More Jeff Dunham

This guy HAS to be the world's best ventriloquist. This is a blooper thing, and is all "off the cuff." MAN is this guy good, and boy is this bit funny. ROFL

Christmas in July

For your viewing pleasure (and to help distract you from the heat) here is: Achmed the Dead Terrorist singing "Jingle Bombs."

Using a Wrap

Since there is so much interest here on using a wrap (like the Moby Wrap), I thought I would share some information, links, etc.

First, Here is why wraps rock! http://youtube.com/watch?v=iPojAygVqV4

There are some basic carries, so you can search YouTube for them.
FWCC - Front Wrap Cross Carry
Kangaroo Carry
FCC - Front Cross Carry
BWCC - Back Wrap Cross Carry
Ruck Carry - an easy back carry
SHBC - Secure High Back Carry

Here are some links to videos on how to do carries with a wrap, listed by the type of carry they teach.

FWCC
http://youtube.com/watch?v=knkiOnBdFB0 - this is an EXCELLENT video. The only thing I don't like about it is the dad only ties the wrap once, and he should tie it off (when done wrapping) with a double knot for safety.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9ZE1L2avn5M
http://youtube.com/watch?v=42yXjkoXl34

Kangaroo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjABSUlY-zU - a quick instruction on this carry, no sound
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6VTZ3M6HVeo - MUCH more detailed instruction on this carry. There's no sound, but it's in German anyway so sound wouldn't benefit most of us much anyway. LOL

FCC - This is an easy carry to do, you can leave it tied while you run errands and just pop baby in and out as needed
http://youtube.com/watch?v=unWZK8qaKa0


Nursing
http://youtube.com/watch?v=z7y8xEQB-xY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TLduLJFSJn4
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UG0vfnfSy-U - I'm not sure what type of wrap she's using as most wraps don't have rings, but this will work simply by loosening the knot.


Hip Carry
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_Z41I-jVO8s

BWCC - There are a LOT of variations on this carry, as well as a multitude of ways of getting baby on your back. If you don't like the method of getting baby up in one video, watch another...but the concepts of how to actually wrap it may be better in some than others or may be easier for some to understand than others. Back carries are highly subjective to individual preferences. Also, with this carry, you can use ruck straps instead of crossing your chest if you prefer. Larger busted women usually prefer this method.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jbKdxwkBiRo
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KppGN5Zy_aw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=z2e6DQTEUic
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3cy45hfsIt0
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jeS5Uqrq508

Ruck
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hA_IXe0yg5w - done with a newborn, she ties this Tibetan which is how I prefer to tie my BWCC
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hwi3cddZl0U
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HdyqImGegHM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qRy353K4Rbw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wsewka-UpkA

SHBC - this is an advanced carry
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6QH8_EjyFAM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7zEpAOgYnqM - this is done with a newborn, so anyone who is good with the wraps can do it with a child or baby of any age.


For something just crazy, watch this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=iNdNFkIEmkY While this video is being made, she's pregnant with TWINS!!!

Okay, I think this should be sufficient for most everyone. If you are still confused on some of the carries, I'll see if I can't get DH to act as a camera man for me and try and make my own video for you. :o) Enjoy, mamas!

Using a Ring Sling

A lot of people lately have been coming to me seeking help (online) using different types of carriers. I decided to compile a list of YouTube videos I've found that are helpful for all of the common carries and/or problems with each type of carrier and post them here to keep them central and easily accessable. So, if you are having problems or considering using a ring sling, here you go!

Tummy to Tummy - Newborn

Nursing

Tummy to Tummy (legs out)

Troubleshooting: Snug Top Rail

Rings Too Low

Troubleshooting: Spread Fabric on Back

Baby Too Low

Troubleshooting: Baby's Knees Below Bottom

Sling on Neck

Troubleshooting: Spreading Fabric around Rings

Hip Position

Kangaroo Position

Cradle Position (for Newborns)


The direct URLS

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HdP_KcN20uw - Tummy to Tummy (newborn)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=XCIgzjJjAT4&feature=related - Nursing
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bkb9vZklVpk&feature=related - Tummy to Tummy (legs out)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=h-tPzVZ4TWY&feature=related - Troubleshooting: Snug Top Rail
http://youtube.com/watch?v=it-TH7cC1RU&feature=related - Rings Too Low
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kQ3LZFyAbF8&feature=related - Troubleshooting: Spread Fabric on Back
http://youtube.com/watch?v=n2cbslV1Je4&feature=related - Baby Too Low
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qRt2Uhe0b3A&feature=related - Troubleshooting: Baby's Knees Below Bottom
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M250bvhQ7Kc&feature=related - Sling on Neck
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sebvt9P2XjM&feature=related - Troubleshooting: Spreading Fabric around Rings
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qk85BnDF-j8&feature=related - Hip Position
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wvJp8FyZ1Mk&feature=related - Kangaroo Position
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vvyQE5ij-os&feature=related - Cradle Position (for Newborns)

Don't Drink the Water!

The wisdom of the farmer.....

I thought this might make for a good laugh. Thank you hubby!

Don't Drink the Water

Near Fredericksburg, Texas, where there is a large German-speaking
population, a farmer walking down a country road notices a man drinking
from his pond, with his hand.

The farmer shouts: 'Trink das Wasser nicht. Die Kuhen haben dahin
gesheissen.' (Which means: 'Don't drink the water, the cows have
[crapped] in it.')


The man shouts back: 'I'm from New York and just down here campaigning
for Obama, I can't understand you. Please speak in English.'

The farmer says: 'Use two hands, you'll get more

Stretched Too Thin

I'm going to vent for a few moments. Some may take offense to my venting, but I have to do this (vent) for my own sanity and health as well as for the health of my husband, children, and unborn baby. I'm not a confrontational person. In fact, I go out of my way to avoid confrontation at all costs. I am also the type of person who will do anything and everything to help out those I care about. But I've finally reached my limits.

I guess you could say my desire to help out those whom I care about has come back to bite me in the butt. I've been helping a very dear friend out for the past 6 weeks by housing her and one of her children in my home. I've allowed my home to be turned into upheaval, my children's lives to become invaded (although in many good ways as well as they have had to learn to share as never before), and far too much unneeded strain to be placed upon my marriage and relationship with my husband. My husband is like me in that he also wants to help those whom he care about and so he was on board with helping this friend of mine. The situation is far from ideal in the best of times, but throw in the fact that I am pregnant and things just get harder. I've had to balance tending to my own children, meeting their emotional needs, my usual housework, and limited time with my husband only to have shoveled upon my shoulders coping with my friend's child, expectations that I help her with her child in every way, the added housework from the presence of another family, and I won't even get into the financial impacts it's had on our budget that is already stretched so thin we can only manage to pay our bare essential monthly bills with GREAT juggling (due to a summer of pay loss from one of my husband's sources of income). In short, it's been 6 weeks of hell in many way.

And this is just meeting the needs of one friend.

I've had another friend who had a baby and wanted me there with her through her labor. I did so. And came home to get only 3 hours of sleep due to the presence of small children in my home (namely one very loud child). While my friend apologized for her son disrupting my much needed sleep (sleep needed if I wasn't pregnant), she failed to do what most people would have: take the child out for a few hours so I can sleep.

I've had friends texting me and calling me late at night needing advice or help on things such as car seats, breast pumps, nursing bras, pumping, breast feeding, labor, birth, and much much much more. These are not unusual calls/texts for me to receive, but throw in the sheer chaos of my home, the fact that I am pregnant, I am sleep deprived, and have not had a place to be my sanctuary to go before the Lord in quiet and read my Bible, pray, or even just have peace and I'm stretched too thin.

I am finally standing up. I am saying no. My mom has been encouraging me to say no for a while now, and I guess it's taken me having ongoing painful braxton hicks contractions, running away from my own home to avoid confrontation and chaos, and strained relations with my husband (b/c I'm not the only woman in my home who is begging for his time and friendship...poor, poor, amazing man...Thank you God for SUCH an amazing man!!) for me to start saying No.

No.


No.


No.


I will NOT watch someones child at midnight when I am sleep deprived, tending to my own sick children, AND working on homework. It's not my responsibility. Find another option. (if the above factors are not in play, then yes...I'll most likely watch anyone's child)


No.


I will NOT get up at 6am to help you pick out a car seat. I will sit down at the computer at 8am or 9am after I have woken up on MY terms, cuddled with my children and husband, fed my children and myself, and am sitting down to the computer.


No.


I will NOT drive across town to help you (a proverbial you) with what ever else mundane need is that you have.



I. Am. Done. I finally realize that I need rest. I need peace. I need calm serenity. I need to be alone with my husband. I need to be alone with my children. I need to cuddle with my children, to be in the best form I can be to tend to their medical needs when they arise. I need to rest for the very life of my unborn baby. I need to be able to resolve an argument with my husband without an outside audience. I need to be able to clean my kitchen without choking back language that I do NOT want my children hearing b/c I resent that I am (once again) cleaning up mess that is not our own. I need to not find that I am spending more time going before the Lord seeking repentance and forgiveness for the un-Christ-like thoughts and feelings I have been having than I do seeking his desire for my life and the life of my children. I need to be able to work on my homework in peace.

My husband can only help me so much. He works full time, is a full time student, and helps out around the house as much as he can. He does not have time or energy to cater to any additional needs, and I do not need to find myself having to beg for more from him because I'm helping everyone else under the sun. I have no family to take my children for a few hours so I can sleep, and no friends have offered to step up and help me out in any way shape or form despite my helping them out in every way I possibly can. No one. Out of all my friends.

I don't expect my friends to help me out. I offer to help (and yes, it IS offering...genuine offers from a truly genuine heart seeking to help others...not some false sense of obligation) because I want to help. I don't expect any offers in return. But you know, once in a while just the offer would be nice. Even if I don't accept the offer, just getting one is nice. We mothers need to help one another.

So, for the time being...I'm done. I will continue to offer to help in any way that I can, but I will not allow myself to feel guilty for not offering, and anyone that tries to play the guilty card will be shown the door, or politely have the conversation ended. If I think I can help, I will. I still feel this is how God wants me to minister to those around me. But I will cut back. And I will instead put that time back into my daughter's education, my children's spiritual upbringing, reading the Bible with my children, my relationship with my husband, and more important than ANYTHING else, my relationship with my Lord and Savior.

I guess more than anything else, I just needed to get this off of my chest. I know that only one person really reads my blog, but I still needed to get it out. If anyone reads this and wants to discuss it, remember that I am not a confrontational person, and avoid fighting at all costs. I won't allow my stress level to rise any higher than it already is and endanger my health or the health of my unborn baby. Discussions are fine, but if it starts to get mean or angry, I will end the conversation.

I love my friends. I love you all VERY much. I pray for all of you daily, that God will protect you and your families, that He will Bless you and your families. I pray that no one will take this blog the wrong way. I am venting. Venting. Nothing more, nothing less. Venting because I have to get this off my chest, and putting it down where anyone can read it makes it seem more...real; like my decision is more resolute.

Again, I love you all and thank you all for your friendship.

Army Wife

DH has always said he wanted to go back into the military. He's always wanted to do this, but had been told early on after his discharge from the Marine Corps that he would have to start out in the reserves in any branch. The goal of his education was to eventually become a commissioned officer in the reserves.

At the recruiter's office in our local town (not the big substation, but a tiny one) DH saw a sign advertising a nice signing bonus for anyone with an Associates Degree. Well, as of June 1, 2008 DH HAS an Associates Degree!!! This prompted him to go inside and talk with this new recruiter. He found out that the reserves requirement is bogus, and not only can he go in active duty but that he would be able to promote very quickly through several ranks due to his Associates Degree.

From a financial aspect, this would be a HUGE life saver for us. We would be able to pay off our debt, start a savings account, and the move into base housing where ever we are stationed would alleviate the stress of most of our bills. Also, DH would be able to continue his Bachelor's degree on the Army's dime...so no more student loans. YAY! In 24 months he will be done with his BA and able to apply for OCS - Officer's Candidate School...and being an officer would help us even more!

So, in many many many ways this would be a HUGE help to us and a huge blessing.

I am, however, nervous at this prospect. I want him to go for it. He would love it, it would help us financially and allow us to enjoy each and our children more, and we'd get to do many of the things with our children that we want to do. However, we would be moving away from where we live, and have only recently gotten totally settled into living here. For the next 11 years we would be living away from our family, whom our children have grown VERY attached to. Taking them away from their "Grandma" and "Abba" would be heartbreaking. Also, an Iraqi deployment would be a sure thing. The thought of caring for 3 small children alone terrifies me. I know that I would move back to my home town for that year, but it is still scary.

So, if you could please pray that God moves us in the direction that He has for us, and makes this path obvious for us, it would be appreciated. Thank you!

"I Want my Mommy!"

My mom makes some wonderful trips to Jamaica to do missions work...and does a lot of work helping with the local deaf school. She does very good work and I am proud of her.

But she goes down 3-6 times a year, and for the whole week to ten days she's gone I have zero contact with her. I talk to my mom every day, and see her several times a week so these trips are hard. I miss her. I feel guilty for dreading her trips, but I am SOOOO proud of her at the same time.

In case you can't tell, she's there right now...along with 2 of my sisters. I miss them but I am immensely proud of them as well.

I guess I just want to say, "I WANT MY MOMMY!!!" Hurry home safely mom, but may God lead you to impact the lives of those whom you are helping.

Mothers can't do it (give birth) *rant*

Wow...the medical community is getting pretty good at refusing to recognize birth as a natural, normal process...and a REALLY good job of scaring mothers into thinking our bodies aren't "good enough." I hear of things like this and it makes my stomach churn (or would that be the ongoing morning sickness? LOL).

http://rixarixa.blogspot.com/2008/07/more-better-birth-track-tm.html

And yes, I went and checked out the product. *gag*

Baby Update

Wow, no special title here. LOL I had another ultrasound today. Baby is continuing to be checked every 6 weeks for any bone deformities (since Sweet Pea has some bone issues) and today was our 24 week scan. I am 24 weeks today. Baby is measuring as an absolutely perfect 50th percentile 25 week 5 day gestational age baby GIRL! Yes, she's still a girl and still a Samantha Rose. She's measuring big, but proportionate for all bone/structure measurements. So, the perinatologist isn't worried. She currently weighs in at 1 lb 10 oz. So, she's a nice healthy size for her age.

I then went to the chiropractor up the road for an adjustment. I've not been in 6 weeks (gas is $4 a gal. and she's a 30-45 min. drive...OUCH!) and have been in excruciating pain in my pelvic/lower back area. It turns out that my sacrum is out of alignment, and is causing me to be in so much pain that by the kids' bed time I'm in agony and don't get out of bed myself (I sit there on my lap top working on homework). The sacrum is a bone but also a joint. Imagine your shoulder or rib being misaligned. Then put all your weight bearing on that section, add a growing uterus pressing up against it and that joint having to bear the weight of a 2 lb baby, the uterus, and the weight of all the amniotic fluid and placenta. From this picture I'm sure you can imagine the kind of pain that this leaves me in.

Finally, the misalignment is causing the baby to be breech. Not a big concern at 24 weeks, but since I can feel her trying to turn head down every night, it shows enough that we will have bigger concerns down the road if this problem isn't dealt with now. So, back to weekly adjustments. And, for tonight, back to icing my back.

That's all for now! I have some great sono pictures that I'll try and get DH to scan later for me. :o)