More Fun From My Son

My son was tugging at the front of his pants and I inquired, "Does your wiener hurt?"  His classic response?  "No, mine wiener's fine."

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My son woke up from his nap today and asserted that he was three.  I agreed that he was.  Then he said, "Mama's FIVE!"  I replied that I was quite a bit older than that.  His response to a woman who is impossibly vain about her age?  "You're FORTY-FIVE!"  Gee, thanks kid!

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My son had what I'm pretty sure were his very first hot dogs this weekend and he loved them.  I served Big Salad for dinner this evening and included kidney beans in the meal.  My son apparently thought the beans looked like cut up hot dogs and he declared that he loved hot dogs.  I let him know that those were kidney beans he was eating and he christened them, "Hot dog beans!"

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My son asked for "more cookies" and that's not all that unusual because he loves to beg for cookies.  What made me crack up was the way he said it.  The best way I can describe it is that it sounded a bit like Pee-Wee Herman.  My husband and I really lost it when I got the lil' guy to say, "I am not an animal."

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My son stripped out of his clothes right before bathtime and delighted in dancing around the house while saying, "I'm stinky."  Not for long, you little stinker!

It's Time for the Strawberry Festival

Fun * Rides * Games * Vendors * and lots & lots of
Strawberry Tastiness!

In Southern California and looking for something fun to do this weekend?  Come on out to the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival!  The festival runs each day of this weekend, from today until Monday.  You can find all the fun at the Village Green, between Euclid and Main in Downtown Garden Grove.

I have a long history with the Festival.  As a youngster, I volunteered in booths for two different charities.  I think sometime around 1985 or so would have been the first time I was in a booth there.  After being absent for several years, I have been a helper for the Festival itself for the last eight years. 

By far, the most challenging part of volunteering has been working traffic for the parade and helping out at the VIP breakfast Saturday morning.  What am I doing this year?  Take a wild guess. . .I am desperately hoping that I'm not stricken with the same morning sickness that I get every day that I have things to do and places to go.  I'll let you know how that hoping works out for me.

I hope to see you there!


PS  I'll be easy to recognize because I'll have my 3-year old attached to my back or my hip.  ;)

It's Been Over One Week

I haven't mentioned it because I was afraid to jinx myself, but I inexplicably stopped spotting/bleeding last Wednesday.  I don't know why I stopped and I'm hoping that it's a good thing.  Well, of course it's a good thing because bleeding in early pregnancy may be common, but it's not exactly normal or expected.

In my typical way of borrowing trouble, I've been wondering why it stopped and hoping that it doesn't mean that something is wrong.  Yes, I know that it's better to NOT bleed while pregnant than TO bleed while pregnant.  It just took me by surprise that the bleeding has disappeared.  It's like a faucet, a constantly leaky faucet, was fixed and the flow was turned off.

I'm a little skeptical that it's gone for good because it was here for over a month.  It would be so typical of my body to lull me into a pair of lovely white panties and then open the floodgates and destroy everything in the flow's path.  I can't really do anything about the bleeding one way or another so I'm padded up at all times (complete with ugly granny panties), fully expecting it to return with a vengeance at any moment.

I spotted or bled nearly every single day for the first 6 1/2-weeks of this pregnancy.  Prior to the spotting stopping last Wednesday, the last time that I didn't have any vaginal bleeding was during the twelve-days between my last menstrual period and when began using the progesterone suppositories.  That marked the beginning of this red-venture.

What now?  I don't know.  I'm feeling pretty good lately so I don't want to make myself sick with worry.  Other than the bleeding difficulties, this pregnancy reminds me so much of how I felt when I was carrying my son.  I'm tired (though my energy is improving with the cessation of bleeding), I feel queasy sometimes (though I puke every single time I have things to do or places to go), I have some food aversions (not like it's stopping me from eating though), my boobs are painfully gorgeous (I can't believe the size bra I had to purchase this weekend), and I'm happy.  I'm really, really happy.

I've been so afraid to become too attached to this pregnancy, this baby, and I think it's odd that I've grown so peacefully happy over the last several days.  I guess it's just that I don't want this pregnancy to grow in the shadow of my lost pregnancy.  That's not fair to me or to this baby.  That baby is gone, but this baby is here right now and I am so thankful.

Pregnancy should be a time of happiness and joy and losing my last pregnancy robbed me of those feelings, prevented me from revelling in them for these last several weeks.  Those ecstatic feelings are here now and I'm keeping them.  This baby is sunshine and I won't compare this pregnancy to those hard weeks of dark clouds and rain.

You know, my estimated due date is the first anniversary of the day that my last baby died.  That really bothered me to discover, but it doesn't now because I think I've finally realized that this baby is already it's own person.  This baby has nothing to do with that baby and I will love this baby as much as I would have loved that baby - no matter what day I actually deliver.

A Reminder to Myself

DO NOT HANDLE PEPPERS WITH BARE HANDS

WHEN YOU HAVE TO INSERT A

VAGINAL SUPPOSITORY LATER IN THE EVENING!!!

Hippie Soap

I am looking to buy some new soap.  For lack of better term, I'm looking for some hippie soap.  What the heck is hippie soap?  I want a bath soap (preferably liquid, but I can live with bars) that is as natural as possible and that does not have any endocrine disruptors. 

My husband enjoyed a hearty laugh at my concerns about my bath soap and he inquired if I'd be procuring Cherokee hair tampons next (seems like we've had this conversation more than once), but I have a good reason for wanting hippie soap.  Well, maybe not a good reason.  More like a sad and pathetic reason, but it's a reason and it's mine.

I didn't use my regular soap for weeks after I discovered I was pregnant last November because I'd been trying to get pregnant for so long and I was afraid to use anything that might be harmful to embryonic or (later on) fetal development.  I used a very mild facial cleanser instead of my regular bath wash.  I ultimately thought I was being a little too paranoid and I was being silly to fear soap so I began to use it again.  My baby died a few weeks later.

Was it the soap?  No, I don't believe so.  But I already had hormonal difficulties and who's to say that it didn't tip my hormones out of balance just enough to cause "fetal demise"? 

I discovered the Skin Deep database recently and learned that my regular bath wash is a 6 on their scale and the facial cleanser is a 3.  Both are indicated as potentially causing endocrine disruption.  Obviously, I don't want to use either.

So, here's where I'm hoping that my crunchy readers will come through with some recommendations for me.  Tell me what bath products you would recommend.  I'm specifically concerned about avoiding anything that might stimulate or mimic estrogen and, from a reproductive standpoint, I'd like to keep things as hormonally neutral as possible. 

What soap do you use in the shower?  Is it liquid or bar?  Where do you buy it?  Is it expensive?  Does it smell like Birkenstocks & hairy armpits or is it something that a mainstream-hippie would be willing to use?  Does the line/brand have other products that are worth checking out?

Taking Weekends Off

I've had a few people notice that I didn't write any blog posts this last weekend.  I also didn't write one the Sunday before last.  I didn't really think anyone would notice and I purposely didn't submit anything.  I decided to stop writing on the weekend for no other reasons than I'm ridiculously tired lately and my weekend blogs are historically not well-read or shared by many people.  So there it is, my laziness and vanity dictate that I scale back to a Monday through Friday writing schedule.

The Circle of Life

I realize that I'll probably end up with my head in the toilet most of the day because that's my body's MO when I have plans, but I have quite a busy day scheduled for tomorrow.  There's no way that I'll get everything done that I'd like to and I'll try my best to hit two of the events.  I have a baby shower to attend, was invited to two birthday parties, and will also try to attend a memorial service for two people.  Oh, and my parents are coming over to have supper tomorrow night.

It occurs to me that tomorrow afternoon's activities perfectly demonstrate the circle of life:  a baby shower to welcome the grandchild of long-time friends, celebrating the births of two friends' young children, and honoring the lives of a dear friends' parents.  We are all born and we all die, but not all of us live our lives to the fullest.  Heck, I know that sometimes I don't.  As I said a long time ago, make your dash count.