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  • Either/Or

    I've been nauseous for 2 days now.  I'm either really sick or really pregnant.  We'll see.

  • Fried

             What a day!  The Ren Fest is always a lot of fun, but also a lot of heat and sunshine, unless you go later in the season.  We can only afford to go once a year, and the first weekend is buy one get one free, so that's the one that usually wins if we go at all.  Highlights:

                               Last year,                                                                                                                              
      
         This year:
       

    We really tried to get him to put his costume on, but he was NOT having it!

    He really enjoyed watching the artisans, though.

                                    Another last year:                                                                      

        And this year:
      
    Here is Mr. "I'm really sleepy but I refuse to take a nap" (I so want one of these swings!!! But they're $100.)

    He sure had fun riding the rides, though!

    And last but not least, the picture where we've been out in the sun all day and are brains (and skin) are totally fried:

    We had asked one of the vendors to take our picture, and he said that we were in shadow for the first one and to look up for this one, so that's why we look like I'm looking down my nose at somebody.  I should have just tilted the hats up.  Oh well, it was a lot of fun and wore Mommy & Daddy out!  JB was asleep before we left the parking lot, but of course was all energy when we got home.  Mommy & Daddy had to lay down and rest for a bit, though! 

    We debated going to Fairview Park to see the WEBN fireworks, but we were tired so we just watched them on TV.  They held JB's interest for about 10 minutes.....

  • Lots!

      Yet another awesome homebirth video:

    Yesterday we went to the Nativity Church festival, where my boss goes to church.  At first we thought it was going to be rained out, but it turned out OK.  We met Mom there.  Other than their children's area being incredibly hot because it was in the gym, it was a lot of fun.  He came home with a pink blow up dolphin and a new matchbox car.  We had a lot of fun and were tired afterwards, that's what counts!
    Today is our 5th anniversary.  Wow, it seems like it was just yesterday.  We've had a lot of problems and stresses (especially lately) but I still really love my man.  He can be such a sweet, kind, gentle man. Our sitter plans fell through so we really didn't get to have any couple time, but that's OK.  We still had a great family day, even if hubby was exhausted the whole day. 

    Tomorrow we're going to the Ohio Renaissance Festival.  Should be a lot of fun!  It's the first weekend so it's buy one get one free, and children under 5 are free! It's always really neat to go, I just wish we had more money to spend at the shops and vendors.

  • New Shirt?

    The other day we were walking in the park and a jogger goes by without his shirt on.  JB points at him and says, "Need new shirt?" 

  • Internet Issues- AGAIN

    Darn it, I thought this was taken care of when we cancelled our Complete Protections, but apparently not.  It still likes to be on 5 minutes, off 5 minutes.  Very annoying!!!!

    Went to the in-laws again today, I'm not sure how they bamboozled us into going out there 3 weeks in a row.    Oh yeah, there's food involved.

  • Nothing

    Yep, that's what I did today.  JB was in full Mr. Destructo mode, so I just tried to keep up with him at least a little bit. And boy was it hot!

    The closing ceremony wasn't near as cool as the opening.  In fact, it was pretty boring.

  • Tired

    We just got back from a free concert on Fountain Square, where JB ran around almost non-stop for 5 hours.  Needless to say, it wasn't all that difficult to get him to sleep tonight! It was a great concert and lots of fun to catch up with some friends! Alright, I would post a link to the band that played tonight, but I'm a horrible friend, I don't remember their name.  (The lead singer/band name is a friend of my friend.)   Either way, I have a lot of homework for my parenting group tomorrow that I haven't doneyet, so I've gotta get going.  See ya later! 

    PS-  Did you sign up on the OFSB database yet??
     

    I've got a lot of running to do tomorrow, wish me luck at not getting a sun burn from all the driving!


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  • If you're in Ohio, will you help?

    Hi everybody,

     Some of you are aware that after my not-so-wonderful birth experience with Julian I started really looking into the options and becoming more knowledgeable and familiar with the birthing community here in Cincinnati.  I was surprised to learn that 30 years ago I personally was supposed to be born at home, had I not decided to make my grand entrance 5 weeks early.  I know some women would never dream of giving birth anywhere but a hospital, and that’s OK.  What I would like to ask today is for you to support the OPTION for other women to safely give birth in Ohio outside of a hospital. 

     There are midwives that are trained to help support a mother give birth in her own home or a birthing center, and they are trained to know if or when it is necessary to go to a hospital for intervention. They are called Certified Professional Midwives, certified by the North American Registry of Midwives (http://www.narm.org/) and successfully practice in 22 states.  Unfortunately, Ohio is not one of them.  Here, Certified Professional Midwives do not have the option of licensure, and therefore are open to prosecution for practicing medicine without a license, in spite of their rigorous training and credentials.   Ohio Families for Safe Birth (http://safebirthohio.org)  is a grassroots organization that is working towards getting licensure for CPMs in Ohio so they don’t have to worry about going to jail for doing their job.

     What I am asking you to do today is to go to  http://safebirthohio.org/dataform.html and add your name to the list of people willing to take some small action that would have a big impact in licensing CPMs to practice their profession, what they were trained to do, without fear of losing their livelihood. THIS IS NOT A HUGE COMMITMENT. As it says on the OFSB website, putting your name on this list is “for those who don’t have the time or inclination to be part of the behind-the-scenes strategizing, but DO want to know what simple steps they can take to help make midwifery licensure a reality in Ohio. Every month, Ohio Families for Safe Birth will send out an Action Alert email to everyone in our database. It will include instructions for a quick (ten minutes or less), easy action that everyone can do to help move our licensure campaign forward. We will also use our database to organize targeted action alerts when grassroots support must be mobilized in particular legislative districts.”

     Even if you personally would never even think of giving birth outside of a hospital, I ask you to please sign up and help those that do want to do so to have the option of having a trained professional by their side.

     

    Thank you

  • Links

    Holy Crap!  Can you imagine having an obituary like this? (Thanks spititoutalredy!) Seriously, that's really sad.

    I can't find the link, but I wrote a letter to the editor at the Cincinnati Enquirer and it was actually published!!  I had totally forgotten that I had written it, then when we visited my MIL yesterday she said someone at her church had pointed it out to her.  How cool!  Really all it said was that there should be a hook on shopping carts for somewhere to put those lovely re-usable shopping bags.

    Wouldn't ya know it.  Flex Spending has to be used by the end of this month or it's gone, so I go and spend it all, and then I had to go to the Dr. today.  Grrr! So the co-pay and the prescription were out of pocket, thankfully not too much so, though. I still feel like crap. (I guess I should get my ass to bed then, huh?)

  • Is your Haz-Mat Suit ready?

    Seriously, this is a little ridiculous.  I understand the whole energy thing, and I am all for "going green".  But for the first time last night, I had one of those Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs break.  You know, the ones congress mandated we use in 2009 as part of the "Energy Bill." God forbid the damn thing break though, no one mentions that!  The protocol for proper disposal is a MAJOR AFFAIR! Because these bulbs contain a minute amount of mercury, the EPA says that to properly clean up a broken light bulb, I should (in part):
    1.Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
    - Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
    - Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

    2. Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
    - Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with
    metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
    -  Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass pieces and powder.
    -  Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
    -  Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

    And that's just for hard surfaces, don't even get into what you're supposed to do if the bulb has the nerve to break on carpet. Oh, and if it's on your favorite bedspread?  Forget it, that things trash, now!

    When I wondered aloud whether all this was really necessary, my husband looked at me like I had grown another head.  "Mercury poisoning is nothing to play with." he said as though instructing a toddler.

    I understand the concern is contamination, so maybe if I buy a bunch of those tiny $1 broom/dustpan combos just for the purpose of cleaning this up?  Geez, I hate to think of the damage inflicted on me if one of Mom's old Mercury thermometers broke, which I'm sure one did at some point in our lives.