Whitey

So, it is always funny to hear the stories Russ brings home from each job. Thank the good Lord ER visitors don't really show just what kind of people we live around, but it is a pretty good way to see how they feel about race. Yep, I said it, race. It never fails, at every job, at some point in time, my husband is called something because he is white. My personal favorite, "cowboy." And, it really is hilarious to me that it is ok.

I will put myself out there and say that I have friends of all colors and races and that is just fine with me. We move around to all parts of the country and meet many types of people. I thought that racial critism was really something we only dealt with in the South, but that is a misconstrued notion. LA is actually voted the most racist city in our country. Beside the point, yesterday it happened. A lady, who was probably in some sort of distress, I'm sure...called Russ a whitey. She just came right out and said, "Look Whitey." Too funny. Well, only because my husband laughs at these things and I of course, get pissed. If he would have walked in her room and said, "Yo Brownie" he would have lost his job. We all know, well, I will say I KNOW this is how the lovely world of race works :) What is sad is that just because we have Southern accents, people of other races have always jugded me and Russ as being white supremacist, and we are SO not that way at all. So, it is funny that we are always chosen as the ones to be the 'racist' right off the bat.

My friends in LA asked me many questions during the Jena 6 time last Fall because they knew we were from Louisiana. They actually were really honest with us and told us they had heard we all had shot guns at our front doors and nooses hanging in our trees. I was so unaware of how wrong our country is about what Southerners believe. They actually don't get the meaning of the Confederate flag at all. It is so not a racist flag we wave in our yards to warn away the people that are not white. I could not believe how people thought of me and my family. It was really hard to change their minds, too.


You know, I just don't get it. And, I have seriously tried for years to understand it, but the truth is it will never be any different, ever. Well, in Heaven but that is it!

Russ has met many people here and some of them say they are strict Liberal Democrats but would never vote for Obama because he is African American. I think that is so dumb. Democrat or Republican, why would you ever vote for something you don't believe in? Is that really what our forefathers expected when they gave us the rights to vote and have a Democracy? I don't think so. I am obviously a Conservative, but I would have voted for Colin Powell if he ran for President, and guess what? He is African American, who knew?

I was watching Ellen the other day and she had LL Cool J as one of her guest stars for the day. Ok, all of my frieneds in college know that I used to love his songs for dancing purposes ONLY, but I can honestly say I was excited to see him on the show and see what he was doing these days. The man made himself look like a dang fool. He gets on the show and starts talking about politics and how it wouldn't matter what John McCain said, He is black, so he is voting for Obama, no questions asked. OK, really? Is that what we are teaching our kids these days? I was so upset I couldn't even believe it. I had to TIVO rewind it to see Ellen's face again. She was like, "What the Hell was that crap????" and, of course changed the subject after a short silent pause. Poor Ellen. I'm sure she is a liberal, but even she was at a loss...yes, Ellen at a loss for words!

Easy for it to be said: I will never be a supporter of his gansta tunes again. And, I'm sure he is upset.

Me and my Whitey will be supporting our candidate because his beliefs and judgements are in the same as what we believe, not because we were born with the same tone in our flesh. Unbelievable.

I honestly hope that people will realize how much our country needs a good leader right now, and vote according to what they feel is at highest importance.

Sugar Pie

Wearing my new winter clothes. Yes, winter started here two weeks ago!
Up REALLY early to play, with my sleepy face on.

All ready for game day.

Helping Mommy fold towels.

Playing with my crabby rattle from Nona

After my first haircut.

Obama Pajama

Just my biweekly political rant:

Last week Russ and I were doing research on political candidates, and by RESEARCH I mean we were on the ever-so-trusted You Tube. I had heard about the footage where Senator Obama is standing for the national anthem, but not holding his heart...so we found it. Watching that video was really amazing. Amazing because how can you hear that anthem play and not be so touched in respect that you must hold your hand in it's rightful place. Is this man American??? I can just see it now...Obama at his inaguaration in January 2009. Everyone in the colosseum is standing and touching their chest, but not our new President. How proud of him would I feel, not so much.

It gets better. Obama has recently changed his campaign jet logo...from the American flag to a Red and white striped O, with a blue strip of color underneath. So, if you see the jet, you would think it was a business...not anything like what the Air Force One plane looks like. Which, whatever, is his personal choice, I just thought it to be a little odd. If I was running for President, I know I know, IF...but I would think I would want my flag to be the biggest thing on that dang plane! (screaming now) HELLO!!! (and, singing now) "I'm proud to be an American! And at least I know my flag is on my plane."

Now I know that debates and elections are full of mockery and ways to get people to discuss how the opposing party is wrong, but the fact that the man actually said "he had been to almost all of the 57 states" is priceless. What grade did we learn that in? Like, National History in 7th? And I'm pretty sure before that as well. Aren't our parents kind of supposed to give us a heads up about that, too? Oh wait, his father still lives in Kenya.

Now the man actually stated last night, regarding this new bailout, that He and McCain should not postpone their debate Friday night because a President should be able to juggle numerous things at once. Seriously? The largest bailout in our country since the great depression, and the man thinks there is no need for further discussion and counsel from economic advisors? Is he THAT comfortable just dishing out $700 Large ones without hours of counsel? Given, he is not the one making the decision, but he will be (possibly) the one taking over this plan in a few months. It will be effective in June 2009.

I get that John McCain didn't know how many houses he had, and that he is old and looks dead most of the time, yatta yatta. If I had all of the money that man had I would probably have homes all over and I would have to see the number before saying the wrong one. He was trying to be honest, and if he dies during his term, we will still have Palin. The woman just had a baby and she is like 50. At least the man knows the dang national anthem when it is played, and has a stinkin' clue about our military. Obby has been a Senator like 160 days. Harrison is older than that.

So, in conclusion, I will be looking forward to Obama learning our American cultures as he progresses towards the White House, and checking to see how many more comments everyone can make about Sarah Palin and her family. It's a good thing we are all perfect or how would we ever choose a candidate? Hmmm.

VOTE VOTE VOTE in less than 50 days!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NONA!!!

We know you are so busy doing everything for everyone else. But, maybe at one moment today you can stop, breathe, and enjoy yourself and who you are to everyone of us around you. Know that we wish we were there to share some yummy cake and help you blow out all of those candles :)
Love you so much, Happy Birthday Mom.

Some New Photos

"Nope. No Mommy, I won't do it. Haircuts are for the weak!"
I have new teeth, 4 to be exact. And, boy did they hurt!
Posing for my first football portrait.
H is trying to figure out how to feed himself. We aren't quite catching the hang of it yet....and, yes, that is his bath tub he decided to bring into the living room to play with yesterday.
So, maybe I can't climb a rock wall, or even a stroller just yet, but I am working on this walker.
"What do you mean I can't eat paper?" The kid is in love with paper. Everytime we go to a restaurant to eat, he wants to eat the children's menu and our napkins. Somehow he got a hold of Russell's the other day and we still have not seen the top left corner surface. He is learning the word "No" also...and this is the face I get when I have to take something from those sweet little fingers. Poor little dude.

H and his new friend, Gina. He loves her, as you can see. Here he is modeling his new jeans from Ramona. They fit perfectly and so cute on his little hinny! We went shopping yesterday, and it was so cold here. Like 63ish, yes, that is freezing to us CALI folk. Gina laughs at me. H just screams when the wind touches him. It is so sad. He hates it already! But, we did find some adorable baby Gap and Children's Place stuff on sale. Hopefully, all of the warm clothes we bought will help him get used to Boston, because it is only getting colder. It was actually 37 this morning in west Boston. OK, I am so NOT going to survive this.I LOVE MY TOBY-DOG!
In my BLs, but they are getting a bit snug. Ha! I think we need the teenager size now. At least they kept him warm, for five whole minutes! Then, Me and Gina had to stop our daily walk to take H inside with Daddy.

And, this is the face I get to wake up to every morning and thank my God for giving to us! How amazing are the gifts!

All of H's Funny Faces

H is really enjoying all of the news things he can do with his facial features...too bad he has no clue how funny he is, and he doesn't understand why he makes me laugh so often. Poor Guy!
He is trying to figure out those teeth, with his new friend, tongue. It is an interesting site to watch him do this. I love to watch him discover something new each day. It is so amazing!

My sweet boy modeling his new "My Aunt Loves Me" bib from Aunt Helen...Thanks! We love how soft it is!

Happy little H, and tongue.

H meeting our new vaccuum. He sat and "talked"...which actually was grunting, for 20 minutes. He still doesn't love the way the vaccuum sounds when he talks back though...not sure how long it will be before he allows me to use it!

How will I ever find the way to love another little baby as much as him! Look how cute he is!

Whoa, Big Momma!

Please excuse the lovely "this is the only thing that fit today" attire. That poor tank top is pulling at every seam. Thank the good Lord for spandex. Haha! Who ever would have thought that I could be this huge and still function, somewhat, as a human being? Not this chica, that's for sure.

This little lady growing inside of me is really packing on the pounds...they told us she was about a pound, but I am positive she must be at least 5 :) I am about ten pounds away from my delivery weight that I had last year with H. I am using the excuse "I never even got to lose all of the baby weight from the first pregnancy before I started adding to it this time." Do you think it is working?

So I feel like a big blob of blah, but I thought you all might enjoy a little "self-esteem pick-me-up Day" with my embarrassment. And, to think that I am going to be in a bathing suit in 5 more weeks is quite frightening. We will not be posting any pictures of that lovely trip waist down :)

Please take note of the shadow in the picture...it does add about another inch or so to the size of my back end....so be sure to subtract that from your WOW judgement.

Yes, I am aware that my top is as large as my belly, and my front is as large as my tail end....thanks for noticing that as well.

Why Should Babies NOT Drink Water?

My sister and I, and many of our friends have had just about everyone ask us this question, and she posted the following blog for the answer. I took this right off of her page, so I give her all the credit (Thanks Lyssa!)...I just wanted everyone who reads my blog to know why also. Here goes:

This question I think I've been asked more than "Why do you swaddle?" I know things are different now than they used to be. I know things worked for moms like when my mom was a new mother but I really like doing things the way this generation of new moms does them, not that there's anything wrong with how my mom's generation of new mothers mothered. Here is the latest on babies drinking water and maybe coming from a reliable source it will help new mothers answer why we don't give water to our babies. This is taken word for word from the September 2008 Parents magazine.

Don't give extra water to infants younger than 6 months and don't give more than six ounces a day to babies between 6 and 12 months of age. Water triggers babies' immature kidneys to flush away sodium, which can disrupt normal brain activity and cause a seizure, explains Jennifer Anders, M.D., a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins Children's Center, in Baltimore. "The smaller the baby, the smaller the amount of water it takes to do harm," she says. The best way to hydrate a thirsty baby is with breast milk or formula--and you should never dilute formula with extra water.

I like reading articles like this because I know why I've done things the way I have but I like having an educated response (not that I need to explain myself). The only response I've had was, "because she doesn't need it. Everything she needs is in my milk." I like to read books and talk to friends and our pediatrician so I know WHY I do things the way I do them and which is best for our baby. I feel I'm really lucky that I have so many friends who are journeying through parenthood along with Andy and me to whom I may ask questions. I feel we have had great support and encouragement from those people and so this is me saying THANKS!!

I hope all of the questions can now be answered. We will decide when Harrison needs more to drink.

More Teeth!!

Yesterday H's first top tooth came through. Those top ones must really be painful, b/c he has really been off of his normal schedule these last few days....which has been rough for me and him too, I'm sure!

I do not have a picture to show you guys yet, but the time is a coming.

Excuses, Excuses...

Our camera's memory card has been in rehab for two weeks, which is my REAL reason for not posting any new photos of H....so here are a few I took last week:

Our Little Peanut

Big baby blues


"Growling at Daddy" face

His tickle-ish pose

My favorite little face

Talking to Grandaddy. This is what it looks like on our end when you guys call H. He loves it, until he realizes he will not be able to chew on the phone.

Finally, some pictures

Yesterday, we had our follow-up ultrasound done. The night before, Russ and I were cleaning up and discussing the next day (because he was off) and I realized I needed to check to see what time my appointment was...I knew that was wrong. I somehow decided, like a crazy person, to schedule my appt at 8:15. WHAT!!! I must have written that down wrong. Who is open that early? In L.A., nothing started until 10 a.m., So naturally this east coast thing is a bit different for us. Anyway, I called to check if the time was right, but they had not even opened yet, which was promising, right? So, off we went with our half-asleep faces on, plus eyeliner...to the early appt.

We were there because they did not get very good views of her heart last time due to placement. If you have ever seen my body, then you would know that there is just not that much room on my upper body to hang out and grow for ten months...and both of my children have had this issue with ultrasound and positioning. I'm short, bit my children are definitely not! Both of them are ahead for long bone measurements. And, if she is anything like H, we will have a volleyball player on our hands.

Here are some pictures they gave us.
The first one is of her side profile. Stacey, the tech, told us she really looked like a little girl...that was good to hear.

This is actually a shot of her face two weeks ago at the initial ultrasound.

And, here is the same shot yesterday. Look how much she has grown in just two weeks!

Stacey told us she weighed in at about 13 oz, a little under a pound, and for her weight she is approx two days early...Ha! We will see! She also verified the sex was female, so that means we do not have to return anything yet! They keep saying, "It is not a 100% guarantee." Which is a little weird to me. I keep thinking that it must happen a lot there, but we will just keep the receipts!

These are the most recent pictures of our little lady Bailynn Kennedy!

Thank you all for voting, whoever you are....I did not think I knew 14 people on blogger, but who knows! Sadly, the pole is not helping me that much, since it is split right down the middle! I guess we will have to chose on our own judgement.