This Little Piggy....

Well, I guess I had it coming. After writing about some of my adventures raising a boy, I guess it would be inevitable that I would find out I'm having A BOY! I'm really glad, for Jack's sake, that he will have a brother and it will be fun to have another little guy running around. However, then my silly mind began thinking about all the brother combos throughout history:

Cain and Abel (let's not repeat that)
Jacob and Esau (not the greatest relationship there)
Isaac and Ishamel (can you say 3000 year Mid-East conflict?)
Laman and Lemuel (don't need to say anymore about that)

But then I thought of some others:

Nephi and Sam
Nephi and Lehi -- in 3rd Nephi (powerful prophets)
Joseph and Hyrum (brothers through it all)
Jared and the Brother of (at least my little guy will have a name people can recognize)
The Kennedys (I'm not quite sure how to categorize them actually)

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I'll be adjusting to swords, guns, and cars in the place of kitchens, dolls and polly pockets.

By the way, Bret is voting for the name "Hank". He thinks it sounds very masculine and like someone you would really like. He also thinks it goes well with Jack. What do you think?

Living With a Baby Pig

Cute, sweet-looking boy pictured above recently did the following -- in a HOUR:

Sprayed Pam cooking spray all over himself, dumped the rest of the orange juice onto the kitchen floor, and painted himself and my dresser with my eyeshadow and blush!

You might be wondering where his parents were during all this. We were cleaning up and trying to corral him! Bret said a two year-old boy could be compared to a baby pig. Baby pigs look for any opening in the fence and squeeze and squeeze until they can fit through. Little boys will look for and seize upon ANY opportunity which happens to present itself to explore something new. It goes something like this:

Hmmm, let's see what happens if I turn this container over? Interesting, the juice just falls out onto the floor! I really like that color! I think I'll stomp in it with my feet! Hmmm, now let's see what happens if I press this red button? I have no idea what this is, but my hands found it as I was randomly reaching up in order to see if there was anything neat to reach. Interesting, I am now covered with some strange, but fun, greasy stuff. Hmmm, if I climb up these drawers I can find Mom's powder stuff and use it for my latest creation. Interesting, Mom's face is turning red and she thinks I look so neat she is just staring at me without saying anything. I guess I have rendered her speechless. I should do this sort of thing more often!

All I can say is, it's a darn good thing he's cute! God certainly knew what He was doing when he made their little faces so adorable. Otherwise, my son would be living where he belongs -- in the pigpen!

Whaddya Know!

I had chest cold which eventually turned into an annoying cough I just couldn't get rid of! My Mom suggested I rub Vicks Vapor Rub on the soles of my feet and cover with socks just before I went to sleep. I was skeptical of it, but I love the smell of Vicks and, as I am pregnant and unable to take cold medication, I decided it was worth a try.

It WORKED!!!!!! It was AWESOME!! The first time I tried it, my cough improved 50% and I was able to sleep much better. The next night I applied it again and by the next day my cough was GONE!!!

I checked it out with Snopes and while it has been heard of, no one can describe the chemical reasons why it works. If anyone knows, please let me know. But for now, if any of you have a cough, I suggest rubbing some vicks on your feet and letting it go to work.

Review of The Golden Compass (book)

Although I received the same email every other Christian received about how just looking at the cover of The Golden Compass might burn your kids' eyeballs out of their sockets, I decided to walk a short way into Satan's lair and actually read the book in order to form my own opinion. The fact that I'm halfway through book two should either tell you how much I'm enjoying it or how much closer I now am to the Dark Side of the Force.

In my opinion the book explores ideas and thoughts in a very non-threatening way. While the author may claim to be atheist, after reading his book, I find that very difficult to believe. He may have decided he wants no part of organized religion and/or the religion he was taught, but the book is way too spiritual and philosophical for him not be spiritual himself. The book wonders, among other things, if there might be other worlds (ie The Spirit World) nearby with which we might sometimes have contact? Does anybody object to thinking about that?

The main character, Lyra, is a good young heroine for today. I like her much better than Harry Potter because she is brave and doesn't spend any time feeling sorry for herself or her circumstances. She accepts her destiny and moves forward with a purpose. She is humble enough to recognize when she makes mistakes and learns from them.

In book two the author negatively describes The Church and then states that ,"...all churches are the same way." Being an Oxford graduate I would like to know how carefully he chose his words? I could agree with his statement in that I think many "philosophies of men" have been "mingled with scripture" throughout even our church -- on the local level. We know of strange teachings sometimes being taught in Sunday School, primary classes, or even over the pulpit. In that regard sometimes "all churches" can be destructive to the developing spirit. On the other hand, I don't agree that all "religions" are destructive and that is where I would like more information from the author. The Gospel is good news and when a person has a clear understanding of who God is and what His plan is for the individual you can't help but want to follow Him.

All that being said, I don't have any objection to these books -- thus far. I'm really enjoying the quality of writing, the new and inventive ideas and the thoughts they are provoking. I would highly recommend reading them. I will post another review at the end of the third book to see how or if my opinion has changed.

The Cockroach

When I was on my mission in California, our apartment was so overrun with cockroaches that we just learned to live with them. We tried everything to kill them and they wouldn't go away. Every time we would turn on the light in the kitchen we would see a scattering of cockroaches to their respective hiding places. Some became pretty brash and would stay out knowing that we probably couldn't do anything about it. Well, I am having a similar problem with a different kind of cockroach. So, if any of you have had experience with the following, please let me know because I need some practical advice:

A guy I will call Mr. Cockroach keeps showing up in my life. We went on a few dates almost TWENTY years ago, and I can't seem to shake him loose. It only took a couple of dates for me to realize how totally not interested I was and that I would be moving on. I remained friends with him because 1) I was young and stupid and 2) we worked at the same place for a couple of years and I thought it would be mature of me if I didn't go around telling people what a weirdo Mr. Cockroach was. Looking back, I should have. Maybe it would've gotten rid of him. Probably not.


I have tried nicely requesting he stay out of my life. I have tried being extremely blunt, telling him I wanted absolutely nothing more to do with him. I have tried allowing my boyfriends and/or husband to talk to him and tell him to stay out of my life. Nevertheless, he keeps showing up!!! The last time he called, Bret told him we didn't want anymore communication from him -- ever. But, Mr. Cockroach doesn't seem to get it because he sent me a freakin' Christmas card!!! The guy is in Colombia working for the DEA. Does it tell you something about the type of people the DEA will hire? Is it too much or too awful to hope for some kind of kidnapping by the drug cartel down there? Even then, I think he would find a way to keep showing up! Damn cockroaches!!!

I hope none of you have had to deal with cockroaches because they are so extremely annoying, but if you have any advice you have would be great!

You Want me to do WHAT?!

My complaint department has informed me of a few complaints coming in concerning my lack of posts. While these complaints are valid due to my immense popularity as a blogger and prowess as a writer, I must point out that my public persona doesn't always match my private. Of course my public persona always has life together. According to the ladies in my ward, my children are the most well-behaved and most perfect children on the planet. Second, again according to the aforementioned, I am SuperMom because of homeschooling and they're just sure I make all my food from scratch daily, including growing and grinding the wheat myself, sewing my own clothes, all while my children sit quietly for hours reading, writing and expanding their minds in a peaceful and cooperative manner. Wow!

While all of that may be true (in the fantasy world I have created), life is always a little messier, and thus richer, then that. Some of you many people who read this may not know I am pregnant with baby number SIX and that Bret started a new job a few months ago. Between throwing up, taking care of children, and being single Mom because Bret's job required him to give a pound of flesh by working all day and studying all night for a monstrous test, I have been a titch busy. Please refer to my very first post for a reminder and then decrease my "free seconds" by about 100,000 and you'll understand the lack of posts on my blog.

Now that Bret has passed his test (yay, yay, yay) and my throwing up is lessening, I might be able to find a few seconds here and there to get on here. I'm hoping this will appease my fan base. If not, maybe you can come over and grind the wheat while I sit at the computer putting forth my words of wisdom profound thoughts.

You know what? On second thought, thanks for even caring or noticing.

Is The Flu Shot For You?: A Few Facts

It's flu shot time of the year. When you listen to the media, they almost create panic as they question whether or not there will be adequate vaccines, and when or if the "epidemic" will strike. They urge people to get their shots quickly so we can avoid all the "death and carnage" sure to come this year. After these reports I'm sure people race to get their shot in order to be sure they're covered.

This year the shots are being recommended for everyone regardless of age or health. Usually they're recommended for the very young, very old, people with compromised immune systems and pregnant women, health care workers, etc... Obviously, there are people who truly benefit from the flu shot and for those people, I'm glad it's available.

The thing that irks me is that people just willingly walk into their health department, roll up their sleeves and, in a robot-like state, get their shot. There are things about this vaccine, and others, we should all know, but usually don't. The more information you have the more you can make an informed decision. Let me repeat, I am NOT anti-vaccine, I am pro-education. What follows are a couple of facts concerning vaccines which, I think, are important to know. Then, when and if you decide the flu shot is right for you and your kids, YOU will have made the decision for yourself.

Until recently all vaccines were preserved with thimerosol, which is a derivative of mercury. Starting in 2000 thimerosol was REMOVED from childhood vaccines but it remains in the flu shot and in the RHOGHAM shot (for all you RH negative mothers out there). Recently a study was released conclusively linking mercury poisoning to autism-like behaviors. The study is as follows (it's hard for me to understand, but I include for anyone medical reading this):

Thu Oct 4, 2007 10:46 pm (PST)

Urine Testing Confirms Autism is Mercury Poisoning

A new peer-reviewed scientific/medical case study confirms that many
children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) suffer from mercury
poisoning. The new study, "A Prospective Study of Mercury Toxicity
Biomarkers in Autistic Spectrum Disorders" by Mr. David A. Geier et
al. Mark R. Geier has been published in the most recent issue of the
Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A (volume 70,
issue 20, pgs 1723-1730).

This study utilized urinary porphyrin profile analysis (UPPA) to
assess body-burden and physiological effects of mercury in children
diagnosed with ASDs.

Using UPPA, Geier and Geier (2007) examined 71 children diagnosed
with ASDs, 9 neurotypical siblings, and 5 general population
controls. The researchers studied urinary porphyrin patterns using
results reported both by the US Laboratory Corporation of America
(LabCorp) and the French Laboratoire Philippe Auguste.

Their findings demonstrated that:
1. . Only the non-chelated patients diagnosed with ASDs had porphyrin
patterns indicative of clinical mercury toxicity.
2. . Treating ASD diagnosed patients with chelating agents resulted
in lower mercury-specific urinary porphyrins.
3. . The UPPA patterns reported were consistent between the two labs
used.

The results of the present study confirm and extend previous
observations by Nataf et al. (2006) and Geier and Geier (2006) on the
use of UPPA profiling to establish the causal role for mercury in
ASDs. Additionally, the current findings are consistent with those
observed by many other physicians who treat patients diagnosed with
both ASDs and mercury toxicity.

Thus, urinary porphyrin profile testing is being successfully used to:
1. . Demonstrate the role of mercury in ASD populations,
2. . Identify those children and adults who are mercury poisoned, and
3. . Track mercury excretion from affected children undergoing
treatment.

For the past several years there has been a raging controversy as to
whether or not mercury in medicines, especially in vaccines, has
caused a dramatic rise in the rate of children diagnosed with an ASD.
Many experts have insisted ASDs are caused by some yet-to-be-
identifie d genetic cause.

A paper recently published in Nature Genetics described the results of
multi-million- dollar genetics study (which studied a thousand-plus
families with at least two children diagnosed with an ASD using in-
depth genetic screening). Tellingly, the authors reported, "None of
our linkage results can be interpreted as 'statistically
significant' ."(The Autism Genome Project Consortium 2007).

With the current study's results, public health officials should now
publicly admit what they have been saying in their private
transcripts and memos: Mercury from Thimerosal-containi

ng vaccines
and other medicines has been a major cause of ASD cases, which, based
on recent CDC estimates (CDC 2007), may, when corrected for under
ascertainment, exceed a rate of one in 100 children.

Today, any parent, physician, or healthcare provider can easily
confirm whether a non-chelated child with an ASD diagnosis is mercury
poisoned by having UPPA testing run at either laboratory.

CoMeD's web site,
http://www.Mercury- freeDrugs. org<http://www.mercury-freedrugs.org
contains:
1. . Further information on how to order these tests,
2. . Full copies of the Nataf et al. (2006), Geier and Geier (2006),
& Geier and Geier (2007), and
3. . Some of the many published papers validating the UPPA

Mercury is not easily released from the body and builds up over time. Question: if you begin giving a healthy child flu shots every year from age 5 on, what will happen in their 20's, or 50's? I don't think anyone knows.

In 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) directed vaccine manufacturers to take mercury out of all childhood vaccines. In October 2001, the Institute of Medicine issued a report that said it is “biologically plausible” that mercury-containing vaccines could cause injury to the brain, but there have been too few scientific studies conducted to prove conclusively that mercury in vaccines has caused brain damage. The above study proves it does.

Nevertheless, the Institute of Medicine recommended that drug companies take all mercury out of all vaccines and over-the-counter drugs. In compliance with this recommendation, a preservative-free vaccine with only a trace amount of thimerosal formulated for children aged 6 to 35 months is available in a limited amount. It is distinguished by a pink syringe plunger rod in the pre-filled syringe. All adult formulations still contain thimerosal.

My advice to anyone receiving the flu shot: Demand the pink syringe and avoid thimerosol if you can. I know this has been lengthy, but I hope it is helpful. If nothing else, I hope you feel as I do, more empowered over my own life and the lives of my children.