Growly Maira

Maira has been growing leaps and bounds in the past couple of weeks. My prediction that she would crawl before she could sit up on her own turned out to be wrong, though it was a very close thing!

She has been working on getting from lying on her belly to sitting on her bum for a while now. She would get there, but would lean to the side holding herself up because she couldn't sit straight yet.

Then about three or four days ago, she finally got it! She's still falls over sometimes, but she's getting strong fast!

Two days ago she took her first crawl forward - knees forward, then hands, then knees again, then fell over. Yesterday, she took three full crawling strides before she laid back down. Today, she's crawling all over!!

She's getting mobile! This means i have to get out the baby gates and start mopping my floors more often. Boo! (haha)

 Yesterday, she was playing with her toys and made her way over to the front entry closet, which has those folding doors with mirrors on them. Whether she crawled or rolled, i'm not sure, but we found her sitting in front of the mirror smiling and talking to herself.

She has also been learning new sounds every day. Her favourite sound is the growl! I think she makes that more than any other sound! We used to call her our little night owl, because of her sleeping habits  (and her tendency to scratch with razor sharp talons, no matter how often i trimmed and filed!), but now I think she's going to be Maira Bear. Our kids all have nicknames - my other blog, "Bug, Boo and Bean" is named after the boys. At least she's following the "B" pattern. haha!

I'll make sure to post more later, when i get the chance. Meanwhile, here's another cute video of Maira's noises. Enjoy!

A Public Service Announcement

We all know the health risks of breakfast meats. Bacon. Sausage. All that delicious fat and sodium will kill you one day. And if you try to use your hands to turn them in the pan, you'll likely receive a nasty burn. And it spits.

I've been spit in the face by breakfast meats before. I use long tongs. I stand back as far as my short stature will allow. But it happens. A tiny spritz in the eye, you rinse it out, blink a few times, and move on.

Last night, we had breakfast for supper as we sometimes do. I made pancakes and sausages. While cooking the sausages, one of them so objected to being turned over that it cracked open and spit right in my eye. I don't mean a tiny bacon spritz. I mean giant ball of grease - as if i had insulted it's honour.

I ran to the sink and rinsed. It HURT! I tried to blink. Rinsed again. Tried to blink. Ouch.

I soaked a clean cloth in cold water and held it over my eye while i finished cooking dinner. We ate dinner. I went to the Relief Society activity. They eye was sore, but only when i blinked or closed my eyes. I kept telling myself it was fine. Kept cleaning my glasses. Why was the left side so smudged? why wouldn't it get clean!?

I stopped painting to check my eyes. I'm sure a few of the women i shared a table with began to question my sanity. Yep, my left eye was blurry. Not "I've got something in my eye" blurry, but "blink... blink blink... blinkblinkblinkblink WHAT'S HAPPENED?" blurry.

Trying to get to sleep that night was a very wet experience - my eyes kept watering like crazy all over my pillow. And yes, it hurt like heck! And in the morning, even my eyelid was rebelling, all swollen and ugly!

So after taking the kids to school I went to the clinic to see if i could get a few minutes with one of the doctors. They sent me to emergency. The nurse checked me out and called the doctor. Then sent me back to the clinic.

There i met the doctor, who put drops in my eye to numb it - which was excruciating pain followed slowly by sweet relief. Then he put orange dye in my eyes and checked to make sure there was no severe damage.

Thankfully, there was none. My eye will heal in 2-3 days he says. He gave me some anti-inflammatory eye drops for the swelling. I get to take them for five days. just in case.

My vision is terrible - even with one good eye, it's tough to focus to see properly. Not to mention the river of tears. Apparently my eyes are very sad about the whole thing. The left eye stings like crazy now that the freezing has worn off. This really is not the result i expected when i set out to make last night's dinner.

So please, take care when you cook your breakfast meats. I suggest goggles. Or a HazMat suit.

Because we all know it's too delicious to just give up completely.

Maira and the Cat

Yay! a video!!

Maira LOVES the cat. Seriously. Doesn't matter how upset she is, if the cat walks in the room she's instantly happy again!

Maira turned six months old on Friday the 10th. She's getting big and busy! She can't crawl yet, but she can roll, push, and turn her way wherever she wants to go.

Enjoy!

Phasing out Facebook

I have decided to begin phasing out Facebook. 

This is a decision that has been in the making for years, but I have never been able to do it before. Why? Because i would miss people. Honestly, there are so many friends i see exclusively on Facebook that i probably won't get to talk to or "see" as often without Facebook. That makes me sad. But I hope that i can do better with e-mails and phone calls and blogging (hey, good news for you people who actually read this blog!)

Let me just clarify what i am NOT trying to say by stepping out of Facebook life:

1. "I'm so much better than you, because i can resist the Facebook net!"
2. "I need validation and want people to jump up and tell me not to go because they'd miss me."
3. "I hate people and never want to speak to any of you again."

This is none of those things. This is a personal thing. I spend too much time on Facebook. It's become too much of an addiction. I scroll around even when there's nothing new to look at. Whenever i go online just to find a recipe or look something up, suddenly i'm on Facebook without realizing i'd clicked on it.

This wouldn't be as big a problem if i wasn't... well, me. I think about things and people i've read about on Facebook, and it consumes me. People say things on there that bother me, and because i despise confrontation, i leave it alone. But my mind concocts replies and arguments and defenses all the same. It takes up energy and thought that i should be devoting to something more productive.

Some may not know, but i am  a very sensitive and timid person. I can't handle confrontation or argument. I can't stand to see anyone being verbally abused over their point of view. ANYONE. Whether or not i disagree with what they're saying, no one should be called names or made to feel small or stupid because they expressed an opinion.

And I see way too much of this:

"I am a great person who does not judge or hate anyone...

... except Christians who are trying to live the gospel and improve themselves. You are all hypocritical jerks. And that person who was driving carefully down an icy road. You shouldn't be allowed to drive, idiot!  And that mom who is having a hard time managing this or that - you need to stop whining because people have it harder than you do! The Mormon who handed out candy when Halloween was on a sunday is most certainly going to Hell, and that crafty mom who posted pictures of the things she made is obviously full of herself and doesn't spend enough time with her kids.

And anyone i don't agree with or who just annoyed me today deserves a punch in the face.

But really, i'm awesome and nice and love everyone! See?"

It hurts. It truly, honestly hurts and i can't take it anymore. People on the internet are always so riled up, thinking EVERYONE on EARTH is a hateful who just needs to love people more, moron!! They share fake stories about racisim and muslims insulting the flag and people being jerks and post it as a life lesson - when really, someone just made up this story and pasted all over the internet just to stir the pot. (i know some are real, but it's the fake ones that get passed around the most!)

I have people in my life who despise everything i stand for. People I can't so easily dismiss. They go about their lives, i go about mine. Do we constantly need to rant about it and hate on each other? "I believe this and if you don't agree with me you can go suck an egg!" ... "Yeah, you may think i'm a jerk, but i'm not going to change so get used to it, Stupidhead!"

The thing is, we should all be changing. We should always be trying to be a better version of ourselves. I used to be very different than i am now. I still struggle with so many things. For one, I have a hard time being loving and forgiving of people who hate me or hurt me. But it doesn't cost much to be civil. I don't have to be their best friend. I don't have to hang out with them all the time. But when i see them at a party or on the street, i'll be as kind as i can. Or i'll just avoid them. And if you hear me speaking unkindly about them, please remind me that i'm trying to overcome backbiting as well. No, i'm not perfect. It's a process.

Yes, this is me ranting. I'm working on doing it less. But I just have to get it out. I'm not calling people names. I'm not insulting anyone's dignity (at least not intentionally). I'm not calling down any race, religion, class, culture, etc. I just want us all to be nice and civil to one another, instead of looking for reasons to bicker and argue!

"Look! a picture of pie!" - "You shouldn't eat that you know, it's full of calories and fat and GMOs and bad sugars and you're going to get cancer and diabetes and die."

"Look! My cute baby in a jolly jumper!" - "Did you know jolly jumpers actually delay development! besides, they could break their legs and be lame for life and then die."

"Brr! It's cold today!" - "No it's not. Stop whining. Here it's so cold you can't even go near a window because if there's a little draft coming into the house, you'll get frostbite and die."

"I support this political opinion" - "Well, i support the opposite because your side is foolish and ignorant. And they have bad taste in clothing. And they will also die. Somehow."

Now, I'm not trying to demonize Facebook - I have held on with it this long because there are so many good things being passed around and said on there. and i do realize a lot of people are not mean intentionally - but the true meaning of a person's words are often lost without hearing their tones or seeing their expressions and body language.

There is still too much anger and hate. Yes, that's the world, i know. We argue and debate and shout our opinions from the rooftops. And some people can handle it. Some people actually ENJOY it, and that is totally up to you. but for me, personally, I am too soft hearted, too afraid, too weak of a person, i suppose, to be inundated with petty arguments and insults every day. I take it in too deeply, and my heart aches. I want to see kindness, love, people smiling at one another, finding common ground and rejoicing with one another. i need to pull my mind away from the sadness of seeing people constantly hating and focus on good things. I want to see good triumph. People helping people. i want to see people of all races, creeds, religions, cultures, and lifestyles standing up for each other and treating each other with respect, without the need to insult someone else in the process.

...
...erm...

I suppose this post kinda got away from me. Long story short, I have to leave Facebook. At least temporarily. I wish i had the self control to leave it up, but just check in once in a while. But the thing is like a box of cookies - so long as it's there, i'll keep picking at it until i'm morbidly obese (and I'll probably die).

I'm not leaving immediately - i want to keep in contact with all of you, so i need to collect addresses and phone numbers and let you know where i'll be. Maybe in a week or two. I'll blog updates when i can. I'll still be available via e-mail and phone (call me! Teach me that the phone isn't scary!). And if you have your own blog, share it with me! I'll read it!