The Biting Noodle

I can't remember if I ever posted the silly story about Gianna mixing up the term "poodle" with "noodle". If I did, sorry for the repetition. A little explanation is necessary to understand the rest of this post.

After I was bitten by a poodle while we were in SD this summer the kids tell me to "look out" whenever we see a dog. We were riding in the car and Gianna started saying something about a "biting noodle". Well, she really meant the biting poodle, but now we all call poodles "noodles" and we are always on the lookout. It would be a shame if I were ever to forget the fateful day when a noodle's teeth took a chunk out of my leg. My children are making sure that will never happen and are always asking if I am wearing my "biting pants" whenever we see a dog.

Fast forward to today, Halloween. The three oldest kids went from wanting to be Narnians to Pirates. Although I have to admit that the Narnia costumes would have been cool I was relieved when they decided on being Pirates because well, I'm afraid of my sewing machine and there is no sewing required for a bunch of swashbucklers.

It had been decided that the youngest of our clan was going to be the parrot, but we were having difficulty in finding a way to make a not-quite-9-month-old look like a parrot.

This is the second choice, but all the kids were pleased. They are trying to convince me to wear a pair of pants with a hole in them. Humph!!!

She may only have 4 little teeth, but she's fierce. The Biting Noodle.

Big brother

To get shot, or to not?

That's the big question around here. Do we get the flu shot? The swine flu shot? Both? Neither? There's so much information out there, what is a mother to do? Well, after much thought, prayer, and consideration, we've decided to opt out of both flu shots. I respect people who plan to get the shots. We're just not going to.

Our reasons?

We're already fairly "picky" when it comes to vaccinating our children. This is no exception. Our doctor supports our decision and works with us to find the best schedule for the immunizations that we do. I really appreciate his input and he appreciates our knowledge and awareness of what these shots are and which ones are important and which ones have just become routine.

Seasonal Flu- Every year that I've gotten a flu shot I've gotten sick. Yes, yes, I know, I know. You can't get the flu from the shot. Maybe not, but every year our family has gotten the shot we've all gotten the flu. The true knock-us-out-for-two-weeks-fever-chills-achy-type flu. Not fun. Multiply that by 6, really not fun. We emphasize hand washing, water drinking, healthy living in our home and we are really cautious about being around people during the flu season. I know that people can become very ill from the regular flu each year and unfortunately some die. Do I want this to happen to my family? Of course not. However, if we happen to get the flu, the statistics are in our favor that we will get over it without many ill-effects, and our immunity will be that much greater in the future because it will be a true immunity, not one derived from a weakened/dead version of the flu. I realize the strand changes from year to year, but chances are for several years it will be the same strand...so, we'll be good for awhile anyway.

H1N1- As worried as I am about my children getting extremely ill from anything, I'm just not jumping on the bandwagon with this one. This flu has been man-made (it was traced back to a lab that was working on flu viruses), and I'm not putting it in any one of my kids' bodies or my own. Unlike the seasonal flu, I'm expecting that we will get this bug. I know there are some scary stories out there, but I know people personally who have had this, and I'm just not all that worried. The statistics are being compared to seasonal flu. They are trying to compare apples to oranges here. Naturally there are going to be more hospitalizations from this flu because it hasn't been dormant at all. It's been going full force since April. We haven't seen the seasonal flu yet so saying that thus far there have been more deaths and hospitalizations from H1N1 than seasonal flu just isn't a fair comparison. Enough of my ramblings.

So, that's that. This post isn't to try to convince anybody one way or the other. On this issue when I say that each family needs to make their own informed decision, I truly mean that. This is the decision we have made. I'm resolved to not spend the next several months worrying about whether or not we are going to get sick. I don't want to spend this winter wondering "what if" I would have done something differently. There's just no way of knowing. We will take precautions, be prepared if we do get sick and not hesitate a moment to contact our doctor if we happen to get one or both of these icky bugs. I have only listed a couple of our reasons. There are more of course, but will be left un"said".

Status

I'm not currently on facebook, but felt the need to post my current status.

"Meghan is sitting in a comfy chair, snuggling with a sweet baby who fell asleep on the way home from our homeschool group, and is only feeling a little bit bad about not putting her down to get something done. Okay, so a very little bit. Okay, okay, she doesn't feel bad about it at all."

Undeniably cute

Oh, My Full Hands

A few weeks back I was shopping at a major retail store. As usual I had my kids in tow and we maneuvered through the store trying not to forget anything on the list lest we have to run a 5K to get to the other side. We were in the toothpaste aisle when we happened upon three employees from the store. What they were doing I don't know, but it took awhile for me to speak up loudly enough to ask to get through. When they turned to see me this is the "conversation" that took place:

Employee #1: Wow, you sure have your hands full. Doesn't she? Aren't her hands full?

Employee #2: No kidding. Her hands are full.

Employee #3: They sure are. Wow, her hands are extremely full.

I politely smiled at Employee #1, walked past as Employee #2 was speaking, and was turning the corner out of the aisle smiling to myself as I heard the exclamation of Employee #3. I found great humor in how much time and energy they took just to comment on how full my hands were. The best part was that I had two walking kids, one in the cart seat area, and one in my sling that I rarely shop without. Technically my hands were completely empty! Silly employees.

Fast forward a couple of weeks to my next experience at this same retail store. As I was walking out with the same above mentioned crowd with me a lady walking past me said, "Wow, you are a busy mom." I don't know if she noticed the effort it took me to smile at her comment as I was not having a particularly great day or if she thought twice about what she said. Not two seconds after we had passed one another she turned back around and tapped me on the shoulder. "You have a beautiful family!" Thank you stranger lady. Not so much for thinking my family was beautiful, but for rethinking how your original words could have been taken.

Yummy!

These pictures were taken almost a month ago, but I haven't had a chance to put them up. Veronica is enjoying some gluten-free pancakes! She hasn't found much that she doesn't like to eat. She even likes the gooey stuff that is packaged so sweetly in little glass jars for those days when I don't cook something that is "baby worthy".