Then and Now

Just for kicks...I was rummaging through old photos the other day trying to find some baby pictures of myself to compare with Sybilla's pictures. Billa has my coloring (hair and all), my nose and lips, and I think she has my eyes too. Her daddy's eyes are more almond shaped than mine and Billa's are big and round. Her little face is much rounder than mine (she looks like a cabbage patch kid!) and she has big ears, but not big monkey ears like me :o) Enjoy this blast from the past and hopefully I can get some baby pictures from Michael's family to post so we can compare Billa to him!

Mommy (L) and Billa (R) about 2 weeks old:

Mommy (L) and Billa (R) at 7 months:


Love,
K & Co.

Sound Off: Wacky PETA at it again!

Amidst the doom and gloom of the financial failure our economy is facing, I decided to sound off on something more humorous and closer to home, or rather, my face as the case may be. I was dinking on the internet tonight and apparently the second most hotly debated topic is PETA's latest crazy shenanigans: urging Ben and Jerry to make ice cream from breast milk. Yes, my friends, you read that right. The Peeps for Ethical Treatment of Animals wants to take my breasty bounty and make delightful creamy treats with it.

Now that you've caught your breath and gotten up off the floor from laughing so hard, I will admit, I am curious to see how ice cream made from breast milk would taste. Talk about the perfect teething product!!!!! It'd be cold, it'd be nutritious and baby would be soothed and well-fed in one!

But I would be remiss if I did not allow my inner Practical Polly to appear and point out the glaring logistical error that PETA has made, namely, where the hell do they think all of that milk will come from? I'm guessing they all hate ice cream, because how much milk do they think mommies make? From what I've heard from other moms, I am extremely blessed to produce 8-10 ounces in a 20-25 minute pumping session. It takes 7 cups of milk, or 56 ounces, to make one half gallon of ice cream in my ice cream maker. I'd have to pump 7 times minimum to get enough for one full sized container of Blue Bell. I'm soooo glad that PETA thinks it's OK to starve the babies of this country in order to save a cow from being milked. And if all the cows were freed, what would we do with them? Are cows going to become the next celebrity pet? Move over, Chihuahuas and Kinkajous of America... make way for Cows!!!! I would also venture to say that PETA members must not have breastfed their children, since they are not familiar with engorgement. A cow has to be milked otherwise they will be in some serious pain. Ask any mom who has ever breastfed--engorgement is no laughing matter!

It amazes me that this crazy organization has such a strong following. Why do we allow such crazy to be in power? (This reminds me of another similar question I have often asked, but I won't mention names) I can understand advocacy against cruelty to animals, but some of the things they consider cruelty is downright ridiculous. Dogfighting? Cruel. Drowning kittens? Sick. But milking cows? Not so much.

Now don't get your panties in a bunch and sit there and tell me that I have no idea what those poor cows go through. I know perfectly well what it feels like to be a milk cow. Every day I hook myself up to a milking machine several times to make mama juice for my kid, so you can just go and drink that tall glass of ice cold, creamy, frothy milk with those hot, fresh out of the oven, gooey chocolate chip cookies and get out of my face.

Anyway, PETA can't change 10,000 years of domestication with saran wrapped interns and pornographic ad campaigns (I'm sure there is something ironical about sex and meat in that). PETA wouldn't exist today if it weren't for our prehistoric ancestors milking a goat. I think they'd be better off changing it's name to People for the Ethical Treatment of Humans (PETH). They could definitely take their $30 million annual budget and do some serious good in this country, like feeding the homeless, green energy, or making sure schools have the money they need to better educate our children. Hell, if they wanna stick with the animal theme, then how about fighting the overpopulation of pets or financing pet schools or educating pet owners on potty etiquette!

In the meantime, I'm going to go make some mama juice and figure out how I'm going to make a mint off of breast milk ice cream for babies...Boobies 'n' cream, anyone?

Nos vemos,
Kelly

Giant Gerbil Balls and Bookworm Billa

It's not everyday that one can claim to have had the worst day of their life, but seeing as how Billa is only 7 months old at this point, she could definitely say that yesterday was the worst of the 219 she's experienced so far. (And in case you're wondering, yes, I really did spend time calculating that out)

Our tale starts when I left Billa asleep on our bed, surrounded by pillows, while I went to the bathroom. I finished the first most important task, checked on her and she was still asleep. I had just finished my second most important task, washing my face, when I heard a thump followed by a scream and crying. Mommy's worst nightmare became reality.

I ran into the bedroom to discover that my child had woken up, crawled over the pillows to my bedside table to play with the alarm clock and had fallen off the table, presumably when it slid over from her scooting onto it. I couldn't see her at first which almost made me lose it altogether, but I managed to remain calm enough to see her little hand from behind the table. I yanked the table aside totally forgetting that the aforementioned alarm clock was still on it, and still plugged in, so it came hurtling down onto poor Billa's head. Granted, it doesn't even weigh close to a pound, but no one likes being kicked when they're down.

She finally calmed down after a few minutes and many tears on both sides and we started to go about our business. I've always said kids were resilient, and she was up and scooting about in no time, but I still felt leery (and very guilty) so I looked in the Baby 411 book and decided to call the doctor. They weren't open yet (this was 7 am) so I talked to a nurse on call who sounded confident that the baby would be ok, but that if we saw any signs of bleeding, vomiting, etc to call Dr. Patil immediately.

Of course, when it rains, it pours and Billa bonked her head again a couple of hours later while playing downstairs in front of the living room windows. She was crawling to the window and lost her footing and smack! hit the windowsill with her forehead which is at her waist level. More tears and now we had a total of 3 goose eggs, 4 small bruises, and 1 unhappy baby. I decided to take her to the doctor to make sure everything was ok, especially since it was Friday and I'd rather avoid the ER over the weekend if I could.

The doctor made me feel better by telling me that I wasn't the first, nor would I be the last, parent to have this happen to them, and that in fact, her son had done it several times. Still, no one likes to deal with it. She gave Billa a clean bill of health and also recommended that while we were there we get the first of our two flu shots since they actually had some in stock. (On a side note, I have to take her back in a month from now, but I can't make the appt until two days prior since they don't know when or how much flu shot they will be getting. Lovely.)

So all in all, Sybilla had a terrible day what with multiple head bonkings and shots. I swear, I really need a giant gerbil ball for her so she doesn't hurt herself. Someone could make a killing selling those to paranoid parents!

Developmentally, she's gotten really good at crawling fast and pulling herself up to standing. Now she is learning to balance and lets go to stand still for several seconds! I'm certainly convinced that she'll most likely be walking by Christmas. Ah, how quickly babies grow! [sniff] Our little chunky monkey is catching up to Gumerry; she's only 3 pounds shy of his weight now. They weighed her at the doctor's office and she is 19.8 pounds. I had to buy her new clothes the other day since it's still so hot and we don't really have any good 12 month clothes for her. Yeah, you read that right, 12 month clothes. We have tons of cute dresses, but it's hard to crawl in those without tripping. (For anyone who ever considers giving clothes to parents for a new baby girl, here are two suggestions: 1. don't buy anything smaller than 3-6 months; 2. buy for the appropriate season and age! and 3. skip the cute dresses and give 'em cute seperates instead...it will cut down on the accidents as they get older and move more!)

Well, it is definitely bed time, and I leave you with a short clip taken about a month ago. I've been slow at editing the videos... I am hoping to make a compilation DVD for all of the grandparents as part of their Christmas present this year, but other things have cropped up. This one is short and sweet and cute... enjoy, and as usual,

Until next time,
K & Co.

New Slideshow is Posted!

New slideshow is posted... click on it to open up Picasa where you can view it bigger! Prayers to our friends and family in Baytown and Houston...we're thinking of you!

K & Co.

A New Princess in Town...

This entry will be relatively short, as I am feeling a bit under the weather and will actually make it into bed by 10 pm... shocker. Hurricane Ike is bearing down on the Texas coast and our thoughts are with all of our friends and family members that are in affected areas! We are hoping for some rain here and we could definitely use it. They showed a map on the weather channel the other evening with the driest parts of Texas on it, go figure, Central Texas was a splash of red in a sea of green. Someone needs to let God know he forgot to lift the lid on Austin!

Below is a picture I took today. This is what we have to look forward to when Sybilla is a teenager. I remember what I was like, and my husband has heard all the stories. I overheard Michael telling Sybilla "no" several times in a row, followed by a sigh of exasperation and telling her that he was going to have to teach her the meaning of no someday. I have some bad news for you honey... Redheads don't like the word "no." It does not exist in our vocabulary, nor is it an option! Besides, when you could ever tell me no?

Shut up and listen to me, Mommy! I'll be calling the shots 'round here now!

Enjoy the picture... I'll be posting a new slideshow and some videos hopefully before the weekend is up. Also, check out my new specs... they have pink! (I know, the world is coming to an end :o)

Ciao and stay safe,
Kelly and the Gang

Sound Off: Green Bags & High Fructose Corn Syrup

As the saying goes, if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy! I just have to take a moment here and sound off about two things that are hugely irritating to me.

First item up for discussion: Green Bags. The Green Bag movement is dear to my hippie heart in many ways and in case you aren't familiar with it, green bags are reusable shopping bags made from recycled plastic. I call them green bags since I first saw them at HEB and because of the whole "happy environment/stop global warming/go green" movement. Green bags come in many different colors and I have red ones from Target and green ones from HEB. They're actually pretty strong and I love their versatility. Plus, they're cheap to buy and make me feel oh so European. So why are they hugely irritating for me? For one reason alone: while it seems that everyone wants to use them, the people bagging your groceries are clueless at how to use them. I mean come on, do you have to put my produce and that gallon of milk in the same bag? And do you have to load one bag with ALL of the heavy items? I don't know how they even lift it up into the cart much less how they expect me to carry it out of my car and up the stairs to my kitchen! Or worse, they put two items into a green bag, call it a day, and then bag everything in the disposable plastic bags.

Honestly, I wish they'd just let me bag my own damn groceries. I've always had issues with grocery store baggers; it really irritates the piss out of me when I get home and I have broken eggs, squished bread, uncooked meat mixed with produce or baby stuff, and household products with the cereal. I like to have my cold stuff packed together to keep it cold, the delicate items placed seperately and my jugs of liquid non bagged. And for the love of God and all that's holy, please don't mix mothballs or soap products with any food products!!!! I don't understand how something so simple can get so screwed up. I actually enjoy it when the store is so busy that my cashier doesn't have a bagger and I get to bag my own groceries. If I could just bag my own groceries, I would be ecstatic. Yes, I am that nuts. But you know you love it :o)

My other beef is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Michael and I were watching TLC last night and saw several commericals from the Corn Refiner's Association touting the wonders of HFCS. For the idiots in the commercials who think that having sugar made from corn is ok, HFCS IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU. And for the idiots in the commercials that can't seem remember their own names much less why HFCS is bad for you, here's a reminder: the body does not recognize HFCS the same way it recognizes real, honest to goodness, genuwine sugar. Why might this be bad? Ah, well, let me step up onto my soapbox and tell you through the use of clever analogy!

After the legal amount of real sugar is consumed, Body the Bartender cuts you off and says you've had enough and calls you a cab. When you consume HFCS, it's like Body the Bartender matches you shot for shot until you've consumed an entire bottle of vodka each, the bar has long since closed, and offers to drive you home themselves. Friends do not let friends drive drunk. So what does this mean in plain English? THIS IS HOW PEOPLE GET FAT. With HFCS, you keep eating until you literally cannot fit anymore in your somach and yet you still want more. This is why you can chug a two liter of Coke and still not feel satisfied.

With obesity levels in this country soaring, I am shocked and amazed at the Corn Refiners' gumption to tout a product that is actually contributing to the problem. I wrote my college thesis on obesity in children and the numbers are not pretty. Schools are having a really tough time trying to educate students and their families about healthy eating and exercise. You'd think it was common knowledge, but it's not. And now, the stupid Corn Refiners are erasing all of that hard work by lying to the American people about HFCS. Corn Refiners of America, you are making people fat and killing them. Where is Homeland Security? Because I would think the number of deaths attributed to diseases caused by unhealthy food products is terrorism and unpatriotic. Oh wait, the corn industry is subsidized by Uncle Sam, so of course it's ok to keep on fattening us up like pigs for slaughter.

Now before you start wagging your finger in my face about my Oreo addiction, I hereby acknowledge that I do eat some products that contain HFCS. It's incredibly hard, and incredibly expensive, to go completely HFCS free. Believe me, I tried. The stuff is innocuous and insidious. The stuff shows up in everything from your cereal to your chocolate milk to your tomato sauce. It's cheap, easy to obtain, and so easy for food producers to use.

So what is our best defense? READ. Seriously! If more people actually stopped to read, and not just the internet or their email, they'd know that U turns are not allowed at certain busy intersections, that they cannot go down an up row at the foodstore (that's for you Kristin!), and just how far down the list HFCS is on their foodstuffs. They'd also know that the speed limit is 30 mph and that even though I am going 40, they can back the eff off of my tail while driving. But that, my friends, is for another sound off at a later date.

Goodnight,
Kelly