and charging for appts with his unlicensed staff, as if they were doctors. Even the evil National Abortion Federation didn't approve the clinic to be associated with them upon inspection---but did NOT report their disgusting findings to the health depts.

Gosnell had been permitted to kill and maim for money even since the 70's---he and a friend invented a "super coil" abortion method that they put into practice in an experiment they called "Mother's Day Massacre"--they bused in 15 women from Chicago to perform abortions on mother's day...the women were not told the abortions were experimental---that they would have a ball stuck in them, coated with thick gel...and that once the gel melted, spikes would be revealed and dice up their babies----obviously causing numerous complications, sickness and death. EVEN after all that, his business thrived for another 40 yrs...making him rich. And all of this is now in the public eye because of a drug raid...

Please pray to end abortion and all child abuse...pray to guide women away from the hands of the evil abortion industry.

Now THIS is Change

2011-12-30T17:54:00.000-08:00

About a week ago I wrote about the abortion doctors in New Jersey/Maryland killing babies with their carpool business across state lines (for late term murders)...about the horrible and not-isolated case of the 18 yr old whose bowels were pulled through her perforated uterus during one of these murders. Well thanks to organizations like "Operation Rescue" (which is where I saw the initial story...you'd never hear about it otherwise) the 'doctors' have been arrested and are being charged with murder as they should. And now after the arrests, the mainstream news is finally reporting on it.

More details are coming out about the dirty abortion mill, including a freezer with 35 dead babies inside...some thought to have been nearly 36 weeks along....disgusting. The 'doctor' and his aborting accomplice were uncooperative at the hospital they reluctantly took their patient to, and wouldn't even give their name to the hospital.

Maryland fortunately is one of 38 states that since 2005, has laws allowing murder charges against people who kill 'viable' babies...even that term is always changing, but for now the law is at 23 weeks (was considered 28 weeks by my obgyn in NY when I miscarried...medical/technological advances are keeping very premature babies alive earlier and earlier)... So far this law had only been applied to people who murdered or injured pregnant women and their fetuses. I am glad it's finally being applied to the blood-money-hungry evil doctors. It's disgusting to think about abortion at all, but to think of women carrying a baby for months and months, feeling the kicks, most-likely seeing the ultrasounds (if the abortionist allowed them to) and still going through with an illegal and dangerous procedure over state lines, to kill a baby that they could so freaking EASILY give up for adoption...it's inexcusable.

That these 2 creeps (she was even allowed a medical license after lying about credit card fraud for which she did time in the Army--and he lost his medical license in 2 states...citing 'violations that endangered the public') have finally been charged and kept from more killing, gives me hope that times are changing. How can we be the most free and civilized nation, while abortion is legal, subsidized and people are so oblivious to the abortion business, blinded with 'women's rights' rhetoric? Looks like 'back-alley' abortions aren't so much different than abortion clinics, where the law is not respected, let alone life and dignity.

It gives me hope that the more these cases are exposed, the more people's eyes will be opened that there is no magic 23 week happening in which a mysteriously bulging belly, becomes a baby. The term viable will have served only as a catalyst to bring us to the realization that the sperm meets egg, implants itself, cells divide....life has begun.

The corruption in the abortion industry is so rampant..unless you're an avid pro-lifer (or are friends with one lol) you'd never know what goes on. Some articles worth reading:

Univ. of New Mexico using tax $$ for their free-standing abortion clinic....here's one of many 911 calls UNM has made:

And here's an abortionist in north Texas that admits he was a "back alley abortionist" before Roe v. Wade, and admits he knows he is killing. He has a "women's surgery center" to circumvent the law that stipulates that you can't perform abortions before 16 weeks...unless you have a 'surgery' center..??

This guy is a 'nice' abortionist though right? He's an ordained Baptist minister, and when he kills your baby, he says a little prayer. How sweet.

And this case has been going on for a while...this sicko was also killing late term babies, and even collected their parts. It was recently revealed that his wife (a cosmetologist) assisted him in his filthy Philadelphia abortion mill:

Kermit Gosnell

"Pearl Gosnell, a cosmetologist by training, assisted her husband with the latest of abortions at his ill-kept Women’s Medical Society mill on Sundays, when the other staff were not present, according to a grand jury report. The viable babies were delivered alive then murdered by “snipping” their spinal cords with scissors. Authorities discovered the severed feet of larger babies kept in jars lining shelves in the clinic during a raid that uncovered the macabre illegal abortion scheme, which led to the arrests of Gosnell and eight of his employees, including Pearl."

Planned Parenthood botched Abortion sends woman to hospital in Sioux City, Iowa.

Pre-Christmas abortion sends Stockton, CA woman to hospital--from 'Pregnancy Control Medical Clinic'...really? pregnancy control? like pest control. nice.

And a New Mexico abortionist quits business...for his sanity. "Let someone else carry the burden.."

unfortunately, he isn't referring to the burden of killing day in and day out as he is still seeking part time work as an abortionist..he just wasn't getting any business thank God. So the stresses of running a business dependent on blood money was too much for his sanity, but not cuttin up babies and vacuuming them out.

The list is never-ending. Abortion must be made illegal, doctors must be charged, women need to be held accountable, and tax dollars need to be taken from any facility offering abortion.

Vote for Ron Paul!

We have Officially Closed!

2011-12-27T17:09:00.000-08:00

Sorry no new pics..had hectic day, but we have closed on our home! Awesome feeling. And it was half the price of our first home---what could be better?! Next weekend we buy our paints and ladders and accessories :)
Excited to turn this house into what John and I have envisioned for the past month. Will do video walk throughs of before, during and after the process for your viewing pleasure :)

We have worked with the most hard-working buyer's agent/realtor who really took care of so many things behind the scenes, and always worked with our best interest in mind. He also helped us find this amazing apartment almost a year ago (crazy it went by fast!) and we highly recommend him to anyone in the Houston area looking for housing. Very good guy, and always available to answer questions and represent us throughout the hoops homebuyer's must jump through. He was full of great recommendations/referrals from lenders to flooring experts to arborists! We will be working with him in the very near future--especially since he found us such a great deal; John is already looking at the next house in the coming year or so.

If you or someone you know is looking to buy or rent in the Houston areas:
www.davidthelocator.com

Christmas Party

2011-12-26T10:06:00.000-08:00

Review-- Josh was John's buddy in the Navy, and they currently work for the same company here in TX. He and Monica have had us over a few times, and graciously had us over for Christmas parties with their beautiful huge family.

They started their get-together at 2pm yesterday, but since the babies would nap after church around that time, and John worked til 6pm, I told her we would get together another time...Monica quickly texted back "oh it will be an all day and night thing--you should come once John gets off!"---And I said "I was hoping you'd say that :)" haha.

Monica Me & Reindeer Olivia :)

I can't say enough good stuff about how welcoming they all are! It makes it so much less stressful to see Lucas and Olivia playing and interacting with everyone, and they truly treated us like family as well :) Everyone was so accomodating and loving! And Monica is just one of those people who are natural nurterers---she made us plates of delicious mexican food (complete with amazing tamales!!!!! made by a family friend) and catered to the babies all night too. It's so appropriate that she's a nurse :) I wish I was a natural nurterer; I'm some other "-er" I'm sure lol.

Then we talked to Josh about our new endorsement of Ron Paul :) He was happy. I am scared to jinx it by saying we back him, because everyone else has disappointed us. I have been reading and watching more about him and feel almost every stance he takes is well thought through and makes sense. He is trying to get the country back in line with what the Constitution intended. Time to get some t-shirts made :)

I am getting better at keeping track of uncles, cousins, aunts, parents, grandparents, and in-laws though lol. Everyone of us had an awesome time. We watched a little slideshow of old family photos--so cute. John watched football with his man-pals lol. I got to have a little jam sesson with 3 guitar players in the dining room--it was so so so fun!! And the babies ran throughout the house getting toys and snacks all night.

Then Monica and Josh gave them presents! So sweet and thoughtful---then they gave us chocolate and a card offering to babysit for JOhn and I to have a date night---we are taking them up on it! We totally trust them with L & O :)

It was comforting to be a little part of a huge family on Christmas. I hope this is the start of a long friendship, as these are great people to know and share memories with :)

Here are some clips of them jamming---so pretty sounding--I love her classical guitar!

My computer is messed up right now so I could onlyupload this video, but those three sounded awesome. I got to play a little with them, and hope to do more! I was even thinking so far ahead as planning to put together a little band to audition for x factor next year lol.

They were all excellent players and singers---and that kid with the long hair has a beautiful rich voice---he could make it on any of those shows!

Anyway, we all had a great time and hope to crash more family get-togethers lol!

Thank you so much for bringing Lucas and Olivia some true Christmas joy--not just toys!

Merry Christmas 2011!

2011-12-24T15:15:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Christmas today, and it has been so fun! Here is a long video of this morning when they woke up and saw everything! The video is pretty shakey since we were moving around a lot, but it's still cute. Lucas and Olivia really enjoyed their gifts, and the idea of Santa bringing them, and eating the graham crackers we left out :) Enjoy!And here are some pictures:

these are so hard to walk in and they slip on the hard floors, but she loves them ;) Like i knew she would!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The Last Shipment :)

2011-12-23T17:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we got the final bunch of toys we got with gma+gpa+granny's gift money--here are a few snippets of the kids enjoying them:

Our stupid dog Tyrone (who typically doesn't chew up stuff like Shmoopy does..) devoured Olivia's new pony today under the desk when we were playing with Lucas' Tinkertoys---those were a great idea! There were some cool ideas for things to build with the junior set we got and Lucas keeps asking us to build different ones :) Here is the 'monorail' which we call the roller coaster:

And after I went to the gym, daddy built this guitar and mic stand from the brochure--awesome huh!?:

Thanks grandma and grandpa and granny!

This would've been enough for Christmas itself huh!?

Well, we'll see what Santa brings these spoiled little wahini's tonight :)

We are celebrating Christmas on John's day off tomorrow, so Santa comes tonight! yay!

Lucas & Olivia's Gifts

2011-12-22T11:12:00.000-08:00

We got gift money from John's family for the kids' Christmas, but since Lucas and Olivia are just now sort of able to grasp the idea of Santa Clause, we decided to get them gifts on Amazon and let them have them now so they can distinguish between gifts from gma & gpa & granny, from the presents they get Christmas morning from Santa.
Unfortunately, they came in 3 different shipments, so for the past 3 days we've been getting boxes delivered---leading L & O to think they will be getting toys everyday! lol. We are set to get the last shipment sometime today. I'll update then. The first day we got this Leapfrog Tag Junior toy, which reads books and does activities with your toddler. It's awesome because you plug it in to download each book's sounds (we have 2 books so far) and you can also download their name! So this little guy says "Olivia" or "Lucas". Lucas plays with it some, but surprisingly Olivia really took to it and is starting to follow the instructions and knows her shapes :)

Lucas is like a grown kid now--he doesn't want clothes or books--he wants toys! Although yesterday Olivia played with his leapfrog junior and he played with my scarf...

Then yesterday morning we got a big box---we ordered this play kitchen and it's awesome. It was a great price too. It was hard for me to put together at first because as people in the reviews had said, some of the pieces didn't connect just right so they weren't flush. I slightly modified a couple pieces so it fits right. It makes water, stove and grill noises and has a phone. It was fun to watch them play with it all day without the tv. It even has a little seat to feed your baby in---which will be great for the dolls Olivia might* get from Santa :)
Look at Lucas' snarky comment---"it's no book! it's toys!"

Handy mommy finally finished!

Time to feed rainbow bright :)

This is Olivia saying a bratty, "mine!" when I asked for a drink...

Here's a little compilation of videos taken yesterday:

He was cooking crabby patties like Spongebob.

Thanks grandma kaka and granny--they are very happy already and it's not even Christmas yet :)

    We figured we could get a big thing like that since we will be moving soon and they can have a big play area finally. We also donated a bunch of toys and clothes to goodwill. I already started packing shelves up and taking down pictures. We are moving ourselves this time so I am trying to pack things now so that once the flooring and paint is done, we can rent a truck/van and gradually move our things at our own pace. We are set to close this coming Tuesday!

    And then Susan is coming out to visit and teach the babies some new dance moves while I paint in January. It will be so fun to record their interactions with aunt Susan because its been almost a year and they are talking pretty well. And have lots of attitude too! Pretty awesome for her to help watch them too-excited to start painting, but I know this will be a bigger challenge than the Williamsburg house so I am just gonna take it one room at a time.

   Anyway, the kids are getting spoiled, but I love to see them using their imaginations. Plus Lucas has been excellent with potty training. He knows when he needs to poop, so he tells me to take him to the bathroom, instead of his little potty--and once I set him down he smiles and says "go away mommy. go away mommy!" so he can have his privacy. And I guess my always talking about gross stuff or laughing at farts etc rubbed off on him, because he is so proud when he takes a big poop, or multiple ones--he brags to us all. :)

   Another bad habit we unintentionally started...it happens to all little boys, but he thinks it's so funny (and we can't help but encourage when we bust out laughing) when he informs us that he has a "boner!" I heard Olivia saying it in the bath the other night and then I heard Lucas telling her "no, Lala has no boner". She got mad. Yeah not a great habit. We have time before Kindergarten for them to stop saying it right?

I Wish Ron Paul Could Win...

2011-12-21T21:15:00.000-08:00

But I just can't see him getting enough support...he says some pretty extreme things at times, and I'm not even so sure I agree with him 100%, but for the most part, from what we have to choose from, I suppose you could call me a Ron Paul-er for now. I don't think there's anyone that wouldn't LOVE to see Gingrich whip Obama in a debate, but it seems Gingrich has too many skeletons in his closet..however keen he is. Perry's a joke. (And for the record, I thought his ad was RIDICULOUS when he mentioned "gays serving openly in the military"...like really? out of all the issues we are facing, that's the one you choose to highlight in your 'Deep Thought's'-ish cheesy ad?!) Cain's long gone.(how unfortunate that he turned out to be a perv...it's not totally proven, but from the interviews I've seen, I tend to think at least some of it is true..did he really think that wouldn't get out in a presidential bid!?) Romney? Maybe...Santorum---I love him but he doesn't have a chance. Don't care for Bachmann's style--she seems all about rhetoric with no concrete message.

I think Ron Paul is an honest man with strong convictions. We'll have to learn more about his stances on everything else to officially endorse him lol. Romney is the safest bet so far. And he's kinda hot. And seems clean and articulate.

Anyway here's Ron Paul's latest ad--his strong pro-life stance is often overshadowed by his 'extreme' views regarding foreign and economic policy. But his being pro-life isn't a recent convenient position to bolster support (as seems to be the case with Romney)---in fact, Paul, a former OBGYN has delivered >4,000 babies :) I respect him. In this ad they interview women who were former patients. Paul has delivered their children.

Dana Vachon's 'Absurd Becoming Grotesque" 2011

2011-12-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

This guy is on Red Eye occasionally. He's very witty and has an odd intellectual sense of humor that is not always easily deciphered, sorta like Dennis Miller's long drawn out metaphors with references to things, places and people that the average person isn't familiar with...but it's still well written and I like the parts I understand lol.
He wrote this article listing the big events that defined the year 2011, most of which tell of a hopeless lost generation. FUN!
http://www.observer.com/2011/12/207408/

My favorite lines:
"This past year took the world deep, and the world made noise, but unlike Ms. Weiss, it had, in its soreness, no luxury of bed rest."

"Kurt Andersen rightly described the moment as creatively stagnant, perhaps exhausted, a late imperial Gaga-ing of high empire forms."

"Occupy Wall Street evoked 1960s protest culture while failing to learn its lessons—that the police always win because they have the guns, and that the Flower Children became the Manson Family."

Awesome

2011-12-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

As Bad Rachel notes, "5,000 Syrians have been massacred by Bashar Assad since March, including 300 children. How are those sanctions workin’ out, Mr. Obama?"

Precious Life

2011-12-19T21:24:00.000-08:00

I always thought Christian Bale was pretty awesome, but now I like him a little more.

This was taken from a site in support of Chen : www.freecgc.blogspot.com

He has been in China promoting the nation's submission for Best Foreign Language in the Academy Awards for a movie he was in called "The Flowers of War." While there he learned about a blind lawyer and civil rights activist named Chen Guangcheng, who has been imprisoned, tortured, beaten, for years all because of his work in attempting to uncover the forced abortions and sterilizations of villagers in Linyi, Shandong. The Chinese nation's laws regarding their "family planning" methods are pretty vague; they supposedly support "informed choice", which would make forced abortion/sterilization illegal. But somehow many local police are permitted to enforce brutal population regulation methods, while torturing, demeaning and killing it's citizens. And ever since Chen has been revealing his friend's, neighbors experiences, government agents in unmarked cars kidnap, beat and threaten him his wife, neighbors, and family of neighbors. He has been framed with "destruction of property and gathering crowds to disrupt traffic" just to have a reason to imprison him. He has been kept from having any contact even with his wife. He was able to escape once but was found. He was able to smuggle a video of himself out but the day after, he and his wife were severely beaten. He was threatened after doing an interview with an American paper. He has since been named one of the biggest influential people in TIME magazine. Chen is a very selfless devoted person, who constantly says that the cause is bigger than any case he took on, or even himself. He has been separated from his wife and daughter...

Even when Christian Bale drove hours with a CNN reporter to try and see Chen and show support, he was "roughed up" by guards and had stones thrown at him. It's so scary to read what happens around the world...or even in this country (trying not to think about that horrible Brooklyn elevator murder story..) but at least I feel there is some sense of justice here. I feel somewhat protected by the law and government. It's obvious that no one in power in China cares, or are even complicit in Chen's continued imprisonment and torture, not to mention the forced abortions and sterilizations...women are beaten or have a large needle stuck up in them...they are usually later in their terms.

   It's hard to imagine feminazi being proud of China's forced abortion, or India's gender imbalance due to elective abortions--when the parents learn through ultrasounds the sex of their babies (they don't want girls, partially because they will have to pay dowrys.) Abortion is a gruesome and cruel act. Although it may seem more "civilized" in our society, it is not. And it's still more common than you'd like to think. Look at the open cases going on here in Texas, where at least 5 clinics were leaving dumpsters full of aborted baby parts, urine samples, abortion pill scripts, patient personal information. They were allowed to just be so careless, and were obviously only concerned with keeping the money flow in their abortion mills. They don't care about laws (24 hr wait, parental notice, late terms) they don't care about parents, they don't care about WOMEN and they don't care about babies, born or not.

   It's ridiculous that regardless of law and oaths and the quality of the medical schooling, "doctors" are allowed to maim women and get paid. Reading about this girl Christin Gilbert, who had down syndrome, was raped, impregnated and forced to abort late term in Kansas, and died because they were sloppy and careless, is so frustrating and sad. She was left to die from the abortion and pills they gave her following the abortion, and since the crooks at the clinic didn't want to call attention to their abortion office, when they eventually did call an ambulance, they told them not to use their sirens or act with any urgency. Consequently, Christin bled from every orifice and died of sepsis. And Dr. Tiller and Dr. Carhart were at fault...but since Dr. Tiller was murdered, no further investigations were done, no one was held accountable. And who had the authority in Kansas to investigate?? Kathleen Sebelius....Obama's choice for the appropriate role of "Secretary of Health and Human Services". Another case in Maryland/New Jersey ( the mill was evading late term abortion laws, and carpooling young very pregnant New Jersey girls to finish abortions in Maryland), a girl had her uterus perforated, her baby's dead body shoved into her stomach, and had her intestines being pulled out of her vagina. She barely survived after being transported to 2 hospitals. It's never a "safe procedure" and it ALWAYS scars the mother mentally and physically.

   Today at the dr's office while waiting the 2 hours I always end up waiting, I met a woman who Lucas and Olivia started talking to. She was really sweet and confided in me that she was to be a grandmother soon and was not ready to be...she said her son is only 19 and he's not even with the girl anymore...and then she said the girl's mom wants her to have an abortion. The girl's mom is now calling asking for her money to pay her daughter's medical bills, because although she is covered on her private insurance policy, she refuses to keep her on it unless she aborts. Isn't that a lovely mother? She also hits her pregnant daughter (she is bi-polar). I felt so bad and tried to encourage this nice lady to do all she can to keep that baby alive. Looking back on it now, I wish I had done more. I wish I could personally help the girl. I wish we could adopt that baby....I know someday we will adopt...I tried to give her information (websites) to help inform the girl and her mother of the irreparable damage abortion does. I really hope she gets help in preventing that mom from forcing her daughter to abort...All I can do now is pray...damn I wish I would've thought more about it then and got her name...

Pray to end abortion and all child abuse.

Curteman Christmas Cookie Party

2011-12-18T11:56:00.000-08:00

~*Monica & Josh's Kid's Christmas Cookie Party 2011*~

We went to our friends Josh and Monica's house last night for a Kid's Christmas Cookie party. That girl has SO many cousins! I was so glad we went because the kids had a blast! They immediately became part of everyone elses family...climbing into their laps and playing with the dogs and running around with the older kids. Here they are decorating delicious sugar cookies..there were so many, we took some home without frosting...and they screwed up last night's fitnesspal tracking for me lol.

I was trying not to care so much whether they made a mess with the frosting/decor...

Olivia and her rainbow mouth :)

contemplating when to take the frosting away lol...--> one of
Monica's lovely cousins helped Olivia :)

Daddy and Olivia with their mustaches :)

I have to hold Olivia like this to clean her before she wipes her face and hands all over walls and furniture..or someone's clothes...or the dog!

Can you tell by his face who came in the door next!?

Monica's dad was so cool--he came in and played Santa for about 45 minutes!..during which time Olivia and Lucas continually snuck into everyone else's picture or lap time...It was so much better than the mall because they had time to think about what to tell him! Lucas said "cars" and "balls" and lastly said, "bring presents!" Olivia just kept saying "presents!"

This is "Mr & Mrs. Clause" aka Monica's cute parents :)

Trying to pose them in front of the tree...they were loaded with sugar from cookies and candy by the time...so hyper!

Monica and her dad--she did a great job hosting the party. We are joining them again on Christmas night once John get's off work :) Unfortunately even though her husband Josh works for Air Products too, he has a different position and is forced to work pretty much everyday..they don't have enough people to do his job so he has no choice. So after working the night before and then getting up to get things ready for the party, he had to leave during the party to go work. The pay must be awesome, but he's tired and I'm sure wants to stay for Christmas fun :( I realized I'm very lucky that John has the choice to work overtime or not.

Olivia talking to Santa for the 5th time :) Funny enough, once he came back in his regular clothes and wanted to play with her, she didn't like him and gave him her mean scowl she does lol.

Finally a group picture...even if we're not all looking at the camera, at least we're together :)

Thanks Monice and Josh!

The Cutest Christmas Vid

2011-12-16T09:13:00.000-08:00

Last night when I went to the gym, John gave the babies a bath and put them to bed, I read them a couple Christmas books, and put their Christmas lights on. We had been doing the countdown calendar I made, but I accidentally left it in their room WITH the permanent marker a few nights ago....and Lucas called me in to see all the black marker on his hands...and Olivia had it in hers. I was able to get it off his hands, and then I grabbed the calendar and saw what they had done:

We had just crossed off the "13"...and look...they tried to cross off all the days--pretty good job though huh!? lol. (btw, we are only counting down to the 24th because thats John's day off to celebrate Xmas.)

So we started just tearing off the days instead of the marker.

Anyway, we have been Christmas-crazed lately. We watch Xmas movies and read the books, sing the songs, and yesterday after stopping by the lenders office for some last minute paperwork on the house, I decided to take them to the mall just to wave to santa clause. They were so excited to see him again :) But then I remembered why I hate the mall....not all the shoppers, but all the soliciting!!! I just wanted to have a pleasant walk with the babies in the stroller and look at stuff, but every few feet you are yelled at to try some product. I was pretty bothered by some foreign guy named Aldo telling me to buy his hair straightener...he asked me what brand I used...I said "revlon..i think.." he said "oh why do you do that? it damages your hair mam...it burns it"...I said "ok well I don't have the money to waste on one of yours." and he says "how much is a lot of money". I said "hmm 90 bucks". Then he proceeded to be a jerk and say "but you have money to highlight your hair?" AHH! I was really pissed then but I let him continue his selling speech since the babies were quiet. He said he'd give me a $129 straightener for...then he asked if I could keep a secret and showed me $75 on his calculator...ugh. I told him I'd ask my husband.

To tell the truth I am a little worried that my $25 straightener damages my hair, but I was really annoyed with his method. You shouldn't insult your customers. You don't tell me what I can and can't afford.

Anyway, so we are very into Christmas! They even started singing "Jingle Bells" with me, when they are in the mood...lately Lucas has his tantrums and HATES it when I sing in the car...saying "stop it mommy! no singing!" so what do I do? Yes. Sing louder. Here they are in a good mood trying to sing it:

And then this is the cutest....last night after we thought they were asleep, we here Lucas calling excitedly for daddy to come....Apparently this is one of the perks of living in an apartment building: Lucas heard our upstairs neighbors making noise above his room, and TRUTHFULLY thought it was St. Nick! so cute...he's so adamant almost in tears that he heard santa and his "aindeers" ...isn't that adorable!? Sorry for how dark it was...just had their xmas lights on.

Chuck E Cheese

2011-12-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

The other night we drove kinda far to a flooring place to get a quote for the house. We are 13 DAYS away from closing! The flooring is going to be very expensive compared to the house in VA...but we found a good deal in Pearland. We are getting a dark wood laminate downstairs, and the price includes the trim/quarter-round (other places charged $1.97 per linear foot!!) and a sandy plush carpet for upstairs. But first, the task of painting this mofo. I have been in talks with Susan, seeing if she can fly out next month to help babysit while I paint :) The babies would have so much fun with her--I'm excited to see how they act..they've changed and matured a lot since february!

After the quote, we promised Lucas we'd take him to play somewhere. We were gonna go to this Fun Max Jumpin place, but they weren't open that late (it was around 7:30pm I think). So we went to Chuck E Cheese's. It was actually pretty clean and fun. The babies enjoyed it and even sorta tried to dance with the other kids and Chuck E to get free tickets lol.

John was doing well on some balloon game, but ran out of tokens....he was calling me over but I didn't want to miss recording Lucas about to dance...I didn't know he needed tokens! He was so angry, some kid came over and won the 200 tickets he was destined to get lol. I felt bad and was surprised John was that mad lol. Kinda funny! And what does 200 tickets win? A tiny inflatable guitar lol. Didn't know he wanted one so badly--i'll get it for him for Xmas. :)

Olivia was pissed that she didn't get to "drive"...

But she ended up loving it anyway!

I love this pic---he was really concentrating on the screen and being a good jockey! (and John still bitter about his loss lol)

Lucas trying to understand what they were doing ..our first time :)

He tried to get it...but I think got embarassed eventually :)

She didn't end up getting any tickets...she just sat there watching the bigger kids grab em lol.

Fitness Pal

2011-12-11T20:40:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to make a little suggestion for those who may not read my weight loss blog--I have started on this program Iris referred me to called www.myfitnesspal.com and I highly recommend it for any of you who are looking to maintain/lose weight, or even just track your caloric intake/ burned calories. It's a great free site that is easy to use, and free! (I quit paying weight watchers and I like this free thing better---for my lifestyle right now anyway)

It already has most foods and specific brand nutritional info so all you need to do is add foods to your food diary and their amounts, and the calories are calculated for you. And it has exercise on it too--even daily tasks that burn calories. You just put the intensity and time and it calculates your calories burned.

It's great because according to your age, weight and height, and then how much you want to lose a week, it will allot you a number of calories you should consume a day. Here's my example:

I have been alloted 1470 calories a day, but I have been doing this workout pretty much daily:
20 min moderate exertion elliptical
15 min moderate stationary bike
20 min treadmill/stair (basically on varied incline)
which burns a total of ~530 calories.

Which raises my caloric limit for that day, to 2000. and sometimes I eat all those 500 calories, sometimes I don't. Usually I eat a total of 1700-1900. I wonder how long I will keep this workout regimen...I really like that I am getting healthier, my heartrate is coming down, and I go during everyone's nap time, or when John works days, at night after the babies are down. I haven't really lost weight yet--maybe a pound (just started 10 days ago--and my period probably doesn't help), but I know it's keeping me healthier and focused, and most importantly aware of exactly what my calories are, which foods have more calories and how much my exercise burns off. You can add options like tracking different stats like fiber, sodium, and various body measurements.

I even got John to make a profile and it's easy for him to add foods on his phone at work etc. He has lost a few pounds! He got sick of getting bigger and bigger, especially with his work schedule and being sedentary all the time in the office. He may not have time for exercise yet, but adjusting his diet according to the calories they alloted him (2100) will help a lot. I started packing some healthy stuff in his lunch/dinner so that helps too. I am sure he will lose more than I will and quicker :)

Anyway, most people I know are trying to lose weight, maintain, or get healthier. I think everyone could use this site and get a lot out of it. Try it! And there are so many supportive people on there--you have the option of making your diary public so people can look at each other's diet/exercise regimens. My name on there is prolifegirly. Everyone is so supportive of me on there---and it helps--even though they are all trying to get down to like 128...and I am aiming for like 155-160. :)

My Christmas gift to you!

Thank You Gma & Gpa Hodge + Great Grandma Croce

2011-12-11T19:29:00.001-08:00

Lucas and Olivia got a package from gma+gpa with some warm clothes, and these cute personalized ornaments--they loved putting them on the tree:

We also got a card from Granny--will put your guys' gift money toward some more Christmas gifts for them--Thanks!

This year we sent out little drawings L + O colored along with the santa picture they took. I think they kind of understood that we were sending them to family and friends; Lucas demanded certain ones go to certain people lol. He even drew a fish for grandmama--and it looked like a fish!

I think we are also going to go through their toys and donate ones that they don't really play with anymore...gotta make room for all the news ones anyway. Gonna try to explain that we are giving toys to other kids that may not have a lot. I think Lucas will get it..eventually.

Lucas--Christmas Performance...

2011-12-11T19:06:00.001-08:00

Today in Lucas' pre-K faith formation class, they performed a Nativity scene after mass. I was excited to see how he would behave, since he's the youngest in the class. I thought maybe he would understand the concept since we have been reading this book all week:

A Baby Born in Bethlehem

It was a little longer than most books we read, but they really like it! It's so cute to hear them say "baby Jesus!" when I get to that part. Oh and a new thing that Lucas started doing--during storytime before bed, he will interrupt me saying "mommy? mommy?" and RAISING his hand! it's SO adorable and hilarious. Then he just says jibberish stuff about Santa or Christmas lights etc. I wonder if he learned the raising your hand thing from his class at church!

They are so sweet to him and I really think being with the older kids helps him learn things quicker. Janice is also so sweet, they love seeing her and run to hug her everytime. She gave them plastic mini snow globes with a nativity scene in it--they really like them:

And she gave me the nursery volunteers (I do Saturday evening masses) these cute bags with a Mother Theresa quote:

I love it--the kids on it are really cute.

Anyway, the performance went as well as could be expected I suppose...Lucas was the worst kid. He didn't want to stand there and be a shepherd..he wanted to come to me..but I had to hold Olivia who got a little whiney too. Lucas wouldn't sit in another girl's lap, and then started throwing the plush sheep around lol. He wouldn't even pose with the other kids for a picture. I wish John had been there to at least help with Olivia. But he's working nights so he was asleep.

It was still cute to see him dressed up and with the other kids. They are so into Christmas right now, but of course mainly getting presents. Can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning !

Cute Smoothie Video

2011-12-11T18:54:00.001-08:00

Lucas + Olivia sharing a smoothie we made together:

Frustrated Vent :)

2011-12-09T13:59:00.001-08:00

It might just be that it's just about that time of month for me, but I have been frustrated over small and not so small things lately. I get so angry quickly. I wanna document a few things here since I am cooled off now.

    We are getting closer to closing on our home, but the inspections revealed a few things we need fixed prior. The seller's are negotiating with our realtor on paying for a few broken window panes, a few electrical repairs, and most importantly, there is a new termite infestation in one small area by the front door. The house was recently inspected this summer and was clear of termites, so it's new and there is no visible damage. We are expecting the seller's to pay for the termador treatment. Then the appraisal and tax assessments will be done and we will pay our down payment and be done. Hopefully no other problems pop up. It's not as big a deal as I thought.

     I was going through all my files today and cleaning up. Cleaning the kitchen, doing all the laundry, making albondigas soup...felt productive :) Then when going through some paperwork, I remembered we were waiting to get a refund check from our old cable/internet provider Wavevision. This summer our apt management was fed up with complaints of bad reception/service, so they switched to Comcast. We had to cancel our contracts with Wavevision and start a new one with Comcast--which worked out well--we pay a lower rate with Comcast and haven't had any reception issues.
     But since we stopped using Wavevision in the middle of a billing cycle, I called them before making my payment...I specifically asked if I should pay the bill in full and get a refund, or wait for a re-calculated bill. They said to pay in full and we will be refunded for services not rendered when we turn in our modems. The next week we drive down to the city to turn in our boxes, at which time the receptionist told me I would be getting a refund check within 6-10 wks. After 7 weeks I called, and they told me to keep waiting. A few weeks later, I was put on hold for 20 minutes til the line hung up. And today, 3 MONTHS later, I called and was put on hold for 10 minutes, then referred to a supervisor Susan Lesser. She immediately gave me attitude and was very condescending saying they don't issue refunds for services. We asked her to send us their policy regarding not issuing refunds. And she said "no. we are not going to do that." ha! I asked her how 5 different employees could tell me I am getting a check, with a specific amount, within a specific timeframe? She couldn't answer. She told me to stop yelling. I called her some very bad names and hung up...John laughed and said he's never seen me that angry...

    I have since called a different supervisor and filed a complaint with the BBB. I'm so hardcore huh? lol Oooh I filed a complaint! ha. The other supervisor called me a few hours later and explained the same thing saying they are a smaller company and can't afford to issue refunds...and that I should get refunded by comcast...I told him, "fine, you are a small business. You should still have a very clearly stated refund policy, so that you don't have numerous people leading me on about getting a refund." He said they recently hired new people and maybe they didn't get trained properly...I said I don't even care about the money anymore. I am frustrated to be lied to and that a business lies about their policies when it's convenient. They change their refund policy to compensate for losing a huge client like my apartment complex of over 400 customers. I don't like being lied to and disrespected.

    Anyway, I feel stupid for calling her names. But I have always been one to report companies that lie, and I also make a point to compliment companies that do good business and customer service. That's the American way. So it's understandable why this company is failing, and why they are "F-rated" on the BBB.

    In the smaller department, I am frustrated with The X Factor show....I cannot comprehend their catering to certain people....I mean, if you watch the show, do any of you actually think Chris Rene has ANY talent? He's a wanna be rapper, who wrote a song called "Young Homie"...no joke. He's as cliche as they come when it comes to white wannabe rappers, but his story is somehow significant because he was a drug addict. Who cares. Who isn't? Why does that automatically mean he is talented? He's tone deaf too. His other song he performed that he wrote..the lyrics were as hackneyed as ever..."where do we go from here...God only knows....can't we all work together" blah blah blah...his ignorance to me, was confirmed when he wore his "Occupy All Streets" shirt and sang...what else? Bob Marley. Ugh. I'm surprised he hasn't done "imagine" yet.

Chris Rene...

Astro = so much better.
   And don't think this is saying rappers have no talent. On the contrary----ASTRO who was like half Chris' age, had WORLD'S more talent than him. He wrote his songs every week, with fast rhymes that made sense, were fresh, and performed them with the best timing ever. I have no idea who is voting for this loser, but it's even more puzzling that Simon and the other fools say Chris is the frontrunner! Ay yay yay....And Nicole is an idiot. Everything she says is meaningless and rote. And she seems to change her accent and dialect when she's talking to different people....i.e. please stop saying, "you took us to church! har har har".

Kim Karda--I mean Nicole. Bring Cheryl Cole back!
   For little Astro, Drew or Rachel Crow to go home before Chris, is ridiculous. Who is going to buy his albums? I can't see any Kanye/Jay Z fans buying it.

   Anyway my personal favorite is probably Josh Krajcik despite his crazy eyes and greasiness. I do think that Melanie has the most perfect voice though.

Santy Claus

2011-12-05T21:45:00.001-08:00

My behind-the-scenes shot...I almost like it better. Isn't Olivia so sweet-looking?

For the past week I've been getting the kids more and more excited about Christmas. I am still unsure about how to present the real Reason for the Season, Jesus' birth to them yet, but I think Lucas might understand a little from his faith formation class. They are having an little Christmas show after mass next sunday so I am excited to see how Lucas behaves!

We started our countdown calendar and they love flipping up the Christmas Eve slip to see the Santa sticker...they each get a turn to cross off days. Then we read 'The Night Before Christmas' and I put on the lights in their room before bed. Last night after my frustration at not getting to workout at the gym, I sat and rocked them in their room (haven't done that in so long...they are huge now lol) and sang them Xmas songs...they really liked it! It was a sweet moment :)

The other day I had to return a dress I bought for Olivia that didn't fit to Target, and while we were there we stopped by the mall just to get a little glimpse at this Santa character I've been reading to them about. They were real excited to see him with little kids sitting on his lap and he waved as they said "hi santa! toys!" and Olivia says, "presents!" haha! they caught on to that quick lol.

So I promised that when daddy had a day off we'd visit Santa and tell him what we want for Xmas. So for the past 3 nights Lucas has been saying "see Santa Claus! toys!" and he's also been having tantrums. Reminding him that Santa only likes good girls and boys, sometimes works...other times, I have to bribe or punish. His screaming and whining never ends..Tonight we asked him to pick up his train tracks and he refused...defiantly saying 'no...lala clean up'...then telling us to "help", meaning do it for him. I wanted to spank him. John did. We put him in his room. Screaming breaking things etc...Olivia had already cleaned up her toys...so I asked Olivia if she wants to clean up his trains...she did and she got a treat...Lucas screamed for a treat, so I hope that taught him a lesson. We'll see tomorrow.

Anyway, today we took them to see Santa. As soon as we drove by the Macy's, (we never go to the mall, so he's not that familiar) he points and says "Santa Claus! Store!" Since I couldn't really find a good deal on cute Xmas outfits (--and Olivia's dress didnt fit right) I decided to let them wear their new Pajamas for the pic :) We got to the line and it was empty, and closed off...Santa was about to go on his 2 hr lunch break...but they thankfully took pity on us and let us in before!

Although I believe Olivia was as excited as Lucas, and remembered seeing him the other day, the key to her not crying in his lap I think, was having Lucas get on first. They were so cute sitting there smiling telling him "toys!" I forgot I wanted to have them bring him a gift...eh, next year :) He was a very cute Santa and very sweet.

The picture is kinda blurry, and washed out in certain parts, but what bugs me is that we are paying for these pictures, so the LEAST they can do is center the dang picture! In this day and age it takes so little effort to TRIM/CROP a photo!

The kids were so enthralled with the coloring books he gave them:

Last year 2010:

And 2009--just days before Olivia was born! :)

We also like watching the Caillou Christmas movie--they really enjoy it and I think understand it. It caught me offguard the other day when Olivia started naming all the characters of the show....i.e. the cat "gilbert!", friends "clementine! Sarah!" She's so cute lately. I wanted to get her a Caillou toy but they are few and very expensive..almost like they are already collectibles. I am contemplating making her a Caillou doll but I am a horrible seamstress lol.

We are excited for Christmas. I am gonna work on explaining Jesus' to them this week :) Probably pick up some good picture book for them.

Lucas Builds Train Tracks

2011-12-03T20:05:00.001-08:00

He does this every morning now...impressed he does it all by himself and then proudly says "show daddy!" so I text a pic of it to daddy at work :) It's another story getting him to clean them up...

If You Didn't Already Love Olivia...

2011-12-03T20:01:00.001-08:00

Here's some more convincing:

and this too:

Don't worry, she's got a couple dolls coming her way this Xmas :) Such a girly!