Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

(He's my hero, too, Baby!)

We interrupt this regularly scheduled post about something controversial to discuss something not at all controversial.

So my birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I turned 30. Yeah, kind of a big birthday, huh? And yet, magically I don't feel old. If anything, I feel like Finally! I'm not a 20-something anymore! I have some credibility to my name now, right? (Don't answer that.)

In pondering what 30 years meant in my life I came across the realization that it meant my husband has now been IN my life as long as he was OUT of it! Isn't that awesome? I bet not many 30 year olds can say that they've known their spouse for half their life. Brent can't say it yet. ('Cause he's old!....33!) :) This is the time of year I always get nostalgic remembering the beginnings of my relationship with Brent.

I've decided this post is going to be dedicated to the most incredible man I know. (And I can do that, 'cause it is (was?...it still counts if it's within a month, right?) my birthday.)

Brent and I met at church when he suddenly thought I was cute enough to talk to. Then we flirted at church for a few weeks until he asked me out. I declined. And in utter shock he asked me why. My answer: I'm still 15.

This is when it all started. There was something there right from the beginning.

The next few months went by with me trying to see him at every possible opportunity. I'd drag my friend, K, along on walks every single night and we'd just *happen* to go around his block, like 30 times hoping he'd be outside of his house one of those times. I think he started to get the idea of what I was doing and so would just *happen* to be hanging out outside his house on more than a few evenings.

We had a few good nights of talking that way. Then he got his mission call. And I was absolutely bummed. No, not because he was leaving (although I knew I'd miss him, of course I WANTED him to go on his mission), but because of the date he was leaving. October 18, 1995. When was my 16th birthday? October 28, 1995. Lovely. See the dilemma that presented?

Over the next few weeks we started talking on the phone a bit, and I'd still go walking past his house as often as I could. Oh, and we always had church to flirt. We both would try to get to sacrament meeting early so we could make our families sit near each other. As time for his departure drew closer, I realized what I had to do. I HAD to spend as much time with this guy as possible before he left. Even if that meant we were awfully close to that "dating" line. (For those of you who may not know, I wasn't supposed to date before I was 16.)

So it went like this.....
Saturday October 14th. His mother's birthday. She just happened to be my Mia Maid advisor. So what else would a wonderful young woman do on her leader's birthday but take her a cake? Good excuse, right? And possibly racking up some points with the possible-future-in-laws. (Yes, I was already thinking along those lines.) And of course, like any good Young Women leader would, she invited me in to share a piece with her. And who would just happen to be home to help eat that cake? I think you can guess. (Plus I made chocolate cake, which I came to find out later, Brent can smell from miles away.)

Sunday the 15th. Brent's farewell. I secretly hoped he'd say something "in code" to me during his talk. He didn't. Back then they still had the get-togethers after the farewell where everybody in the neighborhood comes to the missionary's home to give congratulations and money. Lucky me, my parents were friends with his parents, so we HAD to go, right? And lucky me, my little brother was his little brother's best friend, so I was doing my duty as a sister to stay there the ENTIRE time while the 2 young boys went off to play together. SOMEBODY had to walk the kid home, right? (He was 12 at the time.)
So there I sat on his living room couch watching everybody come in and out and vying for his attention, which he gave me every spare second he could. Then when things were slowing down and people had stopped arriving, he took me downstairs and showed me the mission pictures he'd had taken. I, of course, told him I wanted a few. He let me have 2. They stayed in my wallet for the next 2 years.
We said goodnight on his front porch and gave each other a big hug. I think this was where my addiction to his hugs first started. It's like Cocaine-- one shot and you're hooked.
We made plans to go for a walk together the next night.

Monday the 16th. He picked me up sometime after dinner and we walked to the elementary school. He held my hand. Sigh. We talked and talked. I knew I'd never met another boy like him. I could automatically be myself and he liked me! Better yet, he didn't play games. He came out and told me he liked me. I knew I had a winner.

Now this is the part where anyone under the age of 18 needs to stop reading. What happens next is not something I condone for the youth of today. But please don't ask me if I have any regrets because I will tell you: ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

When it was nearing time to get home, he asked me if he could kiss me. (Another check mark under "this guy's even better than I thought".) So we kissed for a bit and then he walked me home.

Tuesday the 17th. Brent came to the highschool (the seminary, actually, since that was my class right before lunch) and picked me up for a lunch "hang out" (still not calling it a date). We got some Wendy's and drove up to a park. I sluffed (remember that word? that's a funny word!) the rest of the day of school and spent that time with Brent. We talked and ate and kissed and talked. And all the while I was wishing that we'd met even sooner so that I could've had more time with him before he left. More than that I was wishing I'd been born a few months earlier, dang it! Then it would've all been "legal". After our non-date (wink, wink) Brent took me home and left to go finish his preparations for leaving on his mission the next day. We talked again on the phone that night and the next day he was gone.

Now for those of you thinking Brent was being "naughty" and could not be considered worthy to enter the MTC the day after kissing a girl, I'll have you know that he felt tremendous guilt about it. So much so that he had a conversation with his Branch President about it, wherein his BP proceeded to laugh at him and tell him to get back to his studying.....which he did.

The next 2 years were spent writing letters back and forth that took at least 2-3 weeks to get to each other. We sent a few audiotapes (which I listened to as I went to bed.....I STILL love that man's voice. Nothing else can give me goosebumps the way his voice can). Sent a few packages. Wrote my name "Ann Maiden-name Brent's-last-name" on all of my notebooks 50 million times. He baptized a bunch of people, I dated a bunch of guys. Some total losers (ask me about the guy who wore holey sweat pants on our date, had terrible halitosis, BO, no sense of personal space, and made me pay for everything), and some really great guys. The problem was, it always came down to the same issue. None of them were Brent.

2 years passed by, he came home and we picked up right where we left off. Only this time, I had to ask permission to kiss him for the first time since he was fresh off a mission and still freaking out about a girl even holding his hand, let alone kissing said girl.

I want to note one funny story since it should've been the first clue to Brent of what embarrassment being with me would bring him. My brother got married October 17,1997....exactly 2 years after our non-date (wink, wink). Brent came to the reception that night where I caught the bouquet (I think there might've been some hair pulling and toe stomping to get it), after which I immediately turned around to see if Brent had witnessed my fortunate ("fortune"-ate?) catch and to give him "the look". Of course everybody else also witnessed this entire display of "Yes, Brent, I will marry you." I think Brent turned about 10 shades of red. Silly man, he should've known it wouldn't be the first time I'd make him blush. And yet he still asked me to marry him just 4 months later. I'll tell you all about THAT story another time. Because it's also quite the story.

And somehow I've managed to hold onto him through 11 1/2 years of marriage and 5 kids and a whole lot of embarrassment. (Although he now claims he doesn't get embarrassed by me anymore. I don't know if that means I'm less embarrassing now or he's just gotten better at controlling his blushing. Most likely the latter.) And somehow he still loves me. That's enough right there to deserve some kind of trophy!

Thank you, Brent, for being the man of my dreams. You are my Prince Charming riding up on your white horse (or Nissan pick-up truck, Mercury Tracer, Saturn L200, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Acura TL, did I miss any?) to rescue me from a life of......well, from a life without you, which is something I never want to experience. Thank you for making HALF OF MY LIFE the most wonderful life I could ask for. I can't wait for the next 15 years!

I love you!

A Clarification

My friend, Cindy, made a good point and I wanted to follow up on it. You don't need the most expensive carseats on the market to have a safe child. What you do need is for the carseat to fit the child, fit the car, be installed correctly every time, be used correctly every time (meaning the child buckled in correctly every time), and for the carseat to not be expired or have ever been in an accident.

People sometimes wonder why carseats expire and think that it's just a way to get consumers to spend more money. But that's not true. Carseats do, unfortunately, expire. The plastic ages, just like anything else. Those of you who've ever left children's play toys out in the yard all summer (or all winter) are probably familiar with how the plastic is not quite the same after.

Different carseats expire after different amounts of time, though, which is also a reason for different price tags. Most carseats expire after 6 years. Some are as few as 5, though. There are a few that are 7 (the Learning Curve True Fit), the Radian has an 8 year life span, and the Britax Frontier and Graco Nautilus both have longer life spans (can't remember how long off-hand....8 or 9 years).

There are carseats I would NEVER recommend getting....not because they're dangerous or anything, but because some are just known to have issues. Some have issues with getting a good fit in most cars and some have issues with kids being comfortable in them, and some have issues with being outgrown way too early because of low weight-limit or low top-harness-slots.

For instance, on my carseat board, the Graco Comfortsport is often referred to as the Crappysport. They make the CUTEST covers on these, they're not super-expensive, and you can buy them off WalMart's shelf, which I know entices parents to buy them. The problem is that they only rear-face up to 30 lbs (not good at all) and only forward face to 40 bls. (also not good). BUT most kids can't even make it to 40 lbs in them because their top harness slots are so low, a lot of kids outgrow them by age 3, if not before.

If you love Graco, go with the new My Ride. It rear-faces to 40 lbs and forward faces to 65 lbs. It's a MUCH better convertible carseat than the Comfortsport (although I like others even better).

Carseats are so easily used incorrectly. I'll explain how to correctly use them.

1) Pay attention....the FIRST thing you need to do is read the owner's manual for your carseat AND for your car. When cars have LATCH anchors, there are sometimes rules about where carseats need to be installed with the LATCH anchors. For example, in our old Honda Accord, there are 2 sets of LATCH. One in each outboard position. If you want to put a carseat in the middle position, you have to use the seatbelt. Honda doesn't allow "borrowing" of LATCH anchors. Also, most vehicle manufacturers have a weigh limit on the LATCH anchors. So if you have a 65 lb-limit forward-facing carseat, you may not be able to install it using the LATCH anchors if your child is over 40 lbs. You'd need to use the seatbelt.

2) Now they need to be installed in your car the correct way. Make sure the LATCH belt or seatbelt (whichever you use) is through the correct belt path. (For convertible carseats, there are 2 different belt paths.)

3) Then you do acrobatics getting the carseats in as tight as possible. If you have locking seatbelts, you pull them all the way out and then let them back in, all while pulling to make sure it's super-tight. Once installed, grip the seat near the belt path and pull side-to-side and front-to-back and make sure there's no more than 1 inch of movement. (The idea is to make it part of the car.) To get mine tight enough, I have to kneel on the carseat while tightening the seatbelt. For other types of seatbelts, there are different rules that I'm unfamiliar with since I don't have any other kind of seatbelt in my cars. (If you have different seatbelts, check your car manual and carseat manual for instructions. If you need help, contact a local carseat technician (CPST) who will teach you how to correctly install your carseats for free.)
If you're using a forward-facing carseat, attach the tether anchor (over the back of the seat) and tighten as much as possible. (Note: Make sure you get a good install BEFORE you attach and tighten the tether anchor.) If you're using a convertible carseat for a rear-facing child that allows for the tether anchor to be used rear-facing, go ahead and attach that now. (Only 2 companies currently allow this-- Britax and Sunshine Kids.)

4) Once the carseat is installed rock-solid, you can get your child in it securely. For rear-facing children, the harness needs to be at or below the child's shoulders. For forward-facing children, the harness needs to be at or above the child's shoulders. Always keep the straps as close to the child's shoulders as possible (ie. don't have the shoulder straps coming out 4 inches above the child's shoulders when there are harness slots closer to the child's shoulders).
Now buckle the child and tighten the harness. It needs to be tighter than most people think. If you can grasp the harness strap by the child's shoulder and pinch it together, it's too loose. Go here to see a picture guide.
The chest clip needs to be at armpit level, not down by their bellies.
Tada! Now you've got a great installation!
One note for rear-facing children. For newborns, the angle of the carseat should be 45 degrees from vertical. Sometimes to get this angle correct, you need to use a tightly rolled-up towel underneath the carseat. (Sunshine Kids doesn't allow for this, but trust me, you won't need it with their carseats.) Once the baby has better neck control, you can install the seat a bit more upright. Up to 30 degrees from vertical, but no less than that.

Now for a bunch of common no-nos:

-Don't use any after-market products. No woolly blankets that go behind the baby, no harness strap covers (that didn't come with the carseat), no belt tighteners like this one. (I know it's from the same company that makes the Radian, but DO NOT USE IT!) And no using those plastic seat-protector mats that go under the carseat. You can use a thin towel if you really feel the need.
So basically, if it didn't come with the seat, don't use it.

-Don't leave the straps twisted. If you have a carseat with twisted straps, take the time to untwist them every time. Basically if you leave them twisted, it's going to feel like a rope is holding your child back in an accident.....no fun for the kid.

-Don't leave your kids in big, fluffy coats in their carseats. The harness can't get tight enough and the coat WILL compress in an accident leaving your child in a loose harness. Here's a demonstration of how to safely let kids wear coats in the car. Or you can just keep blankets in the car and put those over them instead.

-Don't use LATCH and the seatbelt at the same time.

-Don't use infant carriers (the kind you can take out of the base and carry around when the baby is little) forward-facing. (Yes, some people do it.)

-Don't use a carseat once it's outgrown.

-Don't use a carseat once it's expired.

-Don't use a carseat that's been in an accident. Even a minor accident can make small stress fractures in the plastic that can't be seen. And then it won't be as safe if there are any future accidents. Most car insurance companies replace carseats after accidents.

-Don't buy a used carseat unless it's from someone you know (and trust) who can verify that it's never been in an accident.

I want to reiterate that you don't have to buy the most expensive seats out there. There are more and more good carseats available. They used to be few and far between. There are generally reasons for some carseats being more expensive, though. Like I said before, some will last longer (either the kids don't outgrow them as quickly or they have a longer lifespan), some are super-easy to install, some have more creature comforts, and some are just known for being user-friendly all around. But really, you don't have to break the bank to get your kids in safe seats.

Cloth Diapers

A while back I did a post happy to be back in the business of cloth diapering again. Someone asked me to do a follow-up post about cloth diapers, so here it is. :) Sorry it took so long.

I need to start out by saying that today's cloth diapers are nothing like your momma's cloth diapers. (Well, actually you can still get cloth diapers that ARE exactly like the ones your momma used....but why would you want to do that?)

Cloth diapers these days run the gamut from super-simple to "I need a degree in rocket science to figure this thing out." Me, I like to stay with the simple stuff.

I'm not going to go into every type of cloth diaper, but I will tell what I've used and what's worked for us.

There are pocket diapers like these.

They come with an insert, and you can buy separate inserts if you like different kinds. (Like these.)
We've got a number of these types of diapers. They have a waterproof outer layer and an inner layer that helps the baby feel dry. You put the inserts into the the diaper and that's what holds all the pee. Once it's stuffed, it goes on just like a disposable diaper. These diapers come in some really cute prints and colors. I really liked them at first, but then came to the realization (after a lot of trial and error trying to figure it out) that Lady is allergic to the fleece liner (the "stay-dry" part). So I stopped using them on her. I've just started trying them out on June and it looks as though she may have the same problem. My kids are known to have extra-sensitive skin, though. I know a lot of babies that don't have an issue at all with these diapers. You can get these in a one-size-fits-all or you can get them in the different sizes.

Another kind is the "dad-friendly" cloth diaper. The All-in-One diaper (AIO). This is similar to the pocket diaper except the absorbent layer (the insert) has already been sewn in between the outer and inner layers. This kind is the most disposable-like diaper there is. They can be a bit trickier to get clean since you can't separate the layers. So some people have a problem with them getting stinky. I've never had a problem with ours, but I don't use them that much. Mostly just for church or if I know somebody else will be changing my child. They now make them with a pocket also so that you can add absorbency if needed.
Here's an example of an AIO:

The kind we use the most is just prefolds with a cover. Prefolds are the "workhorses" of cloth diapers. Here is an example of prefolds:
There are a few different ways to use these. You can pin them on like our parents used to do. You can "snappi" them on using a snappi:
Like this:
These need a cover over them to make them waterproof. And since I don't want to bother with pins or snappis, I just fold them in thirds and lay them in the cover and put the cover on like a disposable diaper. SOOO easy!

I do leave the back part of the diaper open (instead of folding it) on June to better catch her breastmilk poops. And I haven't had to deal with a blow-out yet using cloth diapers and I've got a bunch of stained onesies to prove I dealt with them daily when using disposable diapers.

My favorite covers are Bummis Super Whisper Wraps. By the way, prefolds and covers are also the least expensive way to go when cloth diapering. :)

I would highly recommend getting a diaper sprayer and hooking it up to your toilet. It's certainly not necessary, but I found it makes my job a LOT easier. You can get one like this, or you can just buy a kitchen faucet sprayer attachment at Home Depot and hook it up to your toilet line. (That's what we did.)

For a diaper pail, I bought a garbage can with a pop-up lid from Target similar to this. And I bought a couple of diaper pail liners like this to rotate. And I bought a couple of wetbags for when we're out and about.

The up-front cost of cloth diapering may seem like a lot, but you'll definitely save money in the long-run.

The reasons I cloth diaper are:

1) My baby's bum is cute now! :)
2) My baby isn't being exposed to yucky chemicals 24/7 anymore. (Did you know that the same chemicals that are in tampons and cause Toxic Shock Syndrome are also in disposable diapers?)
3) I'm not sending hundreds and hundreds of nasty plastic diapers to the dump every year anymore.
4) I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on disposable diapers anymore.
5)It's fun. I know that sounds crazy, but I really do enjoy cloth diapering.

There are some things to know before starting to cloth diaper. You have to change cloth diapers more often than disposable since they're not filled w/chemicals. Once they're wet, they're wet. I don't find it to be that much more frequent, maybe a couple of extra diaper changes a day. No biggie.
You'll obviously be doing a bit more laundry. Cloth diapers add about 3 loads of laundry a week for me. I wash every other day. After the kids go to bed, I throw the bag of dirty diapers in the washer and run it through a rinse cycle. Then I wash on hot and add an extra rinse. Then I pull them out before bed and hang them to dry. You can definitely machine dry them, but I choose not to so that they last even longer. You can't use certain detergents with them (whiteners and brighteners make them less absorbent). And you can't use fabric softener with them. It also makes them lose absorbency. About once every 3-4 months I put a little bit of bleach in when I wash them, just for good measure.

All pictures thanks to bumgenius and www.greenmountaindiapers.com

Should your child be in a booster?

I'm going to start out easy.....there's nothing too controversial about carseats, right?

Oh, how I wish that were true......


(Besides, I've been meaning to do this post for a while now.)

One of my future posts will be about vaccinations. And I often like comparing carseats to vaccinations. It never ceases to amaze me that people think I'm crazy for not vaccinating my child against Hepatitis at birth and then they turn around and put their "safe" (aka: vaccinated) kid into a car without being properly restrained. I love how people think of their cars as an extension of their living room that magically takes them places without the chance of any harm. Or they think putting their kid in just any carseat will do....after all, carseats are magic bubbles that keep kids safe no matter what, right?

The truth is, 4 out of 5 carseats are installed or used incorrectly. Luckily, they do still manage to save lives, even improperly used. AND YET-- CAR ACCIDENTS ARE STILL THE #1 KILLER OF CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 14! What this means is that your child is more likely to die in a car accident than any other cause of death!
And still, some people are more worried about their child getting Hepatitis. Amazing.

I discussed the issue of extended rear-facing in a previous post. If anybody has any questions, feel free to ask. I do want to mention, though, that carseat companies are starting to get the clue. Sunshine Kids just came out with a new version of their carseat (the Radian XTSL) that can rear-face a child to 45 lbs (or until they outgrow it by height....whichever comes first)! I LOVE IT! (I know it's expensive, but it should go down in price over the next few months. Also, you can find coupons online.)

In this post we'll talk about extended harnessing and proper booster-use, since they kind of go hand-in-hand. It used to be that you could only find harnessed carseats that went up to 40 lbs. And then the next step was a booster. I found out about this when AJ hit 40 lbs. She was just under 4 years old and I couldn't stand the thought of putting her in a booster yet. She just didn't seem big enough to me. So that's when I started to do some researching and found 2 companies that made carseats with higher weight limits. Since then, most other carseat companies have gotten on-board with extended harnessing and started making seats with higher weight limits. It's great!

I want to mention really quickly about how harnessed carseats are outgrown. When a child is forward-facing, the carseat is outgrown when:
a) the child reaches the maximum weight limit
b)the child's shoulders are above the top harness slot (except on one particular carseat which allows the shoulders to go 1 inch above the top harness slot before being outgrown (the Radian))
c) the tops of the child's ears are level with the top of the seat

There are still a lot of carseats available right now that will be outgrown too early. With 40 lb. weight limit seats, most of the time the child outgrows it by weight first. With over 40 lb weigh limit seats, the child usually outgrows it by height before hitting the weight limit and they last much longer than 40-lb seats. There are a few seats that go up to 50 lbs. These may be a good option for you if your children are quite skinny. There are a number of others that go up to 65 lbs. These are great for average-size children. And there are a few that go up to 80 lbs. These are great for huskier children.

After learning about extended harnessing, I was able to keep AJ harnessed until she was almost 8. Unfortunately I had to also move Roo to a booster shortly after that, so he only made it to 6 1/2 in a harness.

There are a number of reasons why extended harnessing is safer. Most 4-5 year olds can't sit correctly in a booster seat for an entire car ride. In order for the seatbelt to do its job, the child needs to be sitting straight with their back against the booster the whole time. But for a lot of kids it's just too tempting to move out of place and fidget and squirm.

Also, it can be downright dangerous to put a small child in a booster. The booster isn't designed for a small child (even if the minimum weight limit on the booster says it is). What happens in an accident is the lap belt is pulled against their bellies and they can have terrible internal damage from that. They can "submarine" under the lapbelt and get terribly hurt that way. Here's a video about a little girl whose parents didn't know any better, but wish they would have.

So if you have a child who's outgrowing their 40-lb weight limit seat, consider getting another harnessed seat with a higher weight limit. There are some really good choices out there now, and there are a few that can be used as a booster once the child has outgrown the harness. (Note: I'm NOT talking about these or these carseats. Those are HORRIBLE in terms of booster-fit on children and usually have a 40 lb weight limit anyway. I'm talking about this one and this one.)

Before you put your child in a booster, read this and watch the videos linked in the thread.

When you decide your child is ready for a booster, please try to make sure the belts fit properly. Watch this for some guidelines.

The new guidelines for booster seats are that children need to be in a booster seat until age 12 or until they reach 4 ft 9 inches in height. But there's a better, more accurate way to know if your child is ready to be in a regular seatbelt. It's the 5-step test. (The only thing I disagree with in that link is that 4 year olds should be in boosters. It's rare that a 4 year old is big enough AND mature enough to be in a booster.) Keep in mind that your child may fit well in one car, but not in another. You may need to continue using a booster in one car and not another, depending on the fit of the seatbelt.

AJ will remain in a high-back booster until she outgrows them and then will be in a no-back booster until she's able to pass the 5-step test (as will the rest of my children). I prefer high-back boosters over no-back boosters because they:
1) provide more support for a wiggly child who might slip out of the belt in a no-back booster.
2) provide more support for sleeping children on long trips
3) provide much better side impact protection (Watch this. Now imagine that crash in a no-back booster.)
4) provide whiplash protection in vehicles with no headrests or built-in (low) headrests.

And one more video to show why booster seats are so important (even for "big" kids).

And one more to show why lap-only belts are dangerous. (Luckily most vehicles being made today have lap/shoulder belts in all positions. But if you have a lap-only belt in your car, consider installing a carseat there so that children/adults don't have to use it. (A harnessed carseat installed w/a lap-only belt is safe as long as it is a rear-facing carseat or if it is a forward-facing carseat used with a tether.))

And as always, I recommend getting your carseat installations checked by a Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) in your area. I can help you find one, or you can find one on this website.

Different

I know I haven't posted in a while. Life has gotten fairly busy and when it gets busy, the "extra" stuff gets dropped first. And unfortunately, this blog falls under that category. But just because I haven't updated, it doesn't mean I haven't thought about what new posts I want to write. I have a ton of them swirling around in my brain.

For the next little while, though, I've decided to write about all the things that make us (Brent and me) "different" and why we have chosen these things in our life. Some of the topics are fairly controversial and so I would suggest that if you are one to get riled up easily or feel upset when someone has an opposing view on things, you may want to skip over those posts.


A few months ago, in a conversation with my brother about homeschooling and being vegetarian, he suggested that --from the outside-- it looked as though Brent and I just automatically disregard anything mainstream and choose the alternative paths. (I think the term "hippie" was used more than once.) I appreciated that he felt comfortable enough to tell us this and I have pondered about it often since then. After explaining to him our thought processes, and time spent researching, studying, and often praying, why we'd come to the decisions we have, he was better able to understand us and respect our decisions. He still disagrees with us on a lot of the topics, but he's at least able to understand our point of view.

This is my goal with the next few posts. A lot of people in our lives tend to disregard what we have to say because, well, we're "Brent and Ann." (aka: "weird" or "hippies") We see the eye-rolling and ears-shutting-off whenever one of these topics is brought up. And we're fine with that. We know that we sometimes approach these conversations in the wrong way. When Brent and I feel strongly about something, you definitely know it when we talk about it. We can get "intense." It's one of our weaknesses. (And unfortunately it's a weakness we both share.) So in bringing these things up on a blog, the hope is that it takes the "personal" aspect out of things, and just *maybe* there's someone out there who can learn something from what we've learned. And if not, then at the very least, maybe there will be some who have a better understanding of us, and hopefully a little more respect for our decisions, knowing we haven't just made them willy-nilly.

A few years ago, I was about 1 year shy of getting my bachelor degree when we up and moved to Michigan. I haven't been able to go back to school since. I still plan on finishing at some point, but in the meantime, I've focused my education efforts on all things "mother." I've always loved to learn. And I didn't want to stop learning when I stopped going to school. So about a year after we moved to Michigan, I made the decision to start researching and learning about different topics that fall under my jurisdiction of "decisions to be made as a mother."

It really all came about after my disenchantment with the medical community as a whole after Roo's birth and the subsequent agonizing months dealing with his reflux (and no doctors believing me that there was even a problem). I came to the realization that my children were sent to ME for a reason. *I* am their mother. And *I* know my children better than anyone else, including doctors and other professionals. I began to take my role as a mother a lot more seriously than before. I began to question things that before, were just a given "because the doctor (or insert any other professional here) said it was best." I began to see that what may be best for some is NOT best for all. And I began to question a lot of the decisions I had previously made and was going to make in the future.

So in the posts to follow I will share what I (and subsequently, Brent) have learned from my (our) studies and experiences. And hopefully I can do it in a way so that we won't lose too many friends along the way. :)

The Basement is DONE!!!

Besides a few small projects like caulking and washing windows, our basement is complete! I'm so happy, I can't even tell you. For the first time since we moved I feel ORGANIZED! And coming from the gene pool that I came from, that's a very important way to feel.

We're now done with 2am bedtimes, midnight runs to Wal-Mart for more primer and ceiling paint, and Saturdays full of trips to Home Depot. I am ecstatic!

Now maybe I can get back to blogging about other things. The basement has taken over our lives for the last month and I can finally concentrate on something else (including my children). :)

Here are some pics of the final product.

Kids' new playroom (a huge hit w/the littles)

Schoolroom (huge hit w/the teacher) ;)
And the bathroom (huge hit w/anyone who feels the urge)

There's also an extra bedroom and an exercise/storage room, but they're pretty much empty at the moment, so I didn't get pics of them.

Of course nothing is really decorated yet, but it's all functional and that's good enough for me right now.

Come on by for a visit if you're in the neighborhood!

Busy, busy, busy

(Can anybody name what movie the title's from?)

That's what we've been around here lately. So much so that my dear blog has been neglected. What have we been up to, you ask? Just small stuff like finishing a basement and starting school. You know, nothing huge.

We started school on Aug 24 and I think this is going to be my favorite year so far. I really do love teaching the kids and watching them learn and grow. Tink is more involved now and is having a great time with it. They're all learning Spanish this year. Isn't that fun? Roo keeps calling his sisters "nina." (How do you put that little symbol on top of the second "n" to make it Spanish?)

First Day of School 2009

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit that night and bring us our most-comfortable-and-most-economical-flooring-ever. (They get it at Sam's Club.) You can see it in the pics of the exercise room below.

Some before and after pics of our basement.....more "after" pics to come as soon as there's more "after" to show. ;)

Playroom before:
Sorry, no pics of the playroom after....hopefully later this week. It's got paint up except for 3 walls which we're going to paint some fun colors. And the carpet's being installed next week.

Exercise room before (Brent putting down the cheapest-most-comfortable-flooring-ever):
This was the flooring we used in the playroom at our last house, except we used the colorful sides. :)

Exercise room after:

School room before (floors were down, but no paint yet):
School room after:
Bathroom after (sorry, no before):
Brent's parents and brother helped us get the first coat of paint up last night. And we're having another "painting party" on Saturday to get the second coat up. Brent and I will paint the accent walls in the playroom sometime this week and then carpet's coming next Tuesday! I'm getting SOOOO excited! I think I'm more excited for the school room than anything else. I'll have space for everything! And the kids will get to do crafts again (most of the craft stuff has stayed "packed" since the move. Too much mess to deal w/in the kitchen).

So hopefully after next Tuesday there won't be anymore 2am bedtimes for Brent and me after working long hours in the basement after the kids go to bed. Although I do love working side-by-side on projects with Brent, I prefer them to end by midnight at the latest.

I have a ton more posts in my head, so hopefully I can squeeze some more time in for them sometime this week.