Mother's Day on the Lake

Sunday was Mother’s Day, and it was a total coincidence that Samantha went on her first boat ride!!

It was a long getting ready process, as Workaholic and his brother had lots of tampering to do with the pier and the lift for the orange reject boat. By the time we got out on the lake, it was past 7pm. But it wasn’t too terribly cold, and the wind had died down a bit from earlier…to be honest, it was probably almost the nicest part of the whole day. We cruised around, the 5 of us, (of course we took Buster and the Fonz…couldn’t leave them stranded on the shore!) and checked out the changes that have taken place over the winter. Mostly I noticed how the trees were just getting a little bit greener, and how Samantha truly enjoyed admiring herself in the review mirror. (I think she likes her shades, thanks Grandma!) She’ll make an excellent spotter come surfing time. (That way no one can claim that we were out after an hour after sunset with no spotter. Take that BJ!)

You can't really tell here...but she is driving. She's got her hand on the throttle...

Really hoping Mother Nature cooperates in less than 2 weeks and gives us a beautiful Memorial Day Weekend. We’re ready for summer!!

This Powered Milk is De-licious!!

Every once in a while, I can tell something just. isn’t. right. And it usually isn’t a case of my gut instinct saying, “Hey Gail…what’s goin’ on?” It’s usually because I hear something, just faintly, that makes me need to check on things. Mostly, it involves me bolting from the spot that I am at to another spot not too far away, and then standing and laughing. Sometimes, I have to laugh later.

The first time I remember this happening at our current house is when Fonz got sprayed by the skunk. I heard, in the distance, a far off bark. But it wasn’t his usual bark, it was more of a yelp, and I knew something wasn’t right. So I rushed to the back door and began frantically calling for him, whistling, etc. And then I remember seeing him materialize out of the darkness, and stumbling, and then the smell hit me. Since then, I know that bark, and I know to just get the supplies ready.

Another time, I think it was my 30th birthday, we were at my parent’s house. Sitting in the dining room, which is just off the kitchen, and I heard something. For whatever reason, I bolted from my chair, like the house was on fire, thoroughly confusing everyone in attendance, and rushed into the kitchen. There was Fonz, next to the table in the breakfast nook, with the incriminating blue icing from my ice cream birthday cake still on his whiskers.

A more recent incident was when I was watching TV later at night and Samantha was already bedded down for the evening. I heard just a little something, a tiny little muffle, and got up to check on her. She had wiggled herself around so much that the blanket was covering her face, and she was not happy about it. (yes, we do put blankets with her in the crib, even though the temperature in her room is approximately 75 degrees, she has to have her pajamas on, her fleece swaddleme wrap, 2 fleece blankets and her comforter. Otherwise she is just freezing and will NOT sleep through the night) I could tell when I yanked the blanket down that either she had been in distress, or I just scared the crap out of her. (oddly enough, now she turns her face into her blankets whenever they are near her face)

And then there was last night. Again, lying in bed. Again, watching TV. And I heard something. We’d gotten back from Michigan not long before, and I’d only half unpacked. The can of formula I’d taken sat in the green bag behind the couch in our room. That is where the mysterious noise was coming from. So again, I leapt out of bed, rush to the couch, and find this…

Apparently, powdered baby formula is quite tasty. He not only got the lid off, but the scoop out of the can and was licking it clean when he was caught!

And he was so ashamed…

HE SIGNED!!!!!

Thank you!!! At the last minute, Rep. Lawson got Sen. Steele to sign off on many conditions that she’d previously given away. He just got too greedy, and Indiana residents let him, and the governor, and the Republican Party know how they felt about it. Thanks to everyone who called, we are one step closer to getting puppy mills out of Indiana!!!

The following is from an article from the Indianapolis Star, by Bill Ruthhart and Mary Beth Schneider. http://www.indystar.com/article/20090430/NEWS0501/904300464/1304/LOCAL


Dog breeders
Capping one of the more emotional debates of the session, lawmakers passed legislation strengthening the state's animal-abuse laws and, for the first time in Indiana, regulating commercial breeders.
The Senate voted 44-4 to pass House Bill 1468, and the House soon after voted 99-0 to support the measure.
Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, had pushed for a provision that would prohibit local communities from enforcing their own stricter laws on breeders, a move objected to by the bill's author, Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond.
But Steele and Lawson managed to reach a compromise, allowing stricter local ordinances as long as they are adopted before Jan. 1. After that point, no new local regulations for breeders would be allowed.
The legislation also will stiffen the state's animal-cruelty laws, allowing prosecutors and law enforcement officials to crack down on abusive commercial breeders, also known as puppy mills.
Under current law, owners are required only to provide their pets with food and water. HB 1468 would make it illegal to beat and torture a dog, inhumanely kill a dog or fail to provide a dog with reasonable medical care.
The bill also would allow the attorney general to prosecute abusive breeders, require breeders to register with the state and set care standards that would require dogs to receive daily exercise and prohibit breeders from using wire cages without flooring to protect the animals' feet.

URGENT: HELP DOGS!!!

Indiana residents...please help!!

Please do this this morning, as soon as you read.

Rep. Lawson of Hammond is trying to pass a bill protecting dogs from the horrors of puppy mills. (if you don't know what they are, click on the link to the left, Stop Puppy Mills) Senator Brent Steele of Bedford is ultimately trying to kill the bill, as he is the committee chairman. He won't allow it out of committee without eliminating a "home rule", which says that if towns have stronger anti-cruelty laws, their laws preside over state law. Basically, the pathetic state law will rule, instead of local laws that people have gotten passed. All we are trying to do is save dogs. That is it.

Please take 10 seconds and call the numbers below. Let them know that Senator Steele is hurting the Republican Party in Indiana. Let them know that you support Rep. Lawson's version of the bill, or at the very least, the home rule must stand. Someone will take a message, and they will be hand delivered, as we are down to the last minute on this.
Thank you!!!

Republican Party Headquarters: 317-635-7561
Senator Steele: 317-232-9814 (I got a machine when I called)
Governor Mitch Daniels: 317-232-4567
Senate Republicans: 317-232-9400

Baptism Pics

Top pic: Father Dan doing the honors

Middle pic: chillin' in grandma's flowers

Bottom pic: super happy to be in her outfit...the dress is the one that me and my sisters all wore, and the bonnet is from Workaholic's mom.

You can see more if you log onto Facebook...

Samantha's Baptism

Last weekend was the big baptism. I was so worried about whether or not the dress was going to fit, (both hers and mine) I really forgot most everything else. My mom saw to it that there was food and dessert, and my MIL chipped in her awesome salad. My friends saw to it that there was beer, and Workaholic made sure him and his brother’s were there. Dressed.

I am sorry to all who attended for the heat. Because it was HOT. As in, really friggin’ hot. We sat in the back during Mass soas to not disturb the other parishioners with the half dozen small children we had. Samantha decided she needed a break, because she chose to poop her diaper not once, but twice, during the one hour Mass. She never does that. And of course, it got all over her onsie.

She didn’t scream when she got the water poured on her head, (because it was so hot she thought it felt good) and I daresay that she was flirting with Father Dan when he was talking about the Oil of the Catechumen; she was smiling and screeching as he was telling her about exorcisms. OK, not really talking much about exorcisms, but she did discover echoes…and she loves them.

So now she is baptized, when I get a chance, I’ll upload a picture of her in her dress and bonnet.

Clothes, Babies, and Baby Clothes

For those of you on Facebook who haven’t hidden my posts, you’ll know that I packed up my maternity clothes the other night. I did it for 2 reasons. 1) I needed the hangers. 2) I was sick of thinking I had so many clothes to choose from while getting dressed for work only to realize that I really have 3 different shirts in 6 different colors, all from The Gap outlet at Michigan City.

When I first decided that I was going to be organized about packing things, I told Workaholic that I needed bins. And then we made a special trip to Target for said bins. And while we are wandering around, and I am completely dissatisfied with the selection of plastic Target bins, and venting about why do they constantly change their bins and where are the ones that they USED to have, and even though there was an entire aisle dedicated to home storage, just filled with plastic bins, he finally thinks to ask me what we are doing there. At Target. Where we went to buy bins. When I tell him this, he was all like, “Oh, I bought 5 at the funnest place on Earth the other day.” (meaning…The Home Depot)

Anyway, I was shocked to see that I filled up 2 bins of my maternity clothes. And that excludes the 10 pairs of pants that I borrowed from a friend at work. Granted, I only wore 2 pairs of those pants, and just about wore the butt out of one of them, but still. OH…and there were 2 shirts too that I had borrowed from her that I wore. One of them, a pretty white one, was huge. It was OK for it to have fit her, because she had twins, and it was a huge shirt. At least it was huge the first time I looked at it. By my 9th month, I was thrilled that the pretty white HUGE shirt fitted just fine.

So now, I am sad to report that I need to pack up all of Samantha’s newborn clothes, and her 0-3 month onsies. Of which there are about 300. Shortly, she will be fitting in the 3-6 month clothes. Which is sad for me, because Carters marks their clothes in the high numbers. Which means their 6 month clothes are for 3-6 month kids. At least that’s what my sister told me. All I know is it fits kids 12.5-16.5lbs. (why not 12-16 I have no idea) So the clothes that she will be wearing are size 6. And she isn’t even 4 months old. I know she is fitting right into what she is supposed to, but it is just so sad that she is growing up so fast!! And it is also so sad that all of her 6 month clothes are really summery, and yesterday it was barely 60 degrees. We’ll be stretching out the clothes marked 3 month a little bit longer, I think.

On a happier note, a friend of ours called this morning to say that they had their first child last night. The poor woman pushed for a long while and then wound up having to have an emergency c-section…and the epidural wore off so they had to completely knock her out. Can you say SCARY??? But everyone is fine now and they have a healthy 7lb 10 oz. baby girl. Welcome to the world, Lily Kay!