Tuesday, November 17, 2009

there are still 2....

Every single time I see the babies in an ultrasound (and there have been several ultrasounds, just not with pictures every time), I honestly continue to be in shock that there are TWO BABIES in my belly. I never in a million years thought I would be a mom of twins. I just didn't. And I just can't seem to get used to that reality. But here they are...and they are so. dang. cute. moving around posing, stretching and waving for the camera.... They are very healthy and doing all the right things. So far, so good!



Check out their lil hands above their lil heads...ooooooo...so cute!! 

The ultrasound tech said it is very rare to get such a clear picture of both babies. Like I said...they were doing all the right things, and that is all right by me! It certainly makes this intense nausea I'm experiencing worth it! Although I will be VERY happy when it goes away.....

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

look mommy!

It's the United States of America!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

we the people

Our country's constitution begins with those three very, very important words. Our country was formed to provide freedom...freedom of religion, speech, to bear arms, etc. My husband and I are history and political junkies, my hubby moreso than I as many of you know (for him it's more of an obsession). We try to stay on top of what is going on in the governing of our country because, "we the people" are the ones who run this country. The United States President and our Congress is supposed to work for US -- the PEOPLE -- and it is our duty to stay informed and make sure our fundamental freedoms are protected. Right before our eyes, the current administration is taking more and more of them away and too many people are blindly going along thinking, "well, the government knows what it's doing, they'll take care of it" or "there's nothing I can do about it" or whatever....

Anyway...a concerned citizen of this country, and one who truly loves everything this country stands for, is speaking up. He's doing everything he can to make his voice heard because WE THE PEOPLE need to make our voices heard -- and too many voices are being squelched because they disagree. This administration's definition of "transparency" and "openness" is VERY VERY different from mine.... In fact, it's quite the opposite of how it is traditionally defined -- and there are way too many examples to support my view to even begin to write about them here.

So, I would like to share this citizen's blog with you with the hope that you will take the time to read it. It is worth reading. You WILL learn something, believe me. Whether you agree with it or not, it just might open your mind up to some new thoughts, a new way of thinking about something that has mystified you, or just plain provide a forum for you to share your own concerns by commenting on the blog.

First, here is the background info on the blog as written by the author:
Some of you may have read the 1/4 page advocacy ad that we (my wife and I) ran in the Wall Street Journal on March 31, 2009. The blog created at that time was designed to capture comments on the ad's theme - namely my concern for what I perceived was an absurd overreach driven by a thoughtless populist emotion on the part of the Congress relative to a hot topic of that time -'unwarranted' bonuses being paid to some 800+ AIG employees. A copy of the ad is posted on the subject blog.

I received over 1000 responses to the ad on the blog - 95.8% agreed with my position. This level of support was surprising since most people were really upset about those 'greedy undeserving' people getting paid money from a bailed out private company. I found it interesting that after sending a copy of the ad to every member of the House, that one representative went to the floor a few days later and publicly retracted his vote because he believed, as I did, that the act that had been passed was unconstitutional. He used some of the words in the ad to support his position - of course, I have no clue as to whether it actually enlightened him but it gave me some hope that just maybe putting my money where my mouth might have paid off.

Bottom line: this idiotic measure died in the House - I guess they were just kidding.  It is indeed incredible that 327 members voted for a measure that was patently in violation of the fundamental principles of our individual freedoms that have made us a truly great place to be born, raised and productive as citizens.

I am extremely worried about the huge debt that the Congress, the Federal Reserve and our President are piling on our children and grandchildren and look at the actions by these folks as effectively an assault on the fundamental values of our Country that have made us the greatest contributor of good in the history of man.  As a result, my family has encouraged me to continue to put my money where my mouth is and speak out, using a blog as my forum to do so.

In the initial posts, I have tried to stay within the context of my underlying concern outlined above and am interested in focusing on a discussion of solutions.  Finally, I have tried to avoid getting into inflammatory and unproductive rhetoric - although there are some provocative passages purposely included in order to encourage comments from those who support the current direction in Washington. By the way, while most of the public's ire is directed at the President - the Congress is the fundamental problem - they create and pass the laws!! 

I look forward to your comments - again go to wealthcreatesgood.com and post your comments on each post which is the best way to respond since others can see what you think -  or, of course, you can exercise your disagreement and hit the delete key.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

fan of food and football



I love food. I mean I reeeeeally love food. I love to cook, bake and eat....lots. I saw this recipe in one of my favorite foodie magazines and HAD to try it -- even though my pregnancy nausea is only made worse with sweets (oh the horror for a chocoholic and baked goods fanatic!). I couldn't help myself. I just had to make these dang doughnuts. However, they sounded a bit better than they tasted -- but mostly because I am very particular about the balance between caramel and, well, whatever is with caramel. I loooove caramel (almost as much as I love chocolate) and these didn't have enough caramel in them because it melted out of the donuts. My fryer was filled with wasted caramel and I was devastated to have missed out on all that yummy gooeyness.... However, for whatever reason, I just wanted to share that I had made them. Don't worry, they didn't go uneaten. They were delicious. Pure indulgence. Just not enough caramel for my taste.




While I'm at it...later on this day of doughnut-making was a Big Game. Mr. Incredible is from Green Bay, so guess who we root for in our home?
 
I just had to share because, c'mon, is that one cute cheerleader or what??


Too bad they lost. Oh well. It sure wasn't because of a lack of fan support in THIS family!!