Pictures please

Sisters in Snot, same age, two years apart. oh yes, memere, this snot's for you ;)

Shining Mummy looks Good Moments

The other day all of us went to the grocery store. I am not particularly fond of going to the grocery store with all of my children, but alas with Doug being gone a lot, if we want to eat, it must happen.

First we hit produce, where Kiera sees the fresh produce and exclaims "MUMMy! BROCCOLI MUMMY! BROCCOLI!" Some ladies heard this, all laughed at her apparent excitement over broccolli and said NICE WORK MOM!. There I am laughing quite hard and grinning wildly at the same time.

After that lovely trip we were driving home and in the store window a beautiful RED dress caught my eye, so I parked the car and raced down there, girls in tow. Got in the store, asked to see the dress and went to the change room to try in on. while in there, Kiera got the excitment of playing with the beanie babies on hand, she came in often to tell me "mummy! a giraffe! a money mommy!" it was all very exciting.

The dress was very nice, but it was 80 bucks and too long.

as we were leaving, totally unprompted she turns to the sales lady and says "Thank you for letting me play with your toys" Jawdrop! the lady was quite pleased and said "wow, nice manners you are very welcome, that is what they are there for." it made me look really good too! LOL.

As another discourse: I have recently discovered that I don't think Kiera doesn't respond to punishment, pretty much at all. She made a giant mess of these popcorn things in the package that our camera came back in and refused to clean them up. I was a bit short on patience and told her she would have a time out in her room unless she cleaned. well she refused. so I put her in her room. she wailed. she came out and she STILL refused to clean it up. So then I did what I should have done in the first place and took her hands and made her clean up the mess herself. It was a lot more peaceful, though more work for me. sigh.

I also had a lactivist/ventish moment this morning while I at the grocery store. I keep getting this coupons for mega money off formula. I was so ticked that I keep getting these things, because they know I have a baby because of the purchases I have made. So I told the manager that in the very least, these very incredibly unethical and it really angered me that these formula companies thought they had a right to compromise the health of my child and what would happen if I was less educated about breastfeeding? I would probably fall for the formula companies lies.
which brings me to this link: http://www.webcommentary.com/asp/ShowArticle.asp?id=simonl&date=070211


Its by some old dude who just views women breastfeeding as FEEDING THIER BABIES. how completely shocking is that. its quite pathetic that I have to defend my right to feed my baby, though I think I have finally come up with a good line if I ever get challenged (though for some reason that has never happened to me before ;) ) "its my legal right to breastfeed, and its your legal right to look away ", I really suck at comebacks. so I think this will suffice.

The ignorance over bfing STILL astounds me, not just doing it publically, but the health benefits as well. I had a nieghbour press me about when I was going to wean, and she was 8 months old with no interest in solids. I was like "well, AAP recommends to a minimum of a year, and WHO recommends to a mimimum of two years ", and the response was "well, I guess two years in places with not very good nutrition." LOL. seriously. I mean, to me its just showing obvious ignorance about the extended benefits of bfing for longer than a year. and seriously, why would I want to quit a good thing? Human milk for human babies I say. Its not like the benefits of bfing magically stop at one year. the idea is so ridiculous and so propagated by FORMULA companies it drives me batty, though weaning at 6 months is suppose to be normal. By not giving them my business, they lose around a thousand dollars. they will never see a dime of my money from this baby this time around.

I also have another, though more offensive link to add. if you are offended easily, I would suggest you not read this one, though I personally find it totally hilarious.
http://homepages.together.net/~plomp/thing.htm


So I am still a lactivist and still doing a lot of learning and its quite fascinating. I am considering becoming an LC/doula. how cool would that be?

Had to add these

LMAO

I am an ENFP

And just for fun I thought I would post a little bit about my personality type. I have not yet typed Kiera, but I am hoping that day isn't too far away. I am also posting this in hopes that it will shed light on why I am the way I am (LOL). Apparently I am very idealistic and passionate about things I believe in. HAHAHA. no kidding. so don't hold it against me ;)


"ENFPs often have strong, if unconvential, convictions on various issues related to their Cosmic View. They usually try to use their social skills and contacts to persuade people gently of the rightness of these views; his sometimes results in their negle cting their nearest and dearest while flitting around trying to save the world."
ENFPs hate bureaucracy, both in principle and in practice; they will always make a point of launching one of their crusades against some aspect of it.
ENFPs are global learners. Close enough is satisfactory to the ENFP, which may unnerve more precise thinking types, especially with such things as piano practice ("three quarter notes or four ... what's the difference?") Amazingly, some ENFPs are adept at exacting disciplines such as mathematics.

And apparently I married the right man:" Here is the herald, the spirited bearer of tiding. But underneath this effervescent enthusiasm is a person fiercely dedicated to "meaning" in life and reminiscent of the INFP crusader. Only the ENFP neither crusades nor meditates, not for long anyway. The ENFP is into everything, frisky, not unlike a puppy, sniffing around to see what's new. ENFP has to be in on everything, can't bear to be left out of anything. That's why they make such splendid reporters, newscasters, and journalists. Mercury. Now who would enjoy this frisky, bubbly-yet serious-person? The Rock of Gibraltar, of course-ISTJ, the "trustee." ISTJ, who revels in "keeping the books in order," "balancing the budget," "securing and ensuring," "stabilizing and steadying," "honoring contracts," "keeping the ship on a steady course" and "shipshape," delights also in providing anchorage and safe harbor for the heraldic ENFP."


Why I struggle with not liking when I mess up as a perfect parent, though apparently I am suppose to be inconsistent. "An ENFP needs to feel that they are living their lives as their true Self, walking in step with what they believe is right. They see meaning in everything, and are on a continuous quest to adapt their lives and values to achieve inner peace. They're constantly aware and somewhat fearful of losing touch with themselves. Since emotional excitement is usually an important part of the ENFP's life, and because they are focused on keeping "centered", the ENFP is usually an intense individual, with highly evolved values."

And poor Kiera:
" Having an ENFP parent can be a fun-filled experience, but may be stressful at times for children with strong Sensing or Judging tendancies. Such children may see the ENFP parent as inconsistent and difficult to understand, as the children are pulled along in the whirlwind life of the ENFP. Sometimes the ENFP will want to be their child's best friend, and at other times they will play the parental authoritarian. But ENFPs are always consistent in their value systems, which they will impress on their children above all else, along with a basic joy of living.

Famous ENFPs:
Franz Joseph Haydn
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
Will Rogers
Buster Keaton
Theodor "Dr." Seuss Geisel (The Cat in the Hat)
Mickey Rooney
James Dobson ("Focus on the Family") THIS IS GODS COSMIC JOKE
Andy Rooney
Carol Burnett
Paul Harvey
Elizabeth Montgomery (Bewitched)
Bill Cosby (Ghost Dad)
Dom Delouise, actor
Dave Thomas, owner of Wendy's hamburger chain
Lewis Grizzard, newspaper columnist
I. King Jordan, president of Gallaudet University
Martin Short, actor-comedian
Meg Ryan, actor (When Harry Met Sally)
Robin Williams, actor, comedian (Dead Poet's Society, Mrs. Doubtfire)
Sandra Bullock, actor (Speed, While You Were Sleeping)
Robert Downey (Heart and Souls)
Alicia Silverstone (Clueless)
Sinbad
Andy Kaufman

The history of children...

This is a cross post from my friend Camille's Blog. I think its pretty cool. Basically when Jesus came, He shook up a lot of stuff, not just for women, not just for slaves, but for children. I know we have all heard the story of Jesus saying "Let the children come to me...", but again we fail to realise how radical His treatment of children really was in a society that only valued men (generally), viewed women as chattel, and children as disposable.
I don't think as a society we have embraced the radical way that Jesus valued children, clearly. But the fact the elevated them to "human being" status was pretty amazing and also very Hebrew of Him.
Here is Camille's blog:


A philosopher, an orator, and two Rabbis walk into the day care center. . . .”

And who sticks around to play with the kids while the other two sourpusses can only flare their nostrils in disgust? According to Judith M. Gundry-Volf, hands down the Rabbis. She compares the ancient near-Eastern attitudes toward children, and I’m a tad flabbergasted that the Graeco-Roman ways sound so familar.

To the Greek, a child was weak and deficient. He couldn’t talk, think, or take care of himself. The child was simply an underdeveloped human, a social drain. The child in Greece and Rome was equal to the slave, occupying the lowest rung of the cultural ladder. Cicero, too, commented that childhood, “the thing itself cannot be praised, only its potential.” Childhood wasn’t a time to be admired and relished, but simply endured.

And so their brutal practices toward the child make sense. In Rome, the father had complete and entire authority over the child’s life. He could capriciously decide to recognize and raise it or “cast it out.” Sometimes ne'er-do-wells would pick up these newborns and raise them as slaves or worse. Think of the brutal killings in Egypt and under Herod’s reign. These crimes cut especially deep into the Hebrew soul. Gundry-Volf points out that the practice of casting out newborns was so prominent in the Near East, that everyone at the time was surprised that the Jews didn’t do it.

For the Jews, the child participated in God’s Promise. “Children were thus members of God’s covenant with Israel–in rabbinic teaching, even those still in the womb–and it was expected that they would assume covenantal responsibilities” (35). Now there are stories in Hellenic culture about generous souls that take in these foundlings. But there’s one major difference between those legends and what Mark describes in his Gospel:

Quote

While Plutarch and Diodorus depict memorable or legendary women as taking children into their arms and as exemplary in this respect for other women, Mark depicts Jesus, a man, taking a little child into his arms as an example for his male disciples in particular, and all disciples in general.. . . . Jesus thus redefines the service of children as a sign of greatness for all disciples. What appeared to be an undistinguished activity–care for children, belonging to the domain of women, similarly marginalized people–becomes a prime way for all disciples to demonstrate the greatness that corresponds to the reign of God (44).

So for Christ, the child was not just the recipient of God’s blessing, not just the model for the kingdom, but also His representatives of mercy! Gundry-Volf wonders if it’s because children were not expected to keep the Law in the least that Christ features their faith alone. They just enjoy their friendship with Christ without pretense or expectation.

While the Greeks and Romans hear children’s words as silly, Christ hears praise to God and from God in their words. While the Greeks and Romans see children as inadequate, Paul sees them as holy. In Colossians and Ephesians, both, children are fellow members of the Church, deserving of respect and kindness.

When the Greeks and Romans look at a child, they see, at best, disposable property and, at worst, a burden. But Paul sees a fellow Christian. And Christ sees a perfect believer, unencumbered by social mores and legal burdens.