Third Tooth!

Elizabeth popped her 3rd tooth tonight. I would take a picture, but holding her mouth open and taking a picture are impossible, so I'll just say: congratulations Little Bits!

Grandma Koney Comes for the Week

Grandma Koney came to stay with us for the week while daycare was closed. Grammy & Elizabeth played, read, cooked, cleaned, napped, and even dyed daisies. Thanks for taking care of all three of us, Mom!

Summer Wedding

We went to a backyard wedding this weekend. (You always have to get pics together when you're all gussied up, right?)

Title X Cuts Cause Six Minnesota Planned Parenthood Clinics To Shut Down

"The Republicans are scoring yet another victory on their war on contraception, as Title X funding cuts cause multiple Planned Parenthood clinics in Minnesota to shut down. Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota has announced that they will be shutting down clinics in Thief River Falls, Brainerd, Red Wing, Owatonna, Albert Lea, and Fairmont while increasing staff in larger clinics in different cities in an attempt to consolidate manpower and costs."

An 11% budget cut was made and it affected 6 clinics. Of course they are increasing staff at the larger facilities since patients will have to go to other clinics, but at least they are still shutting down and if 11% cuts down 6 clinics, I say keep cutting!
While the news reports that none of these clinics that shut down performed abortions, they did provide the morning after pill. They may not consider that abortion, but the fact is: it is abortion.
(Happy Dance)

MIB - Book Review

I was disappointed by Men in Black. The story was engaging at first, but the characters are all so cynical and sarcastic. The reviews I read portrayed it as "funny, moving, poetic, and fast-paced". I don't agree at all. I was going to give up on it 1/2 way through, but I thought it may take a turn for the better. Nope. The ending of the book left me feeling unsatisfied and thinking "what the ...?". He constantly switches between the past and present without introduction. It was filled with crude language, cursing, adultery, lying and had hardly nothing to do with the Men in Black themselves. It mainly focused on the life of an author who wrote a fictional story about the MIB. Overall: disappointing.

Bry Graduates and Turns 18

Bryanna turned 18 and celebrated her highschool graduation. She will be going to college in the fall. Congratulations Bry, we're proud of you!

Great Grandma with her Great Grand Girls

Grandma and her Great Grandchildren -- 3 & 3 Boys and Girls

Grandma Brooks and her Big Grand Babies :)

Baby Schaefer #2 is Born

Derik, Kelly, & Ruby welcomed a baby boy into their lives 6/18/2011 @ 12:19 PM. 8# 3oz, 20.5" long. Welcome to the world Zane Rylan Schaefer. We got to meet you and kiss you and hug you! Congratulations Schaefers!

Elizabeth & Ady Mae

Auntie Jenny & Cousin Adelynne came to stay with us for a week while our daycare was closed. Elizabeth was surprisingly gentle with the baby. Adelynne would suck on Elizabeth's fingers until Elizabeth would pull her little sharp fingers back and Ady would cry. All in all the week went well with the two little ones in the house.

Electronic Nasal Aspirator

We love our electric booger sucker! It was $20 @ Walgreens, but definitely worth it. The manual bulb syringe is terrible and it is horrible getting Little Bits to hold still to perform multiple sucks from each nostril. This is wonderful, even plays music (if you want) as a distraction. Easy to clean. Efficient. Thorough. Gentle. Runs on (2) AA batteries. Highly recommended by this Mom. (And no, I'm not going to try it on myself. My husband offered to, though. Ewe! I'm not cleaning that one out!)

Recent Findings by This Blog's Author

Have you looked at the ingredients in coffee creamer (corn syrup solids, vegetable oils, dipotassium phosphate, etc)? Ick. Now look at dry milk. Milk & Vit D. This is what I now use in my coffee. I buy it the large box and keep some in Tupperware for my daily coffee. Much healthier than the other coffee creamer -- even though I am a sucker sometimes for the flavored, liquid ones. I will not be using the plain, powdered type anymore.

Where are the worst germs in your house? In the drain of your kitchen sink! Gross! So the next time you drop a grape down there...rewash it or toss it, don't just pop it (in your mouth).


And why do we dust with a wet rag vs. just using a feather duster? "There are three main components of dust: first, dead skin cells, second, the dried feces and dessicated corpses of dust mites lovely thought, eh? When people develop a house-dust allergy, this is usually the component they are reacting to), and the last component by volume is tiny fibers shed by clothing -- cotton is bad for this, and jeans are the worst. This is for ordinary house dust. (Incidentally, dust mites are not generally visible, except with a microscope; they are 200-300 microns long, they eat dead skin cells and live in bedding, carpets and soft furnishings.)"

OK, I'm getting off my soap box now...and going to clean with its contents. :)

Sing, Sing a Song, Sing Out Loud, Sing Out Strong!

Little Bits is trying out her singing voice. She's gotten to such high notes lately that I think only the dog hears them. It's so much fun watching her learn different things now. (We had to post something. Grammy wanted to see something new on the blog. Figured we'd do something extra cute.)

Trip to Urgent Care

Miss Elizabeth came down with her first ear infection today. She had a 103.8 fever so we took her to urgent care after trying a cool bath - which she hated. We had the choice of 10 days of an antibiotic or a shot. We chose the shot, even though she didn't like it. After a long nap, feeding, and acetaminophen, she's smiling, babbling, and playing on the floor. Thank God we brought her in to make sure the fever wasn't just a cold, flu or teething. To all parents out there: trust your instincts.