Just another day...

Here's some picture's of the girl's from today. Nothing too special just your average day.

Amelia's new skill is standing. She can pull herself up sometimes too.

Maria requested that I take a picture of her, when she saw me taking one of Amelia. So here she is fooling around with her spoon when she was supposed to be eating her soup.

This is an interesting way to eat!

Amelia has discovered Maria's stash of 'credit cards'. She finds them very tasty.

"Don't leave home without it!"

Unanswered questions.

I just don't get what some people are thinking. I had an interview with a potential volunteer for ABB last night. I was expecting to be able to run through the usual drill, explain a little about our services, what volunteer positions that we need to fill, what training will be necessary, the hours you need to commit to, and then have her fill out the forms.

Instead I felt like I was the one being interviewed. But interviewed is too soft a word, it was really more like an interrogation. She rapid-fired questions at me, like she had a specific agenda that she wanted to run through. And they weren't "easy" questions, they were the big questions... the ones that on a good day take an hour or two to really explain in a convincing way.

I felt like I did back when I was joining the Church and had all those, well meaning, fundamentalists trying to "save my soul" and keep me from losing my faith. Just like them she didn't give me a chance to fully answer one question before she was on to the next in her list of "but what if?" extreme scenarios.

She pushed me to be specific, yet didn't really give me time to.

"But what would you say to someone considering an abortion?"

She wasn't satisfied when I said that that's something we learn in the training, she wanted an answer and she wanted it now. Then she wanted stats.

"How many minds have you changed?"

"What percentage of the women who call are seeking an abortion?"

Unfortunately, we don't keep detailed stats, yet. We're working on it, now that we have a database. But my question is, why would you need to know this sort of thing before you volunteer for a place? Or better, why would you need this information on first contact with a place? Why not wait for the specifics during training? At least the for the first question anyway.

Her other more outrageous questions included:

"What would you say to someone who called and said that she was raped and wanted an abortion?"

"What do you tell the clients about birth control?" - Followed by, "You don't tell them about birth control do you?" And then when I told her the answer, chastity counseling for single woman and NFP for married woman, she shot back a line of NFP questions.

"What's that?"

"Do you know anyone who practices that and finds it effective? My cousin used it and had twelve kids..."

"What's the difference between NFP and birth control? I don't see any difference. Do you see a difference?"

I told her about a study done in India which found effectiveness to be 99%. I mentioned this to show that even in places where the participants had less overall education, effectiveness was still high. Even after learning this, and hearing that the Pill can cause an early abortion, she still asked the following question:

"Oh, but what about the poor women in Africa, can you actually say that they shouldn't have the Pill? Those women who are so malnourished that they can't even produce milk for their babies and have to watch their children starve, one after another, shouldn't they have birth control? I'm not trying to argue here, I'm just trying to help you."

Argh. So what do you say to thinking like that? The person has already decided that certain things are true, and will come up with any situation, however extreme, where her view might be justified. And she doesn't really care to hear any explanation that goes against her already decided opinion.

I really do feel badly about it all. Given her age, I imagine that she is in that group of people who was told "the Church is changing the ban on contraceptives..." or "follow your conscience...." Maybe she used birth control herself; maybe she was even told by a priest that it was ok. Or maybe a friend was in one of the unfortunate situations she brought up.

It's harder then, to do the right thing, when you see the suffering that doing the right thing will cause. And it will often cause suffering of one kind or another to do the right thing. Especially when it comes to an crisis pregnancy. This is no easy way out of that situation. There are only moral and immoral choices, and suffering in one form or another.

And that is where we come in. Anyone who works at a crisis pregnancy center knows that our job is mostly just listening while a woman talks out her anger, sadness, fears and heartaches. We do all we can to ease the pain, but we can't ever take it away completely. All the resources we provide can't make the situation go away. And there is fallout for each of the choices that she could make.

Only God can bring good out of these situations, and that's why we encourage the woman we speak with to turn to God for comfort and solace in this trying time. Going against God's laws in an attempt to solve the hardship that these women face, would be doing them a disservice. For there is only more suffering to be had when we choose sin.

As for the questions that the woman asked, I do have answers, but I think most of you don't need to be convinced that abortion in any situation is wrong, and that contraceptives are not only wrong, but they are not the answer to the problems in Africa. However, if anyone wants to hear some explanations of these situations, just ask me. And I'll try to post some answers.

But please, if you ask, take time to listen to the answer.

Parking Lot?

If I were in charge of all things road related like PennDOT, I would still NOT leave my large expensive machines in the middle of the road on a holiday weekend. And if I did, I would definitely put several signs and lights warning people that they were there. A few cones just wouldn't suffice for me.

Pentecost

VENI, Creator Spiritus,
mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia
quae tu creasti pectora.

Qui diceris Paraclitus,
altissimi donum Dei,
fons vivus, ignis, caritas,
et spiritalis unctio.

Tu, septiformis munere,
digitus paternae dexterae,
Tu rite promissum Patris,
sermone ditans guttura.

Accende lumen sensibus:
infunde amorem cordibus:
infirma nostri corporis
virtute firmans perpeti.

Hostem repellas longius,
pacemque dones protinus:
ductore sic te praevio
vitemus omne noxium.

Per te sciamus da Patrem,
noscamus atque Filium;
Teque utriusque Spiritum
credamus omni tempore.

Deo Patri sit gloria,
et Filio, qui a mortuis
surrexit, ac Paraclito,
in saeculorum saecula.
Amen.

COME, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,
and in our souls take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heavenly aid
to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O comforter, to Thee we cry,
O heavenly gift of God Most High,
O fount of life and fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts are known;
Thou, finger of God's hand we own;
Thou, promise of the Father, Thou
Who dost the tongue with power imbue.

Kindle our sense from above,
and make our hearts o'erflow with love;
with patience firm and virtue high
the weakness of our flesh supply.

Far from us drive the foe we dread,
and grant us Thy peace instead;
so shall we not, with Thee for guide,
turn from the path of life aside.

Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow
the Father and the Son to know;
and Thee, through endless times confessed,
of both the eternal Spirit blest.

Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
with Thou, O Holy Comforter,
henceforth by all in earth and heaven.
Amen.

(Veni Creator Spiritus found here. Fuzzy Holy Spirit picture my own.)

Weekend fun

This morning we all went to the park, Jim and Maria to the playground, Amelia and I to Baby Boot Camp. I was pretty grumpy, because we were late, and it was HOT and HUMID. I am not a fan of summer weather. Luckily for me, the instructor had pulled a muscle in her back and was very willing to take it easy today, so I did a little cardio while she watched, and then we retreated to the shade for upper body work and abs.

After we were done, poor Amelia looked like she was starting to wilt. She looked up at me with big droopy eyes, as if to say "Why?". Poor thing. But we still had to extract Maria from the playground. I found Jim seated on bench under the half-finished gazebo, staring off into space. He looked wilted. "Maria's over there, with her friends," he said, gesturing in the general direction of the playground.

And there was Maria... running around with about 5 or 6 older kids, probably ages 7-11 or so. She was trying to ride one of their mini-bikes. She seemed completely unaffected by the heat. And she didn't want to leave, of course. We bribed her with one more ride down the slide and then dragged her off to the car.

In the car, I get the brilliant idea that since we're up and out "early" on a Saturday, i.e. before 10, we should drive around and check out the yard sale action. Very good idea. I found a silver plated candy dish for $1.50 that make a nice base for a smallish gift basket. We drove to another sale and found a backpack carrier for $5, so now we've got one for each girl. Great for when we go camping with my family. The best thing of all was the toddler-sized swing set. That's it in the picture above. For $30, it wasn't a bad deal, as it looks brand new. Now we at least have something in the backyard other than the sandbox to keep her occupied while I garden.

Now we're all hiding out inside though, as it's still hot and humid out there. Jim had planned for yardwork, but I think I'll be happiest if he just gets the air conditioner set up in our bedroom.

Voice-Activated

There are times when I'm really jealous of my husband's ability to fall asleep. Twice in the past week, he has demonstrated his amazing ability to drop off into a deep sleep with little or no warning.

The first time, was Friday night. I had had a really, really and busy day. We were in bed before I really had a chance to decompress and tell him about my day. So, at his request, I started to run through all that had gone on. I made it to ten o'clock, and then he laughed and said, maybe you'd better stop. But I didn't. I plowed on, for another minute or so, until I realized that he was very quiet. This struck me, as Jim is never quiet, unless he's sleeping. So to test my theory that he had fallen asleep I said, "and then aliens landed in the backyard." No response.

The second time, was just last night. I was chatting with him, just after we got into bed. I said something, I don't remember what and he laughed. "What?," I said. I really wanted to know why he was laughing at me. I got no response at all. Just breathing. Argh.

Twice in one week, I was left awake, and stirred up, unable to sleep. I really wish that I had a voice-activated sleep switch like that....

From the mouth of a two-year old...

"Oh, no! I made peanut butter all over my seat!"

"I've got a cold. My nose is running away from me."

"I have a head, and baby Mee-ya has a head. Mommy has a head, and Daddy has a head. Daddy took his head to work with him."

My NFP Post

In the past few weeks, my husband and I, and some of our friends, have been involved in a debate over NFP with some traditionalist Catholics. I have posted a rather lengthly argument for widespread teaching of NFP at Natural Family Life, my husband's blog. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Food!

Intentionally this time, Amelia has had her first taste of real food. Yummy! She really seemed to enjoy it and finished the whole serving that I'd prepared for her.

Ah, the anticipation!

First taste.

"Mmmm, this is good!"

"With two spoons, I can get more food faster!"

"No more pictures, I"m trying to eat!"

* that's avocado in case you're wondering... no rice cereal first here... maybe next week.

Milestones

Amelia's growing so fast that I can barely keep up with her. Here are a few pics from the past few days highlighting her achievments.

Here she is sitting up. She's getting really good at getting into this position and has less and less trouble staying in it without falling over.

Okay, so maybe if you can enlarge this you'll see her teeth. I spent about 5 minutes trying to catch glimpse of them and this is the best that I got.

Here she is sitting up and playing with D. Doesn't she look sporty in her new outfit, all the way from England? (*thanks to Mom-Mom for the new clothes)

The Mary, Mary, Month of May

The month of May traditionally Mary's month. As such, I thought it would be nice to have some resources up for those wishing to honor Mary.

University of Dayton
Blessed Virgin Mary Art Page
Dave Armstrong's Index of Apologetic Posts on Mary
Marian Prayers
Women for Faith and Family - Mary Page

Fair WARNING, I only briefly scanned most of these pages, so I can't be sure that they all contain orthodox info. If you find anything on any of them that is questionable, let me know, and I'll remove it from the above list. If you find any other sites that may be helpful let me know and I'll add them. Really great sites may be permanently added in the sidebar, so take some time this month and read up on Mary and let me know which sites you'd like to see get a permanent link.

Life in the Lap of Luxury

As it's the little things that make life truly luxurious, here's a list of the little luxuries from my day:

1. a nice hot shower, without anyone crying or whining at me (thank you, Barney)
2. both girls taking a nap at the same time
3. sitting on the deck, nursing Amelia and taking in the beautiful spring air
4. planting those bulbs that I've had around for several weeks
5. the feeling of damp earth, the wind through my hair and sunshine through the trees
6. the sounds of Amelia playing and discovering grass.
7. getting to go to benediction on the final night of the 40 hours devotion at church
8. getting to go ALONE to 40 hours (thank you, Jim)
9. the smell of incense
10. singing in Tantum Ergo
11. finishing the day with cake, ice cream, and glass of good wine, and a little blogging

Another Blog Thing

Your Scholastic Strength Is Deep Thinking

You aren't afraid to delve head first into a difficult subject, with mastery as your goal. You are talented at adapting, motivating others, managing resources, and analyzing risk. You should major in: Philosophy Music Theology Art History Foreign language

What Should You Major In?

Storytime with Maria

Today, as I was getting an outfit for Amelia, Maria came into the room and picked up one of her Bible board books. She opened it up to the first page, the story of Creation and she said, "One Sunday morning, the warm sun came up and, POP! Out came one little Jesus..."

And I nearly died laughing.

When you don't have paper....

...legs will do.

Progress

So this is a little late, but Amelia hit the half year mark this past Thursday. She also managed to pull off another milestone that day, getting her first tooth. Here's a picture from that day of Maria and Amelia playing "together" with Maria blocks. The time flies by so fast.

Run for Life

This weekend marked the 8th annual Run for Life, benefiting A Baby's Breath Crisis Pregnancy Center. Jim and I walked the 5K with Amelia and Maria along for the ride in the stroller. It was a beautiful day for the race, unlike last year which was drizzly and cold. Still haven't heard the total amount collected for the center, but I'll post it when I find out. For anyone wishing to donate to ABB, check out the Angel Club link on the website.

The runners lining up for the start of the one mile "fun run." Hard to see in this pic, but this is where all the other people with strollers were. We had the only stroller in the 5K. Luckily for me, Jim did most of the pushing.

Maria and her "ladies." This group of girls came with a team, so they got matching t-shirts. Maria saw them standing in the field and went running over to them. When they asked her what her name was she said, "I'm two." Later while we were doing the 5K, Maria kept asking where her "ladies" were. She was very excited to find them again after the race.

This old barn and tractor were part of the scenery along the path. Jim really wanted to take the tractor home. I told him he could, if he was willing to push it.

Here's Jim doing the hard work of pushing the girls. I started out pushing them, but gave up after the first half-mile. Luckily, I had Jim to back me up.

Here's the biggest surprise of the day... Jim took third place in his age group! With a time of 53 minutes who'd have guessed that any of us would get a medal.

Beauty and the Fall

A recent post by Dean Abbott, has got me thinking about the nature of beauty and how it relates to the Fall.

He writes:

"The loss of that physical beauty in a woman is no small blow, not something to be dismissed lightly.

Like the weakening of our faculties as we age, the vanishing of much of a woman’s beauty over the years is a mark of the Fall. Our bodies are subject to wear and death not as part of nature, but as a result of the presence of sin in creation."

According to JP II's theology of the body, we show forth the glory of God in and through our bodies. So it makes sense that our bodies would also tell the tale of the Fall. As babies, our bodies speak most clearly of the eternal life God wants for us. Babies glow and bubble forth newness, and vitality. They are (for the most part) untouched by sin, and exude innocence.

As we grow, spending more time in this world, we lose that innocence and beauty that we once had. Our time in this world is a time of encountering more and more sin, our own and that of others. We become more and more marred by the marks of sin, scars that effect not only our souls, but our physical bodies as well. Sin harms the whole person.

This gradual loss of physical beauty serves as a visible reminder of the cumulative effects of sin. Because this loss of physical beauty is symbolic of the ever increasing ravages of sin it is as Dean says, "no small blow."

I have some more thoughts on this, related to why women are most susceptible to this diminishing beauty, but I'll have to leave them for another post.

Days of whine and noses

The past week or so have been rough, as everyone but me (so far) has had a cold. First Maria, then Jim, then Amelia, and now Maria again. I thought it was gone but it's back. So now I've got two little noses to take care of. Fortunately, Maria can blow her own nose, at least some of the time. But she seems more tired and more fussy than usual. And definitely more whiny.

Amelia, on the other hand, had no idea why I'm always coming at her with a tissue, or worse yet the "snot sucker." She just knows that she hates it and wants not part of it, thank you very much. As soon as she sees me coming for her nose, she begins tossing her head all around, and usually ends up wiping a good amount of the snot on me, the couch, the pillow... anywhere but the tissue. Ah, what joy!

But spring is here! And with it comes an end to the cold season, and hopefully the only nose I'll be wiping is my own (darn allergies).

Lunchtime woes

Maria: (Crying) Oww...

Me: What's wrong sweetie? Did you bite your tongue?

Maria: No, I not bite my tongue... I bite peanut butter and jelly.

Me: (stifling a laugh) Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

Ready to Go.

Amelia is becoming much more mobile, and is starting to be able to scoot across the floor on her stomach. When she wants to move, she first gets up on her hands and toes, then lunges forward. This picture shows her starting position... it just happens to also be a Pilates position called the Plank. Try it out sometime, it's great for developing your abs.

More Easter Pictures.

Maria's giant "Bob" basket.
Lovely ladies in "boo-tifool" bonnets

The girl's in their matching Easter dresses. Matching Easter smiles not included.

Amelia discovers a camera case and finds it "oh, so yummy."

Easter Pictures

Coloring eggs for the first time. Maria liked drawing on the eggs with her crayons... unfortunately eggs are round and hard to hold , so she dropped a few in the process .
Here's a picture of some of the Easter booty.

And here's a shot of the finished eggs, all arranged in Amelia's basket.

Too much fast food

You know that you've stopped at the drivethru one too many times when your two-year old starts saying, "I want to go in french fry house!" as soon as she sees anything that resembles a McDonald's. Another clue is when the same two-year old is playing with her "money card" and asks "I'd like a #1, peez."

Gardening

Since it we had lovely weather the past few days, I've been spending much of my time outside attacking the weed pit that I call my flower garden. Here's a picture of the garden halfway through weeding.
And here's a picture of some of the "good browns" that I got out of the garden for use in the compost pile. These are the remains of flowers from last year and leaves from the oaks out front. Anything else, like dead weeds etc., I'm not using on the compost heap this year since I don't want to inadvertently spread the weeds via left over seeds.

These are some of the bulbs that I plan to put in this year, begonias, dahlias and a shady mix including ferns for out front.

I really want to get a few more roses to put in, but I can't decide where they should go. And I haven't had much luck keeping the roses that I do have looking nice for the whole summer. I keep trying but something makes the leave fall off after the first bloom. Any advice is appreciated.

Spring

Here are some pictures to cheer everyone up as we are once again experiencing chilly weather and in some places snow.

The good, the bad and the ugly.

This past weekend was fairly busy for us. There was the retirement party for Jim's dad, which my parents came down for. Then there was Palm Sunday and Becky's choir concert.

Here's a summary of the good, the bad and the ugly from this weekend.

The Good: my parent's visiting, seeing family and friends at the party, lots of yummy food, making it to Mass on time, a Sunday afternoon nap, Becky's choir singing in Latin :)

The Bad: staying up way too late, eating too many desserts, a stranger striking up a conversation with Maria during the Gospel reading (then saying "She's ok." when we pick her up and tell her to be quiet, grr...), Amish kids on Rumspringa (thank you netflix)

The Ugly: Maria after missing several hours of sleep, seeing a half-moon from a man in front of us at Mass...eww.

Check it out...

I added a new site to my "Fun Stuff" link on the left. Kunst der Fuge has midi files of various composers' works. It's not like listening to a great orchestra performance, but you can get a good idea of what the music is supposed to sound like. And to my great pleasure, they have Gustav Holst's Suite in E flat, something I've longed to hear since I played in in District Band, many moons ago.

Happy listening folks.

Note to Self:

When you let Maria play in the sandbox, be sure to shake her off, take off her sandy clothes and hose her down before you let her take a nap in your bed. Unless you enjoy sleepy between gritty sheets.

Argh.

So I had a doctor's appointment today. Not just any doctor, a specialist. Since, my appointment was at 10:45, I knew that I'd have to leave the house at 10. So the girls and I got up, got dressed, Maria and I ate breakfast and then I fed Amelia. Oh, and I showered somewhere in there, put on Caillou for Maria, filled a sippy cup and packed a diaper bag.

Anyhow, at about 9:40 I'm looking over the paperwork that they sent me, and I realize that it says..."Bring your lab results with you to the appointment. DO NOT rely on the mail or fax." Argh.

I know that I read this before... but I thought that it only said "do not mail". Silly me I thought having the info faxed would be enough... after all they provided the fax number on the form. So not panicking (ok, maybe slightly panicking), I call the number. Busy signal. Wait a minute. Hit redial. Busy signal. Repeat this 6 times. Pack up the girls. Put everything down and try one more time. Argh.

Finally I get through to someone. I'm put on hold while they check for the forms. The nice lady asks when they were supposed to be sent. Argh.

"I dunno? the beginning of March?"

Nice Lady: "ok, then they might be up front, hold on a minute.... Ah, here they are in your file."

Good. At least I don't have to run to pick them up before going to the appointment. But now it's already 10:10. I'm supposed to be dropping Maria off with Pop at 10:15. Argh.

Run for the car... find Maria downstairs in her stroller.

"I riding in 'troller mommy!"

Put Amelia in car. Get Maria out of stroller, put stroller in trunk and Maria in her seat. Drive.

10:24 - drop Maria off with Pop. Drive.

10:40 - arrive at doctor's office. Look at packed waiting room full of grumpy faces. Check in, and overhear a woman on her cell phone saying... "I'm still here, and I had a 9:15 appointment." Argh.

After filling out the HIPPA paperwork, I scan for a place to sit. There are three spots, all next to someone else. I pick the old man in the corner, hoping that he's not allergic to babies. He isn't... he and his wife spend the next 10 minutes making noises and faces a Amelia. She smiles back, coos and put on quite a show. The other people in the waiting room look jealous... they have nothing so interesting to entertain them.

Meanwhile, I sit and calculate how far behind they are....I figure I have about an hour and a half wait ahead of me. Argh.

I then sit and wonder how many people I can offend if I have to breastfeed Amelia in this waiting room. All of them are old and the way we're packed in there is no way I'll be able to go unnoticed. I spend some time worrying about this, then figure... if it comes to that I'll just demand that they let me use one of their rooms. Then I spend time trying to remember who was in the room when I walked in and who has come in since I got here. Looks like about 10 people ahead of me. Argh.

Then I watch the drug reps come in. This provides some entertainment, as they are all dressed alike and carrying large bags. I start to amuse myself by guessing which ones will stay for an audience with the doctor and which ones will decide to leave.

As, I'm near the door, and the reception desk I get to over hear all kinds of privileged information, including the receptionist discussing her medical condition with the drug rep., and the drug rep handing out free medical advice... essentially, "try our drug." Isn't there a saying, "don't trust someone who's trying to sell you something?" (maybe I made it up, but it's sounds true to me."

I also get to hear about the receptionist's father, who because of a freak accident in which he swallowed a chicken bone, now has to have his throat stretched twice a year. (eww...)

Finally, my name is called. Unfortunately it's a false alarm. Argh.

They just want to get my weight before I see the doctor. He will be with me shortly. I wait five more minutes, then call Pop and let him know that I'm going to be late as it is now the time that I said I'd be there to pick Maria up. Five minutes later and the doctor comes to get me.

Amelia is now starting to get fussy. I rock her with one hand while letting the doctor check my blood pressure, pulse, etc... I give him my history... he checks the chart a couple times. Finally, he says, "I agree with your doctor, you have X. I think that you should stay on the medicine. Come back if you doctor feels that you need to see me again. I'll meet you at the front desk."

Huh? That's it? Wait, I have questions...to late he' s already gone. So, in all I waited an hour and 45 minutes for 5 minutes with a doctor, a specialist, who didn't give me a chance to ask any questions, and whose only advice was keep taking the medicine.

ARGH.

What you get... (#2)

...when you come to check on your "sleeping" babe, after you've fixed breakfast for big sister.
...when you try to button up the sleeper after changing a diaper.

...when you try to catch picture of Amelia smiling.

What you get... (#1)

...when you get up from blogging to clean up after breakfast.
...when you feed your two-year old a muffin (yes those are all muffin crumbs from one day).

...when you pop in a video, so that you have time to blog.

...after you're done blogging and ask two year old what she wants to do. ("Go Outside!")

Opposites

Toxic Waste

I found this column by Archbishop Chaput linked on Feminine-Genius. It's great to hear a bishop speaking out about this problem. I only wish that he would have made mention of the "non-porn" porn that floods into our homes on a daily basis, in sitcoms, commercials and even the news. These subtle (or not so) images which are the Sirens of the modern age, calling to us and beckoning us ever closer to the rocky shores of pornographic addiction. These images act as a gateway, breaking down our sense of propriety, causing us to view as normal and acceptable that which is abnormal and outrageous. They fuel and fan the flames of addiction, making it that much harder for a person to pull himself out of the mire.

I agree with the Archbishop that pornography is "the biggest single environmental crisis we face" and I applaud his courage for speaking out, but I feel that the problem goes even deeper than what he addresses in his column.

Personality Test:

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have medium extroversion. You're not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party. Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences. But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your "down time." Conscientiousness: You have medium conscientiousness. You're generally good at balancing work and play. When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done. But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it. Agreeableness: You have high agreeableness. You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly. Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone. You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance. Neuroticism: You have high neuroticism. It's easy for you to feel shaken, worried, or depressed. You often worry, and your worries prevent you from living life fully. You tend to be emotionally reactive and moody. Your either flying very high or feeling very low. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is high. In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas. You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits. A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Vaccine Info

Since Amelia had her first vaccinations yesterday I spent some time looking for info online about ethical alternatives to vaccination created from aborted babies. In the course of my search I found this site, that lists US-approved alternatives for all but the rubella vaccine. It also has a lengthy discussion of what Catholics are morally obligated to do if no alternative vaccine exists.

I found it pretty interesting, though I'm not sure that I agree that rubella is enough of a threat to warrant vaccinating in spite of the lack of a morally acceptable vaccine. Especially since a morally acceptable vaccine does exist in Japan, but just isn't approved here yet. According to this site, they were able to get the vaccine from Japan by just getting their doctor's approval. Of course, they are located in the UK so I don't know how it works here, but maybe if people get together and lobby for it we can get the morally acceptable rubella vaccine approved in the US. Or at least made available with the permission of a doctor.

Pajama Day

I was tired and grumpy and really didn't feel like doing anything today, so I declared a pajama day. However, I decided this after I was already dressed so it was just the girls who stayed in their pj's.

It has been a rough couple of weeks with all of us having colds (Maria's still pretty stuffy), and Amelia receiving her first vaccinations yesterday. Last night was tough, as Amelia's leg got all swollen, red and hot around where she got the shot. She spent about an hour screaming before I could get her to calm down and fall asleep. Later, I was able to get her to take some Tylenol before Jim lulled her to sleep again, but it made for a nasty end to the day.

So today, instead of the usual chaos of trying to get keep the girls occupied while I clean, I just let Maria pick a video and there she sat for an hour watching intently. She selected Winnie the Pooh's ABC's, so really it was an educational DVD. It even has a bonus feature where it shows the letter, gives the sound of the letter, shows how to write both the upper and lower cases, and gives a picture of one word that starts with that letter. You have a choice to do the whole alphabet or just a select certain letters. So again it was educational, really.

I think Maria had fun. She's been bugging me to let her wear her 'jamas all day for weeks. It's really been a struggle to get her dressed in the morning. I think that she was especially pleased that they were her penguin pajamas, as she is very fond of these.

I know that I enjoyed it... I even got a nap of sorts. I had Amelia snuggled on one side of me, and Maria on the other. And for about 10 minutes all was quiet and calm. Then Maria began to squirm, and then sing. I shushed her and told her to be quiet and sleep, it was naptime after all. But she persisted... she tucked her feet under me, then she got up and tried to sleep on my head (not so comfy). Finally, I told her to just go read a book if you're not going to sleep. This actually worked... for a few minutes she was quietly reading a book. Then she began to read, aloud, her version of Green Eggs and Ham.

It went something like this... "that Sam I am, I do not like that Sam I am. I am Sam. I do not like Sam I am. I do not like green eggs and ham." She kept repeating these lines in varying orders until I finally decided to give up and end the non-nap nap.

Ah, well.... even a pajama day is more interesting with kids.