Baby Jackson,

Your mama is a worrier by nature. I worry about the little things like if I am going to miss the alarm in the morning making myself late for work and about the really big things like if you are growing like you should be and if you are okay in there. Each time we visit the doctor and they tell me everything looks good, I feel a wave of relief wash over me.
I'm trying really hard not to worry so much, but at times this requires more faith than I can muster. I want to be excited and enjoy this journey that will only happen a few times in my life, but I feel like I can't relax until I am sure you are okay. I wonder if every mother feels this way. I am sure they do. There are so many unknowns. For every answer, there are a million questions. Perhaps I will be comforted by your kicks and flips once you start moving. They will be a sign that you are okay. Until then I will do my best to have faith in this process and in your amazing ability to grow and develop. Please don't be surprised if I have a whole new set of worries once you are born. Just ask your dad what happens when he is more than 30 minutes late getting home from work, or your sister, Erin, how protective I am of her.

Thank you Becky for bringing the fight for women's rights in Juarez Mexico to my attention in your recent post They Are Our Sisters.

I'm still trying to absorb the reality of the situation, and find ways to help.

Maquiladoras at a Glance. This page contains a list of some of the maquiladoras in Juarez as well as a breakdown of their impact on the people of Juarez and the environment.

In the thick of it

I want to stick my head in the sand and keep it there until we have our move all figured out. Instead, I'm filling out home loan applications, calling utility companies, and dreaming about houses we can't afford all while making sure Erin is on track to finish school on time, I have enough calcium in my diet, and trying to remember to take my prenatal vitamin. The icing on the cake that is our life, is that David got a somewhat unwanted promotion. His boss, the owner of the company, took a supplemental job out of sate and put David in charge of everything here. For the next month, David will be working every day. As none of the other three employees are capable of doing the job, David was not really left with an option. As my grandpa would say, "I know deep in my knower" that everything will be okay. We are just in that place where there are far more questions than answers. It's no easy place to be, but we've all been there and we've all made it through. Our story will not end with us broke and homeless on the streets of Pennsylvania thogh thoughts like these fill my dreams. Silly dreams!

More For Alyssa

When I saw the adorable shoes Becky
got for Alyssa, I knew I wanted to try and make them. I found the pattern at Stardust Shoes and then found a cute bib pattern at Chickpea Sewing Studio. I thought the two would make a nice ensemble. So, I made both. The bib was fairly simple, maybe too simple. It didn't turn out perfect, but I think it looks cute. All that's left to do is put the snap on the bib and send this little set off to Kristen. I'm making the same set for another set of friends who just found out they are having a girl, and one more for friends who are having a boy. This is so much fun. :)

We had our second doctors appointment yesterday. Baby Jackson's heartbeat was 160, and all of the test came back with normal results. My blood pressure was high, but I'm sure it was because of my pre-appointment adventure which included leaving the house only to find that I'd forgotten something at home and having to turn around to get it, getting lost trying to find the place, and spending forever trying to find parking once I did find it. I ended up being late for the appointment and I HATE to be late. The nurse was so sweet. She told me that if I was ever running late again I should not worry about it. I should just drive like a butterfly and they will take care of me when I get there.

I've lost 4lbs since my last doctors appointment which means that overall I've lost 15lbs since I got pregnant. The doctor said that as long as I am eating and I'm not throwing up anymore I shouldn't be too worried. I assure you, I am eating. I make myself eat even though the thought of food is less than appealing most of the time. I haven't felt hungry in three months. My diet consists of fruit, plain chicken, and vegetables because everything else makes me feel sick. I also drink milk which I am not a fan of, but I know the baby needs it.

Though my belly hasn't grown enough for anyone to notice, I can feel the pull on my lower back. Sleeping has already become and issue. I can't find a position that doesn't make my back hurt. Any suggestions?

My Second Sewing Project

It is not perfect, but I love it. I found a few more patterns I can't wait to make.

It's spring, and the trees are in bloom. It's so beautiful I can't help but smile when I look out my office window.

For Kristen

LOVE IS BEING A MOTHER

Love is scaring away monsters in the middle of the night, then again at 1:00 a.m., 2:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m.

Love is reading the same bedtime story for the 999th time.

Love is a hug around the knees.

Love is watching Mr. Rogers instead of All My Children.

Love is cutting off the crusts.

Love is a refrigerator covered with creative works of art.

Love is not grimacing through the dirtiest of diapers.

Love is trading in the Camero for a station wagon.

Love is the magic kiss that heals all owies.

Love is a cuddly kid in a blanket sleeper.

Love is the first kick, first smile, first laugh, first step, first anything.

Love is your child sound asleep, any child sound asleep.

Love is a macaroni necklace.

Love is wearing the macaroni necklace to church with pride.

Love is a peanut butter kiss, a syrup kiss, a chocolate kiss, any kind of kiss.

Love is when Bert & Ernie replace Robert Redford & Tom Selleck as your most admired men.

Love is the smell of a baby's neck.

Love is saying no at the right times when it is easier to say yes.

Love is saying yes at the right times when it's easier to say no.

~~ Author Unknown ~~
This was Erin's favorite book. She used to read the last line to me. I hope you'll love it as much as we do.


Cute little pink pants! I wanted to buy some cute pink shoes with flowers to match but wasn't sure if you would like them. Let me know, and I'll order them!



It looks like Aola and I ordered the same thing! It's a good thing you can never have to many onsies!


Congratulations Kristen! I am so excited for you. You are going to be an amazing mom!

I suppose I asked for it, this change that shook my world. In a way I sensed it was coming. The plans to move in to my dad's house have fallen through. He and my step-mom are planning on moving back in to their home and, without talking to us first, made plans for us to move in with my step-sister and nephew. Those plans will never work. I tried to explain it to my dad who is the most easy going, take life as it comes at you person I've ever met. To him, this change is small and insignificant. To me it's the size of the Grand Canyon. We have our life, and we're quite used to the rythem of one another, a rythem that will be thrown off enough with a cross country move and a new baby. The months after we move will be a time when we need our own space to discover who we are as parents and how life works in a new place. It is not a time for me to worry about my step-sister and nephew or what I can and can't do in her home.
Obviously this change brings complications. We now have to find a manufactured home to put on the land by my grandma's house. It's not without it's benefits though. This is what we wanted originally, to live on my family land close to my grandmother and aunt and away from everything but the grass and trees of the Pennsylvania countryside. Moving in to my dad's house was only a short term fix. They needed someone to ocupy the house so it wouldn't be vacant, and we needed a place to live while we figured everything out. Now, we will just figure it all out from 3,000 miles a way and trust that if we embrace this change, life will work out as it should.

It's no longer dark when I leave my office. I want to go on walks in the evening, just because I can.
The baby is cooperating more, and that nauseas feeling that dominated the first trimester seems to be loosening it's grip. Food almost looks appealing again.
Erin and I are learning how to sew together. We've already completed one project, adorable tote bags I am going to give to my nieces for Easter. We've purchased the material for a new project, but haven't started it yet. And the pattern for the Nappy Diaper Bag arrived in the mail Saturday. It's going to take some practice before I feel ready to try making it.
The move we've been talking about for almost a decade is finally going to happen. We reserved a date with a moving company and purchased a camper shell for the truck.
So many changes will be happening all at once. Perhaps that is why the phrase "embrace change" has been dancing around in my head all morning. I will embrace it. I will make the most of it.

Homeschooling is NOT Imperiled in California by Gabriel Malor.

A recent California Court of Appeals case has been making some waves as the precursor to the end of homeschooling in this state. Michelle Malkin, Susan Duclos of Wake up America, and Darleen Click at Protein Wisdom have all noted it and discussed the implications of the case with some degree of outrage. I admit, it sounds pretty bad the way the LA Times writes:

Parents who lack teaching credentials cannot educate their children at home, according to a state appellate court ruling that is sending waves of fear through California’s home schooling families.Advocates for the families vowed to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court. Enforcement until then appears unlikely, but if the ruling stands, home-schooling supporters say California will have the most regressive law in the nation.

“This decision is a direct hit against every home schooler in California,” said Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, which represents the Sunland Christian School, which specializes in religious home schooling. “If the state Supreme Court does not reverse this . . . there will be nothing to prevent home-school witch hunts from being implemented in every corner of the state of California.”

The ruling as described would effectively end homeschooling in California, and I agree that it would be an outrageous result. Fortunately, the LA Times misunderstood the case and that misunderstanding was carried over into the discussions of the bloggers listed above, who appear to have discovered the issue because they read the LA Times article or each other. (I am amused to discover that Memorandum has aided the dissemination of an untrue meme.)

The short version: The LA Times got it wrong in the first sentence of their article. Parents without teaching credentials can still educate their children at home under the various exemptions to mandatory public school enrollment provided in § 48220 et seq. of the Cal. Ed. Code. The parents in this case lost because they claimed that the students were enrolled in a charter school and that with minimal supervision from the school, the children were free to skip classes so the mother could teach them at home. There is no basis in law for that argument. If only the parents had attempted to homeschool their kids in one of the statutorily prescribed methods, they would have prevailed.

Under California law, attendance at a full-time day public school is compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 18. Parents wanting to take their kids out of the public schools must do so under one of the exceptions provided by the California Education Code. For the purposes of home schooling they are: § 48222 Attendance in private school or § 48224 Instruction by credentialed tutor. (There are other exceptions for short-term child actors, the mentally gifted, or leaves of absences, but they are not appropriate for homeschoolers.)

So, generally, parents have three options for educating their kids in California: (1) public school; (2) private school; or (3) credentialed tutor. This is not as bad for homeschoolers as it looks. To be a private school in California, all the parent has to do is be “capable of teaching” the required subjects in the English language and offer instruction in the same “branches of study” required to be taught in the public schools. They also have to keep a register of enrollment at their “school” and a record of attendance. Once a year they have to file an affidavit with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction with things like their names and address, the names of the students and their addresses, a criminal background check (since we don’t want unsupervised felons teaching kids), and their attendance register. That’s it.

In the Longs’ case, they attempted to claim that their children were enrolled in a “valid charter school” and that the school was supervising the mothers’ instruction in the home. It is unclear from the court’s opinion, but it looks like the parents tried to argue that the children were enrolled in a public school (since all charter schools in California are public schools). But since they obviously couldn’t meet any of the attendance requirements for public schools*, the court also examined the question of whether the parents were credentialed. Since they obviously aren’t, the court kicked it back to the lower court to order them to “enroll their children in a public full-time day school, or a legally qualified private full-time day school.” It looks like the parents never bothered to argue that they were running their own private school in compliance with § 48222.


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Who knew there was so much more to the story? It sounds like these parents were in deed trying to scam the system, and got caught. To read the entire post and for links to the laws regarding homeschooling in CA visit Gabriel Malor .

I've said this before...

But I really want to learn how to sew! I took Home Ec. In high school and sewed a lovely pair of burnt orange curtains(our couches were 70's style brown with orange flowers) for my mom. I also made a lovely baby blanket that folded into a pillow for Erin when she was born, but that has been the extent of my sewing experience. This photo at www.amybutlerdesign.com has me drooling along with the many other beautiful things on her inspiration page.
My step-mom does wonders with a sewing machine. I know she would be more than willing to teach me when we move, but I'm impatient! :) I'm considering buying a machine tonight and starting with some basic stuff. What else do I have to do? I mean it's not like we're moving in three and a half months or having a baby or anything. :)




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I just ordered the pattern for this diaper bag (it's not like it will be a completely unproductive project. The baby will need a diaper bag.) and a basic sewing book from Amazon. I told you I was impatient! In my defense I did say I wanted to learn how to sew months ago! :)

This site is probably one of the coolest I've come across in a long time. It combines my love of blogging and scrapbooking. How much cooler can you get? The site is so user friendly and creating this page was so quick and easy!
If you've ever been interested in scrapbooking or just want to try it out for fun, go check it out. Don't blame me if you develop an addiction! :)