Lara Is Crawling! I think

So what constitutes crawling? This is a question Dave and I have been pondering lately. Lara has been able to move in a forward motion for at least a month. It was a froggy hop type motion. She could move her legs in a crawling matter but the hands/arms would not move. So I guess it's actually a froggy hop dive. Then about two weeks ago she started moving her hands. She then started moving her hands like she was crawling and move as far forward as she could, then bring her legs up. In the last week she has been working on putting the two together. The last few days she been going back and forth between looking like she is crawling and doing more of the inch worm thing. It seems that her pajamas are stopping her. She'll bring her legs to her chest, but the pajamas are just not following, so she ends up falling forward. Maybe we should take the pajamas off and put the Baby Legs on. We'll have to take pictures and post them. May baby girl is growing so fast. She seems to have this determination to one up her brother on everything.

If a Tree Falls in a Forest...

And no one's around to hear it, does it make a sound? With so much ridiculousness happening in the federal gov't, I've been burned out and have desired to make a post on the lighter side. I tried to imagine the responses of professors in various departments of a university if they were asked the above question. I hope you enjoy:

Physics: sound is a compression wave through a medium. In a forest, the medium is air and the falling of a tree produces a longitudinal wave in the air, so yes, it does make a sound.

Psychology: Sound is as much propagation as it is perception. If there is no one around to perceive it, the sound never existed.

Engineering: Let's see if we can develop a better design for the tree to make it so it won't fall in the future under similar conditions.

Construction Management: If a tree fell in a forest with no one around, then it must be dead and rotting and we are not going to want to use that in our next construction project.

Child Development: Oh thank goodness there were no children around when it fell, we wouldn't want them to get hurt.

Sociology: To answer that, we will have to study the indigenous tribe that lives near where it fell and learn their reaction to falling trees.

Philosophy: Ahh, so the student has now become the teacher. I would have asked the same question.

Theology: God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient so yes the tree did make a sound, and God heard it.

Economics: is the tree located in a capitalistic or communistic economy?

Spanish: En Espanol, por favor.

Any one else have any good suggestions?

A Thought On Breastfeeding

I must say that I am a little jealous of those of you that are able to multitask while breastfeeding. For me, it is all I am able to do at the moment. It's not that I'm new at this and just need to adjust; it's, as one lactation consultant informed me when Jaron was about a month old, that gravity is working against me. Being larger chested is not what it's cracked up to be. My body does not line up correctly so it takes one hand to hold my baby and the other to keep my breast in place. If I let go, then I "fall out" of my baby's mouth. The lactation consultant I saw when Jaron was a month old suggested I roll up a washcloth and put it under my breast to hold it in place. I tried it but it was to much to do as Jaron usually gave me no warning and was very impatient (don't know where he got that from =) ) and at 4 months he decided he wanted to switch sides every minute (he was a flow chaser...not patient once again). It also seemed that the washcloth was still not putting me quite in the right spot. I've just not bothered with Lara because I'm just use to what I do now. I have found though that when I'm in my bed that my Boppy on top of a pillow puts my arm the right height for Lara's head. At those moments I get to experience what it's like to have a free hand, but I'm confined to my bed and not much I can do there. So, if you ever felt like you'd just like to be a little bit bigger and you're breastfeeding and can multitask, be thankful that you're not. You'd end up like me =)
P.S. If you are bigger, you could see if the washcloth suggestion works for you. My tip for the day =)

Appendix to: Surprise Surprise

In my last post, I was talking about Hugo Chavez. I thought he was socialist/communistic but wasn't sure so I didn't mention anything. Today in spanish we were supposed to do a web search of someone famous in Latin America so I did Chavez. Wikipedia said he is part of the Socialist party in Venezuela and that while he was rising to power, he was influenced by Marxism, Fidel Castro (his now bff) and Che Guevara. So yes, he is a socialist. One more piece of evidence that BO wants to turn this country into the USRA: United Socialist Republic of America.

Surprise Surprise

BO just got back from the Summit of the Americas today and while there, apparently he had a long conversation with Fidel Castro's bff, Pres. Hugo Chavez from Venezuela, about mending relations between their two countries, also. Chavez suggested that they reinstate ambassadors to each other's countries. Relations have been tense since Chavez took power beecause of his many actions as president. While president he increased the length of the presidential term from 4 to 7 years and then disposed of term limits, essentially guarenteeing that he would be in power for life. According to a former missionary companion who was from Venezuela, he has done a lot of good things to help the people, but at the same time has done many things that were not in the people's best interest. Venezuela is also a member of OPEC. Why has Chavez (and Castro) decided that now would be a good time to improve relations with the USofA? Could it be because they know BO also hates America and will permit them to get away with things that Bush would not have?

P.S. If your in the Sacramento area, don't forget to check out this flyer about the pizza fundraiser this Thrusday for Alisha, and this flyer for a car wash on Saturday as well. Tell all your friends and family as well. Thanks

Jaron Reads To Lara

Earlier this week Jaron, Lara and I were in Jaron's bedroom playing when Jaron grabbed a book and sat down in the chair we read books to him in before naps/bedtime, etc. I thought he wanted me to read a book to him when he put his arms up while saying "baby" telling me he wanted to hold Lara. I handed Lara to Jaron and then Jaron proceeded to open his book and "read" it to Lara. It was so cute! I wish I could have taken a picture. He then handed me the book so I could read it to both of them. Jaron is such a great big brother when he's not trying to smother Lara (I'll post the pictures we have as proof later). They are so cute together.

Help Alisha Go to St. Joseph's

I met Alisha when she was 2 years old and I was one of her Nursery Leaders at Church. Alisha has a syndrome called Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. I don't know much about it but I do know that, among other things, it has caused her to have some issues with feeding dysfunction. She has been making progress but she also has recently been accepted into a program at @ St. Joseph's Children Hospital in New Jersey called The Center for Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing. They are trying to raise $6500 dollars to attend the program and I have offered to do whatever I can to spread the word. If you have a facebook account, you can visit the page for a fundraising event this coming Thursday here. Straw Hat Pizza in Rancho Cordova is donating 50% of all dine-in PIZZA orders to help her attend. All you have to do is mention Alisha. If you are unable to make it to the event, you can always donate directly, and track her progress, fundraising and in the program, at her blog here. Please feel free to tell as many people as you can about this. It really is a good cause.

I am a Terrorist

According to a new report issued by the Department of Homeland Security, which you can read here, I would now be considered a right-wing extremist and a terrorist. What have I done to deserve this designation? Is it because of my negative statements about the current state of affairs in this nation? No! it is because I oppose abortion and believe in the right to bare arms and the freedom of speech. The following quote is taken directly from the report:


(U) Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and
adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups),
and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or
rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a
single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration (emphasis added)

Among other things, as stated by the Poached Frog:

"you are a right wing extremist if you fall into the following categories (aka, profile):
You believe in the right to life or the sanctity of life.
You believe in the Bill of Rights, particularly the 1st, 2nd and 10th Amendments
You believe that the Federal government is acting in any way unwisely or unconstitutionally
You support Third Party political candidates
You are not in favor of amnesty for illegal aliens
You have recently purchased a firearm or ammunition
You think Obama is the wrong person for the job
If you are at all concerned about the actions of the UN or the creation of a “New World Order” that erodes American
you are a veteran returning from Iraq or Afghanistan"

One of the things that infuriates me about the report, and this administration, is that they are so quick to praise the rest of the world and talk bad about America. The war on terrorism is over. We can't call them terrorists anymore. Achmadina Nut-Job in Iran isn't a terrorist, we need to mend relations with him. Kim Jong Dillweed in North Korea isn't a terrorist and we're going to believe that that missile was just a communications satellite. Piracy of US freight ships is something to laugh about. They're not terrorists. But American citizens are terrorists if you believe in the sanctity of life or if you fought valiantly against the real terrorists that apparently don't really exist in Iraq. But I guess I can take comfort that if the time comes, I will be on the side of combat trained veterans and not on the side of hippy liberal, war-protesting lawyers.

Jaron Holds Lara And Puts Her To Sleep

Here's my next issue of back blogs:

Dave and I had gone somewhere and had taken Lara with us. We went back home to drop Dave and Lara off and pick up my mom so I could get my hair cut and she could ship some packages to my brother in Wyoming. I had stayed in the car because I was still greatly suffering from the blood I lost after delivering Lara and could not handle go up and down the stair to our apartment multiple times in one day. Dave ran Lara up to the apartment and then was bringing the boxes down for my mom when Jaron decided he REALLY wanted to hold Lara. Lara was still calming down from the car ride (she hated being in her carseat) and my mom was still trying to pack a box while trying to calm Lara down, so my mom was not sure if it would work, but she propped up a pillow next to Jaron to help him hold Lara and Lara immediately calmed down. Not only did she calm down...SHE FEEL ASLEEP!

My mom tried to take Lara back when she was done, but Jaron would not let Lara go...he even held Lara tighter to try to keep anyone from taking her away. When Dave came back inside, he grabbed the camera and got these snap shots. Jaron would not let Dave take Lara away either for at least another 5 minutes.

They still love each other very much. It seems to me that Lara gives Jaron the biggest smiles she has. I hope that they will continue to love each other and be great friends when they are older.

Lara's Blessing

Here's the first of my back blogs:

We had Lara's blessing done on December 7th. She was almost a month old at the time. We wanted to be able to have as many of our family members there as possible, especially my mom since she was unable to come to Jaron's baby blessing. We were originally going to have it on December 14th, but most of Dave's family would not have been able to make it and any later was going on barrowed time that my mom would still be here. We decided to do it on the 7th and it looked like Dave's dad would not be able to make it because he was going to be out of town for work. Fortunately that was the weekend of the Creche Festival, so our ward met at 9am instead of 1pm. Because of that, Dave's father was able to fly back for the weekend to attend but had to leave right after to catch a plan back to Georgia. We were greatful to all who were able to attend.

I made Lara's dress mostly from fabric that was left over from making my wedding dress. My sister in law Stephanie had made the overcoat to my dress and told me afterwards that she would never make a wedding dress again. After making Lara's dress, I now understand. Georgette is not easy to sew! It came out cute though (both dresses!) and I'm greatful to have been able to make something sentimental out of something that was sentimental to me.

It is wonderful to be married to a righteous Priesthood holder who can give our children blessings. Lara and Jaron are so blessed to have a father that they can go to when they need it.

Here are some pictures we wanted to share:

Daddy, Mommy & Lara

Our little family

Those who were in the Prayer Circle

(Dave's dad is on the left, the rest are 4 of his brothers and in the

front is Larry who is a longtime friend of my family)

All who were able to attend sans Dave's sisters and

two of our nieces because they had to leave early

Dave's family minus the above mentioned and his

brother Will and wife Nancy who live in Utah
Us with my mom

Unification and Seperation

This morning I heard a caller claiming BO is trying to unify the country while Rush Limbaugh is try to divide it. This set the mind a-ruminatin' and it had a couple thoughts.

The only way BO would let the country be unified is if all the right were dragged kickin' and screamin' over as far left as he is. If he really wanted to unify to make the country better, he would try to convince both right and left to come more into the center. "I start walkin' your way, you start walkin' mine, we'll meet in the middle 'neath that old Georgia Pine..."

And is unification really a good thing? The Founding Fathers established this great nation with some very specific and important separations: Separation of Church & State is one example. This helps guarantee freedom of religion so all men can worship how, where, or what they may with out gov't intervention. The division of powers was established to maintain a checks-and-balances system so neither the president, nor the congress nor courts could take full control of the government. And the only real way to prevent Congress and the President from working in league is to have the 2-party system. Whenever a particular party (I don't care if its republicans or democrats) has control of both congress and presidency, that spells trouble for the nation because then they can pretty much enact any law they desire with out much opposition. Unfortunately for this epoch in our history, not only do we have the most liberal president in history, both the House and the Senate are equally liberally skewed.

Is Obama's attempts and plans for unification really for the nation's best interest or just to gain more power for the liberals?

Easter 2009

This was the first year we did the "commercialized" Easter for Jaron. I was not going to get him anything, but when I was at Walmart picking up a few other items I got sucked in. It was fun putting together his little basket. I got him some crayons, Color Wonder markers, sketchpad type books, Lightning McQueen blanket, a couple cars and some fruit snacks.

Jaron's Basket

Jaron checking out his goodies

I did get Lara some tights and wrist rattles. No pictures of those though.

Lara in her Easter outfit

Jaron took his new blanket to bed with him for his nap and at bedtime. He loves it. He ate his fruit snacks right away. His new cars joined his collection. We'll let him color another time. We had a good day. We went to church and came home after Sacrament Meeting because Lara is still sick and Jaron still has a runny nose. We had a nice day at home together. Maybe next year we'll let Jaron go on his first Easter Egg hunt.

P.S. I now have the pictures uploaded from our camera. I just need to back blog everything. I'll post when I'm done. We also captured video today of Lara creeping forward. Dave just needs upload it to YouTube and then I'll post it here. Hope everyone had a great day!

P.P.S. I forgot to post Lara's stats yesterday. She is 16lbs 11oz still (slowed down in weight) but grew 3/4 inches and is now 28 inches.

Lara Is Yet Another Month Older

I can't believe Lara is 5 months old already. This last month has been a big month for her developmentaly. One day I told Dave, "Lara is very independant, and she works hard at showing us everyday." Here's the month in review...sort of:
*Lara now has 2 teeth!
*Lara went from working really hard to roll over to turn your back on her for a split second and she's done it again! She'll even start to roll on us as we put her down.
*Loves her feet! She will try to eat them at every chance she gets. It's funny to watch her bend in half.
*Loves her froggy teether rattle toy. Didn't really play with any toys before this month.
*Went from just laying on her tummy to bearing some weight on her arms to pushing herself all the way up on her arms to pulling her legs under her to putting a little weight on her legs to pushing herself completly off the ground on hands and knees to lifting herself up on her hands and feet.
*Is rocking back and forth on when on her hands and knees
*Inchworms herself forward to get something she wants
*Reaches for objects
*Loves to play with paper and put it in her mouth and gets very upset when we take it away
*Can pull herself up to sitting when we hold her hands
*Can pull herself from sitting to standing if we hold her hands
*Can sit for a couple seconds on her own
*Lunges at Mommy when she wants me
*And so much more...just can't think of them right now
I can't believe she'll be 6 months in a month and we'll be starting her on solids then. She even may be crawling by then...and then we'll really have our work cut out for us...especially with her big brother leaving all sorts of things she should not have around the house. Lara is such a happy baby. She just smiles and smiles and smiles and sometimes she'll laugh. I was watching her last night at our ward dinner smiling up a storm. I looked around to see who was smiling at her and there was no one there. She was just looking off into space and enjoying it. I'll try to post some pictures of her accomplishments...but we have not uploaded the camera since Thanksgiving. I would recommend not holding your breath =)

Random Ruminations

Here's several ideas that I needed to get out of my head. In no particular order:

One radio show host I listen to occasionally was talking about the recent plane jacking. The culprit claims he wanted to commit suicide and was hoping to be shot down. This radio show host pointed out that the pilot was Muslim and it loked a lot like the dry runs the terrosists would have before actually attacking. If that's the case, we just proved to the terrorists that we won't do what we say we're going to do, namely, shoot down anyplanes that illegally enter US Airspace.

While B.O. was at the G-20 Summit, apparently he bowed to greet the king of Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the White House released an official statement saying it wasn't a bow. The Bible states: "By their fruits ye shall no them." B.O.'s fruits are becoming clear: his first public address after inauguration was on Arab TV addressed to Arabians, not even on American soil. He bows to the Saudi Arabian king. (Since when has the president bowed to other leaders, and then lied about it) He wants to mend relations with Communist Cuba...Is B.O. starting to show his true loyalties?

Liberals want everybody to drive electric cars to save the environment...How is the electricity generated to charge the batteries? In physics you learn of the Law of Conservation of Energy. Eergy can't be created out of nothing, it can only be transferred from one form to another...Aren't fossil fuels still being burned to generate the electricity to charge the cars?

And if "Global Warming" was a real threat, why hasn't the teleprompter told B.O. to outlaw racing: NASCAR, Stockcar, speedboat, etc. How much fuel is wasted during a single one of these events and how much "carbon emissions" are released? That should take care of the problem overnight.

But instead, B.O. is consulting with a scientist to use technology to alter the weather. That's right, this isn't some bad sci-fi plot. The 2 ideas they're discussing are shooting sulfur pellets into the upper atmosphere to mimic the sulfur emissions from a volcanoe that would then block the sun's rays, bouncing them back into space, or builing huge towers that would suck CO2 out of the aire and store it like a bunch of artificial trees. Does shooting sulfur into the sir really sound like a good idea? Wasn't this a plot from Inspector Gadget once to create another ice age?

Speaking of Inspector Gadget: I was ruminating about the cartoon earlier this week. I never saw the final episode but the rumor was that Chief Quimby was actually Dr. Claw and was disgruntled for always being blown up. So I decide to see what Wikipedia had to say on the topic and, among other things, led me to this site that revealed what his face looked like, and ruined childhood memories. If you want your childhood spoiled, visit with caution, Dr. Claw's face will be disappointing.

I do hope you've enjoyed my random ruminations.

Viva Cuba!

This article was shared with me by my wonderful sister Shirley. I had previously heard snippets of it on the radio, but it was nice having the details in front of me... So why is it that now Cuba wants to mend relations with the U.S. and has even go so far as to send "former president" Fidel Castro to meet with three members of the Congressional Black Caucus who were visiting Cuba. B.O. himself has ordered an assessment as to whether we should warm relations with Cuba, that is why the three members of the Black Caucus were sent to have talks with "current president" Raul Castro, Fidel's own brother. (I use quotes on former and current, because I believe Fidel is still pulling the strings, Raul is just the puppet). There are many questions about the visit that are raised in my mind and I don't know in which order to present them. Nor do I have any answers: Is it significant that all three members sent are democrats? Why were representives from the Congressional Black Congress sent, isn't that Hillary's job as Secretary of State? If there's a black caucus, is there a Congressional White Caucus?
"California Democratic Rep. Laura Richardson said Castro 'looked directly into our eyes' and asked how Cuba could help Obama in his efforts to change the course of U.S. foreign policy." So what? Does looking directly into your eyes really mean something? Why does Castro want to change the course of U.S. foreign policy? In which direction does he want to see it go? Is any of this a good idea? If anybody has answers, or even more questions, feel free to share.

"(Caucus leader, Democrat Rep. Barbara) Lee's delegation is sympathetic to Cuba, with most of its members openly praising the country's communist government while decrying U.S. policy."
(all quotes came from article cited at beginning)

About Realizing You're A Mom

There are little incidents that happen every now and again that make you realize you're a mom. I had one last week I thought I'd share. I was sitting on the sofa in a rare moment that I could pay attention to myself. I noticed my fingernails were long. Before I was a mom I would have KILLED to have grown fingernails that long on my own. Instead of thinking, "WOW! I'm so happy my fingernails are long," I thought, "My fingernails are too long. I need to cut them." I did not do it right away, and a couple days later I noticed them again. At that point I felt the need to cut my fingernails down right away, so I did. It's funny how your frame of thinking changes after you have children. Where I use to try to have beautifully manicured long fingernails, I want to trim my fingernails short so I do not claw my children to death. I was thinking about it tonight and it made me realize that I AM a mom.

Jaron Being Cute

This is a video I took on a cheap video camera we let Jaron play with now. It was so cute. He loves fish, Itsy Bitsy Spider, I'm a Little Teapot, and the Pickle Dance (from Little Rascals). What's even cuter is the fact that he LOVES watching it...until he accidentally deleted it from the camera.

Dum Dum Dummm

So...the doctor said at Lara's appointment last week the she did not think Lara was teething. Well guess what I felt this morning? That's right...A TOOTH! It's the bottom left tooth to be exact. It probably came in yesterday or the day before because it has broken all the way through, I just have not been feeling good and had not checked. I wonder when the next one will come in? I hope she does not bite me. Please don't bite Mommy! :)

I Want Analog Back!!

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 has mandated that all full-power television stations turn off their analog signals on February 17, 2009 and broadcast entirely in digital. As D-Day (for Digital) approached, Congress felt that people didn't have enough time to make the appropriate changes so they extended the deadline to June 12. As of sometime last year when they started advertising the converter box coupons, you heard nothing but good things: crystal-clear picture and sound, more channels, etc.The coupons would be redeemable for $40, yet at the time they set that price, they didn't even know how much a converter box would cost to purchase, they weren't being sold yet. Fears of the box costing much more than that were voiced by logical thinking people. When the boxes were put on the market, we were relieved to find out that they wouldn't cost much more than the forty so we got ours well ahead of the original deadline (how people didn't have enough time is beyond me...) I bring the box home and plug it in and discover my bunny ears won't fit the antenna jack. It turns out you ALSO needed a compatible antenna ($$). I run to Wal-mart and purchase the cheapest set of digital ready bunny ears by the best brand there. After getting it all set up and scan for channels, we discover that some of the stations hadn't converted to digital yet but we did gain the CW and a local weather channel (hurray, this dtv might not be that bad.)
Before the digital switch we had ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, MYtv, PBS, and a few Spanish channels. When we first plugged in and scanned, we had CBS, CW (yeah), Fox, MYtv, NBC, and Weather. We lost PBS (boo) and still had ABC on analog, they hadn't switched yet. This was all in the summer/fall of 2008 when the weather was good. This winter, the first big rain storm in January, we lost CBS and CW and still haven't gotten them back. We find out that sometimes weaker digital signals can get cut off in snow or wind. How many fair weather days have we had and still no CBS/CW? Also, when its particularly windy, NBC gets very pixelated and sometimes loses signal. With Analog, if the signal is weak, you can still hear it, with digital, silence and/or choppy sound. How is digital better?
Recently, they have had commercials explaining that you will also need a new, digital ready antenna and that you might even need a rooftop antenna (you know, the kind that sticks like a mile up in the air). Excuse me? What about those that live in apartments or, like my coworker, would have to pay a $100 deposit to put one of those up. How is digital better, now?
And just this morning I heard on WSJ Radio that people may (uh...some already have) lose some local stations that used to receive because the digital signal could be weaker than the analog signal used to be. And broadcasters are under no obligation to maintain the same broadcast area when they switch. How is digital better? I want analog back!