Help Me -- QUICK!

I need to post some new things on my House For Sale blog because we're having a big Open House weekend! Saturday AND Sunday! YAY! I plan on inviting people to the Open House while reminding them of the blog, in an email sent out sometime tonight.

So, me and my youtube-loving self wants to put a fun video on there that could keep to the very optimistic theme I'd like for the blog to have. I don't think the theme song to The Jefferson's is exactly what I want but a "Movin' On Up" attitude is one I'd like to convey online.

Ideas??

Did I Tell Y'all?

Captain's walking! He's been doing it for a little while now but definitely not 100% of the time. And that's a good thing because I need some time to say goodbye to his awesome Bear Walk. Here are some of his first good steps:

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

(edited to embed a better quality video!)

I didn't even know this Monty Python video existed until I saw snips of it in The Business of Being Born! HILARIOUS!

(Hey Locals!!! If you'd like to see The Business of Being Born, I have some tickets available for $10 each...or if you tell me you read this on my blog, I might be able to offer them at a discount...drop me a line at theglycofamily at gmail dot com and let's discuss it!)

God Speaking Through Rick Burgess

I struggle to figure out what to type right here.

But after listening to the last words of Rick, in the unbelievable message he gave at his son's memorial service, I realize I need to toughen up. I need to quit being so easily defeated. I need to be about Kingdom work.

Pasting these videos into my blog is but a mere fraction of what I can do but it is something I MUST do, nonetheless.

Please watch these to the very end. I'm praying very specifically about some of you I know come to my blog. Please receive Jesus. He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life! Life's struggles are light when you are yoked with Him, and death is defeated when you accept His mercy and salvation.

Again, please watch these powerful videos. (turn volume way up)

Fox News Has Kinda Ticked Me Off

I haven't mentioned it much for several reasons but this article/blog gave me what I needed to stand behind a public mention of frustration.

Be sure to click on both videos.

My Cool Friends On The News

News website video link to cool ladies I've become friends with over this past year!

Montgomery Needs A Celebrity!

I know many of you lovely readers are as grossly curious about the celebrity world as I am so there's a chance some of you have already seen Celebrity-Babies.com.

I love this link because it lists so many celebrity Moms who have homebirths! I'd LOVE to get one of them to town for our big Rally / Business of Being Born screening on February 26th. Anybody have any connections? :)

Let It Sn....Nah...Too Easy

I wonder how many Alabama blogs have titled their entries from that famous song over these past few days?

Y'all know it's cold outside when it snows, right? That's why Ray is the only one in these pictures. P-Paw and Ray were the only two willing to brave the wintry elements for the Kodak cause. Indie and He-Man stepped outside for a little bit but they were much like their Mommy in realizing that snow is much more enjoyable from a window inside the house.

Poor Rocky has had a zany "sleep virus" accompanied by some fever and nausea, and it kept him from going out at all. Of course, I wasn't going to take Captain out in it (sorry if that makes me a 'bad' Momma) so these pictures show a very determined and happy little girl who knows the real meaning of making the most of a rare opportunity!

A snowman and snow angel were absolutely mandatory to Ray and I thank her for her dilligence! And a tip of the hat to P-Paw for helping her out when everybody else was being a whimp to the cold!

It's Snowing

Hopefully it will be a Kodak moment before the end of the day.

Milk - Not A Breastfeeding Post :)

I have been meaning to post a somewhat in-depth post about Rocky and our recognition of some food allergy stuff going on with him, and am just now getting to it. Close friends and family know that it was with him at 9 months old that I finally had to seek out SOMETHING to help with crankiness and colic and my post-partum depression. Long-story-WAY short, we realized there were MAJOR yeast issues mixed with some food allergies (in my breastmilk - mostly peanuts but possibly dairy, too) which ultimately put us on our path to supplements and careful food choices. When he and I both made MASSIVE improvements over the following months, I pretty much declared us "cured" as long as we stuck with the supplements and watchful diet.

When we moved in with the Gardeners, Rocky & He-Man both had these weird little bouts of puking. It wasn't a real serious thing because it happened in the mornings and then they got better. It lasted for a couple of mornings and then went away and then came back a little later for another few days and then that was it. I was able to logically conclude that it was their immune systems responding to a new environment and possibly new germs...whatever. They never were laid-out sick and always improved as the day went on. It was a "morning sickness" of sorts. Rocky was always sicker than He-man.

Soon afterwards, Rocky started with VERY annoying tics. It was almost like a pee-pee dance. We would say, "do you need to go to the bathroom?" He swore he didn't and it became evident he was telling the truth. He then started with a weird chapped mouth. A-ha! We thought we had figured it out again! HONEY MUSTARD! He's been known to get honey mustard "rashes" around his mouth in the past and we thought, Hmmm....maybe he's eating too much honey mustard and it's got sugar and it's making him wiggly?

No more honey mustard.

Still, wiggling.

(I really meant to make this a quick story...)

Fast-foward. Still we can't figure out the wiggling. It becomes amplified. He obviously can't control it. Last Sunday, we were informed by his Sunday School teachers that his behavior was getting out of control. We were even asked, "What's changed?"

So the REAL investigation started. If it's not honey mustard or condiments (because we cut them ALL out) what could it be?

I believe God divinely light-bulbed me.

What change occurred when we moved here that could possibly answer not only the wiggling, but the chapped lips, and the pukes? SOY MILK!

When we got here, the kids were introduced to dry cereal. Yes, they had spent the night here & other places before and have had dry cereal for breakfast but never at home and therefore, never in large quantities. Since we've always been very, VERY limited on cow's milk (because of Indie's sensitivity to it and for general health reasons) we decided to try the kids on the alternative soy milk.

Rocky LOVED IT! He ate double helpings almost every morning for breakfast. And guess what! THAT is the time the puking started (and took a break when we ran out!) And since he ate MORE than He-Man, it makes sense that he was sicker! And since he got better as he puked it out of his system, he felt better as the day wore on. And like many addictions that accompany food allergies, the 'effects' wear off after a little while. When his body quit trying to throw it up, he started getting the rash on his face. When the soy milk kept going into the body, I believe the toxicity level raised to a point where his immune system almost quit working on it. And the toxic reaction of his body caused the twitches.

After hearing the complaints from the Sunday School teacher, I started googling soy milk and ADD/ADHD. SURE ENOUGH (and I knew this and wanted to say 'DUH') the soy was very likely a HUGE factor. It also dawned on me that this could also be a reason for my struggles with him in the mornings during school.

So now we are back to NO milk, soy or cow, and very limited dairy altogether. Until his system detoxes a little bit, we're trying to stay very low on all condiments that might have soybean oils and products as well.

And I'm thrilled to say that THINGS ARE MUCH BETTER! I do believe we have finally come to some real conclusion on this. Hopefully, now that we're really paying attention, we can get him back to 100% normalcy (whatever that is.) His wiggling is WAY better and his SS teachers told us "perfect behavior" yesterday when we picked him up!

What a reminder to us that food allergies can appear/re-appear so easily! Now, it really doesn't surprise me, considering our dietary/behavioral history during pregnancy and post-partum but I just didn't put the pieces together as soon as I wish I had.

Thank God for helping us!

Is It Just Me Or Are More Moms Talking Politics Than In Previous Years?

When I was straightening up my links in the sidebar, and double-checking my google reader to make sure it was like I wanted, I clicked on the 'blog suggestions' that google had for me. One of the first to pop up was Amy at Humble Musings. I have read her off and on in the past but now she is a regular site for me to check.

Here's an interesting-enough post by her but the comments section is where things really get interesting. I love how nice everyone is, even when they disagree! Yay for Christian Moms who can be civil!

Ricki On Fox News

A short little video at Fox News about The Business of Being Born.

The Wave Of Paralysis

You know, waves don't have very long lives. They come to shore, crash, then wash away. Depending on what causes the wave, there might be similar ones following or there might be shrinking ripples which eventually smooth out to glassy surfaces.

With all this house stuff, I have waves of emotional & spiritual paralysis. I have no real serious complaints about our living situation but sometimes I just feel sick and homeless. I want a house of my own. I want my own bed again. I want an answer to prayer.

This scripture spoke to me more loudly today than it has in the many times I've read it in the past. I NEEDED it today. Praise God for giving me this wonderful reminder! It made the wave crash and wash away...

2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT
So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

And THIS entry really drives it home.

THANK YOU, LORD. I am willing to wait while you re-adjust my gaze.

My Aspirations! :)

I had to REALLY LOL at this because we bought Rocky those speed stacking cups for Christmas!

The Business Of Being Born again

ETA (edited to add) that I just realized I have the term "born again" in the title of this post and obviously, this movie is nothing about being a born-again Christian.

This time, in the form of a trailer!

Will be screening locally at the end of February. Let me know if you're interested in attending! I can hook you up!

You Can't Escape Completely, Though

Sorry but this article in the New York Times makes me want to publicize (early to you guys, by the way) our viewing of the same movie next month! (Let me know if you want tickets!)

Edited - Some Of You Will Be Happy To Know

Lucky ducks, some of you are!

I'm taking on a new strategy regarding the educating of my readers about Midwifery in Alabama. As many of you know, I am involved with the Midwifery lobbying efforts going on in our state and, even though I'm anxious to share with everyone all of the info that I can, it has been decided by me to postpone (and remove) all the educational posts until after it's all presented at the State House. Even though the info is already "out there" in our publications, I don't want to provide spoilers so easily for the great adventure that awaits us in February.

This might not make sense to many of you and a lot of you aren't even reading this sentence because you moved on already, but I felt the need to explain a little about why my scheduled posts have changed.

You may now resume your day :)

As Promised

I won't be doing non-stop Alabama Birth Coalition posts and to prove it, I'm gonna blog about something y'all might actually read!

We're enjoying a couple of really great family passes: the local zoo (with unlimited train rides) and the McWane Center. Both pay for themselves after 2 visits (for a family our size anyway) and will bring us MUCHO enjoyment! Here's some fun pics from the MC...

I Brought You Flours

I absolutely love this scene from the movie "Stranger Than Fiction." Just saw it again on one of the Starz channels, decided to search for it on the web and FOUND IT! Gotta love youtube!!



You know, I'm married to an auditor :)

Sweet movie