Please, please PLEASE read this and sign!!

I'm a huge fan of mom and pop businesses. Like my favorite bowmaker, Karyn, who runs Little Pink Ladybug. But she's closing her business as of February 10, 2009. Not because she WANTS to, but because she HAS to. Likewise, many sellers on my favorite addiction, Etsy, will have to shut down. I love to get second-hand clothes at great deals, but I won't be able to anymore, from garage sales or consignment stores. And do you love going to the handmade crafts sections at fairs and such? Well, no more buying childrens products there, or selling them yourselves.

New Product Safety Legislation Needs Clarifications Now
Urge Your Members of Congress to Help Now

In August 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) (PL 110-787) was passed by Congress to strengthen product safety laws to ensure only safe and compliant products are sold to our nation's children. While well-intentioned, this legislation imposes several new and burdensome requirements that increase costs at a time of economic upheaval but that do not offer any improvement in the safety of children's clothing or footwear.
Urge your members of Congress today to work with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to develop a pragmatic approach to the implementation of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Strengthening our product safety system is an important goal, but this can only be achieved if there are predictable and commonsense regulations that address safety risks.

In "mom" words:

Congress passed an act called the CPSIA - its intent is to keep lead and phthalates out of childrens' products. Which is obviously great. HOWEVER, this act means that everyone who sells products intended for children will have to test each and every one of their products for lead/phthalates. If someone knits baby booties, they'll have to test each yarn they use, and each dye lot of that yarn. Each test costs upwards of $1k. In other words, as of 2/10/09, most small businesses dealing with childrens' products are going to be forced to close up shop.It's not just toys - it's clothing, cloth diapers, cribs, strollers, slings - EVERYTHING meant for children under 12. And it's not just businesses, large or small - consignment stores cannot sell untested/uncertified clothing. **You yourself cannot sell untested/uncertified clothing on eBay, message boards, or even in a garage sale.


Please, please, please take the small amount of time that it will take to email your Representatives and Senators to let them know of this huge problem. Whether you create things by hand yourself, or enjoy being able to buy something beautiful and support a fellow mom or dad. Even if you haven't ever bought something handmade, chances are you know or knew someone that this will affect.

Places to find out more information and to sign petitions/email your Reps:

Etsy's Open Letter
CapWiz - they'll email your Reps for you, with your info
Handmade Toy Alliance
National Bankruptcy Day - they have a petition to sign in the colum on the right, as well as updates.

Taggiola Time

Hilary tagged me a bit ago, and I kept meaning to do this, but then my computer got a virus and it took me forever and a day to get rid of it, blah blah blah. So here it is:

8 T.V. Shows I like to watch:
1. Psych (totally have a crush on Gus)
2. House
3. NCIS
4. Imagination Movers (it's the one kids show that I can really get into)
5. House Hunters
6. Numb3rs
7. The Hills (guilty pleasure)
8. Parking Wars

8 Places I like to eat:
1. Texas Roadhouse
2. Bushwhackers
3. Rodolphos
4. McDonalds (kid friendly. what can I say...)
5. Chilis
6. Olive Garden
7. Outback
8. Golden Dragon

8 Things I did today:
1. Went to M's IEP evaluation
2. Avoided going to the gym
3. Finished making the gingerbread cookies
4. Fixed the computer
5. Changed my kids diapers
6. Sent CJ off to work
7. Took M to dance class and chatted with the other moms
8. Watched J learn to get up on his feet!!!!!!!!!

8 Things I'm looking Forward to:
1. Mum coming to visit next week
2. My arms to stop hurting
3. To FINALLY see Twilight
4. Christmas
5. Shopping in Tucson this weekend (yesssss)
6. Sleep
7. Getting our new TV finally
8. Painting the kids room... eventually

8 Things I can't live without:
1. CJ
2. M
3. P
4. J
5. The Church
6. Extended family
7. The computer
8. Coke

Now... Tag 8 people

umm... really, whoever wants to do this. :) Amber? Shila? Staci? Bueller?

Oh owww...

We had a visitor this weekend. The kids loved her being around. I did too... as long as we weren't in the gym. Because she kicked my arse into gear, and oh good gravy, I'm SO FREAKING SORE now.

Yep, aunt Camille came to visit us for the first time in SoAZ! M and P loved it, they had such a blast playing with her and laughing hysterically. We took her to see the sights, which was basically just Tombstone and Bisbee... yeah. Not that thrilling when she was only down from Thursday until today. But it was fun! She helped me take the kids to the Christmas parade last night. OOOOOOOH my gosh, that sucker was long! It started at 5:30pm and we took the kids home at 7:30 because we were too cold to keep standing there, even though the parade was still going on!

Some pictures...

Thankful

I am thankful...


for our health, as whacky as it can be.
for M's preschool and all that she's learned already.
for baby smiles and growls first thing in the morning.
that I didn't burn the roast today.
that I have some amazingly great friends both near and far.
for CJ's job, as skeery as it can be.
that Kim drags me to the gym.
for House and how much he makes me laugh.
that my mum is in a happy place, for the most part.
to have a husband who never discourages my whacky ideas.
for the memories I have so far, happy and sad both.
that dinner tonight was just SO good.
to have a roof over our heads, and a fridge full of food.
that Mercy said she was thankful for tomatoes {even though she meant potatoes}.
that my printer finally decided to work.
for my roots and ancestry.
that MaryBeth kept her promise and came to playgroup this week.
for a healing P man.
that our neighbour takes our garbage to the curb for us when I'm busy cleaning up a puking P.
that J find burps so freaking funny.
for Bolt.
to have some amazing people for in laws, both immediate family and extended.
that there's a park right behind our house, so burning toddler energy isn't a car drive away.
for Canada.
that I didn't name my son Bronx Mowgli like I'd planned. {who knew Ashlee Simpson was thinking the same thing!}
for yummy smelling candles that make the room smell so lovely.
to live in a country where I can say all these things and not be muted.
for a religion that is so sound and firm.
to have faith surrounding me even when I don't feel it.
for a cat that wakes me up at night with unearthly sounds. {wait...}
for a dog that is better with my babies than most babysitters.
for a fish that just won't kick the bucket. {we're down to 1 out of 4}
for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and me crying while watching it, for no good reason.
that this town has a Target.
that P still loves to cuddle with me, and pats me on the cheek and says "i loe loo, mummy."
for J's physical therapist, Shelly, and how well she does with him.
that M loves to sing the Mamma Mia! soundtrack with me, and can shake her booty doing it.
that CJ is such a funny and fun dad.
that I finally got to say "peace out, girl scout" in a sarcastic way to someone this year.
to have so many blessings.



Happy Thanksgiving/Black Friday!!

Peekture Time Again!

I have a few things I've been thinking about blogging, but instead I'm going to let you see some really cute kids. Sound fun? Yes! BTW, if any of you want a Christmas card {that will probably include one of these pictures, if that's more incentive for you} email me your address or post it in the comments, if you're that brave. Email is cjandlaurie@gmail.com

I took the kids to the park to take these pics yesterday. I have a big blank wall that's begging for a photo collage, and so I need some new pics of the kids for that, as well as for Christmas cards. I need to take some more, but here's what I have so far. Enjoy!

{the reason they're all black and white is because they're for the photo wall, and I love B&W photos.}

Time Flies...

When you're trying to pretend it doesn't.

What have I not been posting about... hm.

How about my joy boy, P, turning three. Three?! What? When did... How on earth... WHO LET TIME FLY WITHOUT ASKING ME!! That's it, someone's getting fired tonight.

Yes, my P-man turned three years old two weeks ago, but because we wanted to have his 3 year checkup and J's 1 year checkup at the same time, he just had his appointment today. 33 lbs, 39 inches. I *knew* he was growing! Little dude's always been on the smaller side, but he's starting to catch up to M. Watch out world. He is the perfect image of health, his speech is beautiful {not something most worry about, but after what we went through with M... well, I'm paranoid.}, he's beautiful. He didn't need any shots, but they offered a flu shot for him, and since he catches everything and I'm a sadist, I said yes please. Poor kid, I guess it hit the muscle funny or something because today while M was in dance class he'd fallen asleep in the van, but when I got him up he could barely walk and was just so upset. Yes, it was a bit of dramatics, but this is the boy who can jump three feet forward from a standstill, and rarely stops moving. So I know he really was in pain. Poor bug. M did excellent in class so I treated her to a kiddie cone from Mickey Dees and got P a chocolate chip cookie to help him feel better; it seemed to stem the tears.
J did well too, charming the doctor and smiling and playing like the cute bubba he is. 20.3 lbs, 29 inches. Thought he'd weigh more than that... huh. He looks great, his head tilt is less and he's starting to pull up on things and figuring out how to tuck his tooshie in so he can stand better. Unfortunately he didn't fare as well as P did in the needle part of the exam. Poor bubs got 5, yep FIVE, needles. Le sigh. He. Was. PIIIISSED. We had P's done first, and I held P {who was sobbing} while CJ held J down so the nurse could stick him. Oh, the anger and hurt in his little man voice!! And then M wanted to know why J was crying and went over to see, and saw him get a needle. *She* burst into tears too. Oy vey, I was glad CJ was able to be there to help me. Three crying bubbies is just not fun. Funny enough, J seems fine now whereas P is in so much pain from his one shot...

Thanks to everyone who commented on my photos. I love taking photos, I hope I'm getting better at it. Helps that I have fun kids to practice the skill on, I suppose! I have some wonderful friend/teachers, check out my blog links and you'll see their names. Kate Crafton is one of my most favorite people I've ever cyber-met. The talent she has... it makes me drool. I keep saying one day, when I win the lottery or something equally impossible, I'm going to fly her somewhere exotic with my family, so she can be my camera-love slave and take ridiculously gorgeous pictures of us all. {hah... totally made you read my blog now, didn't I, SK?}
And yes, I love editting pics too. I don't completely destroy a photo, but I like the pop that a bit of editting gives photos, so crucify me if you're a naturalist, but me and my PS will keep on truckin'.
Anyone local who wants to goof around with cameras and take pics, let me know!

Because I Suck.

**apologies to those of you trying to see the pics this morning, I didn't realize Blogger would cut half my pics off, so I had to redo it**

I've started and stopped two --no wait, maybe it's three-- posts, but just ran out of steam. You'd think with the past week I'd have plenty to say... but nope. So how about some pictures instead?

Mister J is now one year old, much to my chagrin. He suddenly seems so much bigger too, and he's doing great in his PT and starting to climb up on us too.

Halloween! J was a pony, P was a tiger, and M was Cinderella. Some random pictures from throughout the day:

Isaac and P. Best friends until there's a Thomas toy at risk.

Tatiana, one of the cutest kids. I foresee P and J fighting over her in 15 years...

Lips courtesy of MaryBeth, her wunderbar mother.
Peekaboo

Our house all ready for trick or treaters.

Some videos:

Okay, so just to follow up, I did call the billing department again and basically said "I got a bill, the lady was useless so I called the PT department and Melody double checked everything and said you're all wrong and I owe nothing, so I want this bill removed." {seriously, that's pretty much what I said} The lady who answered said "ummm... oh... okay, hold on..." got put on hold for awhile {really, they could use some better on-hold music} and then she came back and said "okay, I talked to [I couldn't understand her] and we're going to go ahead and get rid of that bill." Yeah, thought you'd say that.
We went grocery shopping today, before M went to school. Monday shopping is fun because it's usually mostly older people who are much more understanding of our kids yelling across the store "mum. MUUUUMMMYYYYY. Wook at the apples, they're WED!" We take two carts, with P and J in the seats and M walks with us, "helping". Anyways, we split up every now and then, and twice CJ had someone come up to him and ask if both the kids he had were his {since P was with me}, accompanied with a look of incredulity. Huh? Is it because it's a man with two kids? Or has two children suddenly become a rarity in society? Most couples we know have two or more kids, but then again, we're Mormon, it's expected. Maybe we just don't notice these things...

Okay, nuff of that. Pictures, anyone?

Seriously?

Let me start this by saying I'm still ticked about this, despite talking to CJ, mum, and various friends. So excuse the sarcasm with a hint of venom.

We got a letter in the mail from Sierra Vista Regional, where J gets his PT sessions. Hm, okay... open it, and it's a bill telling us we owe $40 for a September visit. Huh? We pay our copay after every visit, on our way out the door. And yeah, it's $40 a pop. Every appointment. Ouch.

Anyways, I can't find my paper where I have the list of J's appointment dates, so I call the PT office and lovely Melody gives me a list of when he was seen. I look up on our banking website to see when we paid, looks caught up. I call and the billing department can be considered less than helpful in my books. Half an hour of being on the phone and on hold, they can't give me the specific date that I supposedly missed paying, yet insist that I missed a payment. Color me angry, I get snarky and say "forget it, it sounds like the PT department has it more together than the billing, so I'm just going to deal with them from now on, thanks." and hang up. Seriously, they expected me to just say "oh, I missed it somewhere, but you're not sure where? Okay, let me pull $40 out of the air and send it off, thank youuuu!" {there's that snarkasm coming out, sorry.} So I call back to the PT office and stutter off what's going on {stutter because by this time I'm completely flustered and my words are choosing to not come out properly} and Melody, yet again, rocks the vote. She says this happens sometimes, don't stress, I'll go through your appointments and compare them to the receipt records we have. So she's going to get back to me about this tomorrow, and I'm finally chilling out a bit. Thank heavens for sane people sometimes.

This might not be such a huge deal to some, but we've been having medical billing problems all over the place this year, and I'm just done with it. Really, I'm sick of having to sit on the phone and repeat myself over and over about billing and coding and incorrect blah blah blah, and just feeling like it's falling on deaf ears. I'm frustrated because we've shelled out a good amount of money so far this year for therapies and such, and while I love the therapists we've been blessed to have for J, the money part just sucks. SUCKS. And I know there are people who have much heavier payments and get treated worse, but that doesn't make it easier for me, know what I mean? Especially seeing as I'm Canadian. I know the medical system up there isn't perfect, but from the crap I've encountered this year, I'd rather be up there right now. Sigh.

Okay, going to snuggle my expensive but so completely worth it baby boy. {but he better have d@mn straight teeth, because he's used up his braces money.}

Meandering Minds

So I really thought that I'd posted on Friday, but apparently it was Wednesday. Ooooops. Yet another sign that kids kill brain cells. {in a good way, of course}
Another sign? Totally turned the alarm off for Church. Shake your heads at me now. Shame shame. Woke up at 8:40 and said "well, there goes that good idea." It might not have been such a bad thing, since CJ got home from work at 3, so he would have got 4 hours of sleep, and that makes one grumpy man. So we took the kids to the "big park", which they appreciated, poor things needed to burn some energy. Other than little man J, who pooped out on the way to the park and slept through most of it. Went home and piddled about til CJ went to work. I took the kids to the park behind our house, and then we decided to go for a walk, since they're levelling some roads since they're building more houses. M had a blast running on the dirt, and P did too, til he biffed it. Then he thought walking with me and holding onto the stroller was a good idea. I'm glad I brought the blanket for J, it got nippy!! Anyways, a nice calm Sunday.
M's picking up some.... special... sayings. My favorite is she went up to CJ and said "I need twenty five dollars." CJ kind of looks at her funny and says "um, why do you need twenty five dollars?" She replies "I want to buy candy, so I need quarters." Good law, that child remembers too much. Our mall has candy machines everywhere, so when we go we always talk about whether we have quarters or not. Why she wanted twenty five dollars worth of quarters... well, the girl loves her candy.
I should mention, she's completely day trained now!! Whoop whoop! Both number one and number two. Niiiice. Apparently waiting til she cued us was the right choice, even if it meant waiting til she was 4. And pull ups are of the debbul, if you ask me. Those things are just the diaper industry's way of trying to suck as much money out of you for as long as it can. Jerks. I shake my fist at you, Huggies. {and ask for more coupons please. I still have two in diapers, after all. You'll be getting money out of me for awhile.}
M's off school this week... pray for my mind, dear people. One day down, four to go. We're going to make her run around the park a bunch of times, maybe help the roofers who are working on the new houses in our development, go chase the cows in the field next to our development... just kidding. {watch, someone's going to go CPS on my butt now.} We're going to go to Apple Annies on Saturday, anyone want to join us, oh local ladies? Other than that, not a big planned out week. Some crafts, some Disney {yep, I'm a bad tv watching mum}, some park.... so on so forth. Oh, and some trips to Target I'm sure.
So here's my latest grrrr-session. COSTUMES. M has hers, she's Cinderella {not my choice, but unfortunately doesn't bow to my whims anymore} , but P and J, nothing yet. They were all going to be a character from Toy Story 2, but M had to go and get an opinion on me. So then I thought we could dress P up as Gus Gus and J as a pumpkin, and they'd still be theme-y. But do you know how hard it is to find a mouse costume that A) isn't ugly and B) doesn't have the word "Mickey" in front of "Mouse"? So we asked P what he wants to be. Finally he says he wants to be a dinosaur. So we sit down in front of the computer and google "toddler dinosaur costumes" and find the freaking COOLEST costume. It's a Triceratops, it looks great and is reasonably priced {I hate cheap looking costumes, if I'm blowing money on something it better be worth it} and it's completely sold out. Like I can't find it anywhere. ANY. WHERE. What the deuce am I supposed to do?! I ended up finding two on eBay, one in J's size and one in P's size, so we'll see if they stay reasonably priced. If not.... you may just hear me ranting and raving about it some more. Sorry, my blog my rules!
And on that note, The Duggars show is almost over, and hark, I hear my bed calling my name.

*someday I'll post new pics of the kids.... someday.*