Monday, March 31, 2008

Obama and abortion, part III

It just keeps getting worse.

Here is SB1095.

More.

Here is SB1082.

Amends the Statute on Statutes. Defines "born-alive infant" to include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. Defines "born alive" to mean the complete expulsion or extraction from the mother of an infant, at any stage of development, who after that expulsion or extraction breathes or has a beating heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, regardless of whether the umbilical cord has been cut and regardless of whether the expulsion or extraction occurs as a result of natural or induced labor, cesarean section, or induced abortion. Effective immediately.


This is infanticide! The fact that abortions are allowed this late is pregnancy is truly abhorrent.

Obama and abortion, part II

Obama on why he did not support the bill:

"It would essentially bar abortions because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, and if this was a child then this would be an anti-abortion statute," Obama said in the Senate's debate in March 2001.


This is where abortion supporters start tying themselves into knots over the abortion issue. If it's not a child, then what is it? Why would it be a child if the mother wanted it?

I'm going to try to get a copy if this bill to see what it actually says.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Obama and abortion.

This is just disturbing. Candidate for President, Barack Obama voted against a bill that would allow doctors to provide medical care to babies who survived a late-term abortion.

In 2002, as an Illinois legislator, Obama voted against the Induced Infant Liability Act, which would have protected babies that survived late-term abortions. That same year a similar federal law, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, was signed by President Bush. Only 15 members of the U.S. House opposed it, and it passed the Senate unanimously on a voice vote.

Even NARAL "did not oppose" this bill. I have serious problems with someone who has such a callous disregard for life.

Here is another story on the subject.

Update: More on the story here.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Ground Zero 2008

 

Here is Ground Zero from today. There doesn't seem to be much building going on. Sure, there are a couple of cranes for show, so that the tourists don't get the wrong idea, but this is about how Ground Zero looked in 2003, when we first moved here. The building on the right in the picture is 7 World Trade Center and it is new (finished in 2006, I think). The building being constructed in the background is not the WTC, but another building entirely.
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I don't see this very often...

 
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It has been quite hectic around here lately. Anna Sophia spends far too much time screaming everyday. I think she has reflux or something. She spits up a lot and is my only baby who has needed to be burped and she has to be burped often during her feeding or everything comes up! I wish I could make her feel better.

I am reading A Little Princess to Caroline and Isaac. Caroline seems really interested in the book. She will bring it to me multiple times during the day to read it to her. I am not sure how much of it she pays attention to or understands, but it is a well-written children's book and reading to her is much better than plopping her in front of a movie. Caroline and Isaac will sit at my feet with their books and "read" while I read to them. It's become a routine in our family. Oh, and since we are talking routines, I want to add that putting Caroline and Isaac on the same schedule has worked wonders for us. We used to alternate naps, which was dreadful as we would be stuck inside all day waiting for so-and-so to wake up and trying to be quite while they sleep. Now, we eat lunch at 11:30 and we ALL nap from 12-3pm or so. It's wonderful.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

No mama, that's a Saltasaurus!

In our household, you better know your dinosaurs. While, going through one of our books on dinosaurs with Caroline, I pointed to what I thought was a brontosaurus, only to be corrected by my 3 year old. And she was right. Here is the wikipedia page on the saltasaurus. And, for the record, the brontosaurus is now officially called the Apatosaurus.

I am now teaching Caroline the Greek alphabet. Once we get the alphabet down, I will show her how to spell the dinosaur names in Greek. I am teaching her the lowercase version of the alphabet though, because the uppercase Greek looks too much like English and I don't want to confuse her.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

This is an interesting column from Ralph Peters on supporting the troops. I very much agree with his perspective.

We've seen President Bush dressed up in a flight suit, grinning like Alfred E. Neuman among troops who desperately want to believe in their commander-in-chief. We've seen Sen. Hillary Clinton do drive-bys in Iraq - just long enough to make political statements, pose with the troops, then zip home.

For his part, Sen. Obama at least has the integrity to not even pretend he cares about the troops - he doesn't go anyplace more dangerous than a Chicago church pew. No recent aspirant for the Oval Office has known or cared so little about our military.

I'm just damned angry. The right won't admit any mistakes in Iraq, while the left seeks to undercut progress there.

Honorable, valiant and tenacious, our troops deserve better leaders. Never in our history have we seen so profound a contrast between those who serve and those who decide how they should be employed.

We also face, for the first time, national-level leaders who would rather lose a war than lose an election.

What actions in Washington would truly honor those 4,000 dead service members?

* From President Bush, a straightforward, no-excuses apology for his administration's arrogance and earlier mistakes in this war.

* From Sen. Clinton, a public denunciation of her Hollywood pals (who keep funding movies portraying our soldiers as atrocity-addicted psychotics) and a commitment to listen to our leading generals before making any decisions regarding troop withdrawals.

* From Sen. Obama, a two-week visit to dirty-boots Army and Marine units in Iraq (not the Green Zone and no photo ops) and a pledge to give a fair hearing to military advice before surrendering to al Qaeda in Iraq.

* From both parties in Congress, a return to the policy that, in wartime, politics stops at the water's edge.

Fat chance. We'll see Osama bin Laden become a Baptist first.

Four thousand dead service members in Iraq? Does any reader of this column believe that Bush, Clinton or Obama has lost a single hour of sleep thinking about those troops and their families?

I suspect that pathetic can't-get-a-date-so-I'll-protest-the-war guy on the street corner down here in the DC suburbs felt a more-genuine concern than any of the above.

Biofuels and global warming

Interesting.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Earliest Easter in 90 years.

I thought Easter seemed a bit early this year. Turns out that its the earliest Easter in my lifetime. Here is the story.

Homeschooling

Caroline is sitting beside me making "letters" with her playdoh. It is a pretty typical morning for us. Both Isaac and Anna Sophia are napping and we are having school time. Usually school time involves playdoh, but not always. Sometimes it involves crayons and paper, markers, or glue and macaroni. Now that she is getting bigger, people are starting to ask me why she isn't in school. She looks like a 4 year old in size and I guess most 4 year olds are in school. I usually tell people that we homeschool and what follows usually is a quizzical look and a question that I am still having trouble answering. "So, you're waiting until kindergarten to put her in school?" Uh, no. I have every intention of homeschooling my children, because traditional school systems do not teach the things I want my children to learn.

In recent story in the New York Post, someone from the Department of Education was lamenting how sex education is not mandatory in all public schools and how in some schools students get 4 or five years of sex ed and in other schools there is no sex ed at all. In fact, this person was advocating that sex ed be taught to the same extent that math or reading is taught and taught in every grade level. So, of course, my first thought was that the school system wants to teach sex ed badly to a first grader?

Here is the direct quote:

"We believe it's time that we treat sex ed as seriously as we treat math or social studies," she said. "Our hope is that every kid will be taught sex ed in every grade every year."

I am not opposed to sex education per se, but I don't the public schools teaching that stuff to my children.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Amateur Dentistry on Daddy!

 
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Should I let this photo speak for itself? If you ever fail to supervise your almost-two-year-old son, it should not surprise you when you find the bottle of laundry soap open and upside down in the sink. My photo of the floor was not in focus, so I'll leave it to your imagination. Let me just add the the formerly full bottle is nearly empty now. *sigh*
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Isaac after his nap and afternoon outing.
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A family photo. It's tough to get everyone there and facing the camera.
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Anna Sophia is enjoying her very first Easter morning.
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I think I will pass on the Easter basket grass next year. What a mess!
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Happy Easter!

We are trying to get the kids together to go to church, but between you and me, I don't think it will happen today. Isaac is having his mid-morning nap right now, which will probably last until after lunch. I have photos I will post later.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

The Trivium and Classical Education

I have been examining the different styles of education recently and one particular method (classical education) has really appealed to me. Classical education is based on the concept of the trivium. The trivium divides a student's education into 3 parts.

First, is the Grammar Stage. The grammar stage consists of the early elementary years when children learn the rules and the facts about things and there is less focus on the whys and the hows. Children need to learn lots of things in the early years in order to have something to think about when they develop critical thinking skills.

Second follows the Dialectic stage. During this stage (middle school years)the concepts of logic and reason are taught. All the information learned during the grammar stage can now be fully analyzed.

The final stage is the Rhetoric stage in which the student learns to take their knowledge, examine it critically and be able to express it either in written or spoken form. In other words, children learn the science of communication and expression.

Here is a good summary of the trivium.
I meant to post this article a while ago, but I couldn't find it. Anyway, after a good bit of searching, here it is. The Tax Threat to Prosperity. It really is fascinating.

Finally asleep!

 
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Well, I finally got Anna Sophia to sleep. She has been either nursing or screaming all day. She is sleeping in her stroller, but whatever works, you know? Isaac and Caroline had a good day going to the playground. I hope there will be a lot more of that this coming summer. (Warm weather...where are you????!!!!!!!!!!)
Isaac surprised me yesterday by counting to 10! I was quite shocked because I didn't know he could count. He also knows his planets, all 9 of them. Good job Isaac!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Recipe

Here is one of my favorite easy recipes. It can be vegetarian, by the way.

Ingredients:

--Sweet potatoes

--Baked Beans (I love Bush's Vegetarian baked beans)

--Cream cheese (low fat, if you prefer)

Directions:

Wash sweet potatoes thoroughly. Pierce several times with a fork. Put in microwave safe dish and microwave until soft (cooked) throughout. Usually this takes 5-7 minutes per potato.

Remove sweet potato from microwave, cut down the middle to open and top with a spoonful of cream cheese. Add several spoonfuls of heated baked beans to the top of this mountain of deliciousness and voila! Yummy! It is a nutritionally complete meal and trust me, there will be no leftovers. The kids love this creation, as does my mom and Todd. Enjoy!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

My Target Adventure

Today, Anna Sophia and I took a field trip to Brooklyn. Brooklyn, for those unfamiliar with New York City, is another borough just across the river. From Where I live, it is a quick 1 stop on the subway or a rather long swim. We went to Target to buy some *ahem* essentials. Actually, nothing was really essential, just some random stuff for Easter. I was supposed to look at clothes, but I didn't really because Anna was crying and I wasn't in the mood. It was nice to get out, but it was even nicer to get home. I don't really enjoy shopping anymore, I guess.

Cosleeping

We have co-slept with Caroline and Isaac as babies and we are now co-sleeping with Anna Sophia. It makes life so much easier. I get plenty of sleep and Anna Sophia gets all the milk she needs at night. Our pediatrician even encourages the practice, so it makes me feel that much better. There is a lot of interesting research on co-sleeping and I thought I would post an article on it. Here it is.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Clothes

I hate clothes shopping. I actually asked Todd if I could hire a personal shopper to take care of this little problem for me. He said no and I probably wouldn't do it even if he said yes. I really need some clothes. I'm still half wearing maternity clothes and the other half don't fit, have holes, or are 5 years old. It's getting to a point that I have a pile of clothes to get rid of and an empty closet! I wish I understood fashion a little better...colors, styles, wide leg, boot cut, low riding, but it all seems quite beyond me. A friend and I went to Macys today (the one at Broadway and 34th St) and we looked around but everything was very expensive and I just can't imagine paying $30 for a plain cotton shirt. I ended up buying nothing and I'm back at square one. I found a scarf that was $400 and a $300 sundress. I don't think so!!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

I took all three kids out this morning and it was a lot of work. Preparations started early in the morning. I got the double stroller out and cleaned it up a bit (it was a mess). I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cut into convenient little squares. I secured a banana from the fruit basket. I also prepared a small bag of cashews and pretzels. Two cups of milk with lids. A fully stocked diaper bag. Cellphone. Keys. I put Caroline and Isaac in the double stroller and I carried Anna Sophia in my Moby wrap. Anyway, it was quite an event. I walked up Broadway and stopped at Staples, only to find that my order did not arrive. Oh well. I will pick it up tomorrow, hopefully.

Broadway is very crowded part of the city too. It is not fun pushing a stroller through throngs of tourists and the Wall Street crowd. I got several nasty looks and someone actually cursed at me. I'm not sure what it is about this city and strollers, but if you cross the wrong person, they start yelling or cursing at you. Once, I was using the subway with Caroline (she was in an umbrella stroller) and I needed to carry it up the stairs. I was at a very busy station, Grand Central, I think and I waited and waited for the crowd to thin out before carrying her and the stroller up the stairs. Finally, there was a small clearing at one of the stairwells and I made a dash for it. I got about halfway up the stairs when some young women started going down the very same stairwell. I gave them a quick glance because I did not want to have to turn to let them pass. I was the one carrying 30+ lbs of baby and stroller and I was there first!!! They started yelling at me telling me I had no right to be there during rush hour etc etc. I just ignored them, because I wasn't in the mood to point out that there actually exists no such rule. Most people are very nice and helpful on subways, but occasionally someone is in a bad mood and they take it out on the frazzled mom with 3 children! Not nice!

We made it home okay after stopping at the World Financial Center Winter Garden for lunch. I like it there because its public space and they have benches where you can eat lunch. The kids enjoyed eating their dinosaur shaped pb&js and dropping pretzels on the ground and I nursed Anna. When we finally returned home, I was completely exhausted and ready for a nap. Too bad the kids had other ideas. We played dinosaurs and read some books for a while. We had a few friends visit later in the day, then had dinner, a bubble bath, some stories and finally bedtime.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

update

Not a whole lot to report...newborns are a lot of work and I have been busy nursing day and night. Anna Sophia is nursing and sleeping well. Caroline adores Anna Sophia. When Anna cries, Caroline runs over to comfort her and say "baby Anna, it's okay!" and rubs her on the head. Isaac is now equally adoring. Yesterday, he came up to me and said "mama hug" and I hugged him. He said "no...hug Anna." I held Anna up for him and he hugged her. Awwww. I wish you all could have seen it!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Birth story--

Read it Here

For some reason it published under an earlier date. Hope you enjoy!

Saturday, March 08, 2008

 
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Well, I wrote out my incredibly long birth story and it appears that blogger lost it. :( I will write it again, but not today.

Friday, March 07, 2008

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Getting back to normal...

I'm slowly recovering my senses from adding a small, yet very needy, being to our family. I'm not sure what normal is anymore though. Nursing all night. Nursing all day. Surviving on microwave lasagna, roasted cashews, and Pirate's Booty. Anna Sophia is doing very well through it all and Caroline and Isaac adore her.

Saturday, March 01, 2008

Anna and the doctor

With all the fuss over Isaac last night, I never expected to be taking Anna to the doctor this morning. Fortunately, our pediatrician is open on Saturday (sickness doesn't wait, you know) and I was able to call in the morning and get an appointment. I saw the same doctor that I spoke with last night about Isaac. She seemed a little perplexed at first, but I explained that Isaac was actually feeling better. Anna woke up this morning with a very obvious eye infection, which was the reason for my visit. She looked Anna over carefully and took her temperature, since she is so young and her brother had been sick. No fever or anything. She has a 14 day prescription for erythromycin, the oral suspension, which must be administered 4x a day! Todd had to go to 3 pharmacies to find one that had this version of the drug. Apparently, it is an unusual way to dose this particular antibiotic.

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