Red Pencil Diaries

Zack turned two in November. And he’s been pretty good since then, so I thought… “Maybe he won’t really be too bad at age 2.” I was wrong. Last week, he started some new tantrums. He used to go to bed when he was tired. At nap time, I’d just say, “You look tired, let’s take a nap.” And he’d follow me into his room, I’d tuck him in with his stuffed animals, and he’d go to sleep. Suddenly—he throws a huge fit. He won’t go into his room unless we pick him up and carry him. And then, he won’t stay in the bed. I’m not supposed to be picking him up, but I do sometimes anyway—it’s the only way to get him to do anything these days.

He won’t let me change his diaper. He runs away when I try to change his clothes. He takes off his pants (when we are at home). At Lowes the other day, he wanted to ride in the race car cart, but it was soaked from the rain. So Daddy told him “No.” He threw himself onto the floor in the doorway in front of tons of people and proceeded to scream “Car” and cry. And it seems everything is his—he grabs things and yells “MINE!” no matter whose item it happens to be. He used to be so good. I have no idea what happened. My sister says her son did similar things at that age. I hope he gets over it soon, because in just about 3 months, he’ll have a baby sister here who will need tons of attention and I will absolutely go insane if he’s still not napping and all grumpy the rest of the day.

Right now, he’s being so sweet. He’s sitting next to me watching Sesame Street and he got all excited and started saying “Momma!” and pointing at the film of children painting on paper. sigh He’s so cute and sweet when he wants to be!

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

This article kinda freaks me out. Asteroid hitting the earth in about 30 years… Zack would be nearly my age by then. Geez… I’d be old. But wow… makes you wonder how close this thing will really come. And how many more of them are out there that might also hit earth… hmmm… more to think about.

Ok, I belong to this online board for moms. Someone posted a link to this story about the new marriage ballot in Washington state that would require couples to produce children within 3 years of marriage or their marriage would be annulled. It’s an initiative brought up by proponents of same sex marriage who want the issue of same sex marriage to be again discussed in the legislature of that state (a gay marriage ban was voted on previously and one of the main arguments against it was that same sex marriages don’t produce children).

Well, several members of this board went on and on about how awful it was for them to even propose this idea. I mentioned that the Defense of Marriage Alliance acknowledges that it is absurd, but they wanted to find a good way to drive home the point that many marriages don’t produce children, so that isn’t a valid argument against same sex marriage. And somehow on the board it turned into an argument between the Christians and those who think same sex marriage is ok. It kept building and every time I saw the post come up, I felt compelled to post. One woman went on to say that the very definition of marriage is changed when you consider the separation of church and state—it’s no longer the biblical definition because we shouldn’t allow the Bible to dictate meaning behind our laws. And I agreed with her. Then another woman disagreed with our definition of the separation of church and state and said that our founding fathers didn’t mean it in the way we believed it meant.

I followed up with how the U.S. is a country of religious freedom and how many people came to this country to escape religious tyranny of other countries. And since not everyone in this country follows the teachings of the Bible, we cannot rely on that book to define our laws… well it went on and on and into some women complaining about how “tolerance” is being taught at schools—even in kindergarten. And how they are sick of “tolerance” since everyone is being “tolerated” except for the Christians.

I had to bite my tongue. There was so much more I wanted to say. So instead, I asked that the post be closed. I was afraid I’d get myself into trouble. And yet, even by me asking for the post to be closed, now this woman is insisting that by asking for it to be closed, that I am “censoring” her. Grrrrrr. There was even a post about someone praying for revival…

Some of my issues are that I can totally accept that people believe what they want to believe. But I often feel like because I don’t share the “typical Christian” views, that I am to be prayed for. That I can’t be tolerated. That I need to be changed because I am not like them. My belief on this matter is that in country our size, with so many different people, cultures, and beliefs existing together; how can we define our laws based on one religion? What about the buddhists? The muslims? The wiccans? The jews? There are countries based on religion. But ours isn’t one of them. Or at least, I didn’t used to feel it was. I have attended Christian church. And I believe a lot of the Christian beliefs. But I can’t let my beliefs exclude everyone else who lives in this nation with me. I can’t bring myself to say that I am 100% right and they are wrong. If we are to all live here together and unite as one and fight for the same beliefs, those “state” beliefs need to be broad enough to include everyone. That’s what I believe.

It’s Sunday. Almost 8 pm. Zack is “running his junk out” all over the living room while chucking toys and pillows at the dog. Dave is doing homework. And I am sick. I had big plans to go out with a friend this morning—shopping without the kiddos. But of course, I went to bed last night with a stuffy nose and a tickle in my throat (you know, that feeling you get when you think you might be getting a sore throat???) and woke up with a horrible cold. My sinuses are full. I keep blowing my nose. My head feels hot—even though my temperature is only 98.8. And the drainage has my stomach feeling icky. And I can’t taste anything. Dave cooked this big dinner, and I couldn’t even taste most of it. Blech!

I hate being sick. And it’s even worse when you’re pregnant because you’re really limited on what you can take for a cold. I take some Sudafed and some Tylenol and then drink lots of fluids and rest. But Zack is constantly into things and so I’ve given up on taking another nap. Which is why I am about to curl up with my down-filled blanket and watch the Grammys.

I had my ultrasound last Wednesday to measure my cervix and it was great news—4.25 cm. It’s really long and closed and my transabdominal cerclage is holding up well. I am now 21 weeks, 3 days along. Time is going by at a decent pace. On March 23, I will enter the third trimester. That doesn’t seem that far off, does it?

Well, I hear Zack in the office bothering Daddy. So I must go and get him out of there. Even though I don’t even want to get up off the couch. Oh, which leads me to another thing—hubby bought me a new laptop for Valentine’s Day! Yay me! And Yay him! He’s super duper sweet to me. I love him. And now I can continue to peruse the internet while watching TV. Ain’t that the life?

I have been lazy. It’s been cold and I’ve been tired. It’s not as easy to jump on my computer without my laptop. I generally only get online when Zack is napping or Dave is home b/c I have to sit in the office and Zack gets into too much in here. So those are my excuses.

The pregnancy is still going well. I’m just over 20 weeks now. I have a cervical measurment utrasound on Wednesday. I hope it shows that my cervix is still long and closed and my transabdominal cerclage is still doing its job.  Wish me luck with that.

I’ve been taking it easy. Doing some housework. Occasionally going out to the stores and stuff. I try to sit or lie down as much as I can. It takes the stress and pressure off my cervix. We’ve decided on a name… and when I tell people, they love it or they hate it. Oh well. It’s my child…

Her name was Lola… (yes, let Copa Cabana ring loud and clear in your mind all day!) I love that name! Dave does too. I actually picked it out from this cute kids show on Nick Jr. called “Charlie & Lola” about two small british children who have really vivid imaginations. Lola is so cute in that show. And every time I hear that name, it makes me smile! And “Zack & Lola” sounds pretty good together, I think. Even Dave’s granny likes the name.

I’ve purchased bedding for her room—it’s a patchwork quilt with all kinds of bright Hawaiian floral prints on it. It’s mostly shades of pink and blue and aqua. I think we’re painting her room a lighter aqua color. I’m wanting to paint palm trees on her closet doors. I think it’ll be so cute! Zack’s room is bright yellow with green closet doors and a parade of green/yellow/orange frogs all around the walls—like they are hopping around the room. I love bright and cheery rooms for kids! I can’t wait to get started. But alas, Dave has to finish our storage room in the basement so we can move the stuff that’s stored in Lola’s room down there so he will have room to work on the electrical and drywall in there. So it’s gonna be awhile. Oh well. Not much I can do to change things. Just have to be patient for now.