is tired, but brought her soapbox.

so I've been trying to follow what's happening in the world as best I can, and I must say a lot of what I hear/see/read makes me want to bury my head in a mountain of diapers and Pat the Bunny. here are a few of the things under my skin:

I would consider myself rather fiscally conservative so it's sort of nice for people to *finally* be discussing balancing budgets, though the outrage and posturing about it is profoundly annoying to me after everyone and their bi-partisan dog went to everlasting war and made the equally bipartisan choice to bail out white collar criminals in banks and on Wall Street (most of whom still have their jobs and perks and faced no real consequence for nearly tanking the world economy, btw), but my conscience simply can't get behind plans to make cuts in such services as energy discounts to senior citizens, disabled children and mental health funding, and WIC in the name of 'balancing the budget'.

I mean, how big of a fiscal dent are you really making when you're only shifting mental health costs, and even increasing them on the backside? Not to mention putting people at risk? "Cutting mental health means that costs only get shifted to emergency rooms, schools, police, local courts, jails and prisons," said NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) executive director Michael Fitzpatrick. "The taxpayer still pays the bill."

WIC is likely taking a 10 percent cut to it's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program. While a surplus in 2010 due to lower participation and expected food cost could float them through 2011, some of the defenses of the cut make me want to shake someone. The one that really kills me is that some think Women Infants and Children is too quick to encourage formula-feeding, which is more expensive and not as good for the babies, the women should really be breastfeeding, blah blah blah. Here's the thing - breastfeeding is hard. It's hard for women who are fortunate enough to stay home with their children, many of whom still don't produce enough milk and choose to supplement. It's really hard when you have a job or two, and you may or may not have access to breastpumps and 20-30 minute unpenalized breaks in your workday. It's especially hard if you're poor and can't feed yourself well, since that's how we make milk and all. We cannot castigate women, the majority of whom are doing the best they can to take care of their families, by telling them they don't deserve help with formula because they should really be breastfeeding and trying harder. Jerks. They had the babies you want them to have and many of them are out pulling themselves up by those bootstraps we all love to talk about, and you're going to cut funding to their food program and somehow insinuate that they aren't trying hard enough? Nice.

and since I'm there, I'm saddened that Planned Parenthood is being cut. I used a family planning clinic in college, a PP in grad school, and one when I moved here. it was an easy choice - they used a sliding scale and I could get my well woman exam way cheaper than going to a doctor. plus, my birth control pills were much cheaper, which I got on first at 22 before my wedding and stayed on for years because they regulated everything so well and supposedly helped with my ovarian cysts. not that that's here or there or anyone's real beeswax, but there seem to be morality questions surrounding the services PP provides. birth control pills??? why would a woman want birth control pills??? I understand that people are emotionally very charged about abortion and that's one of the services PP provides, but there are limits to how taxpayer money may be spent with regard to abortions and that's not all they do. So, while some pro-life people may feel positively about a cut to PP please understand that what's really being cut are other important, affordable health services to women. and yes, it's important for women to go to the lady doctor every year and be responsible for their bodies. it chaffs my hide that the personal choices of men don't seem to be put through near the scrutiny women face.

and teachers. wow. teachers are taking a super-beating right now. I know what - let's make life worse for them by making them out to be part-time slackers, lowering their pay/benefits, and increasing their class sizes (or just firing them outright) and watch what happens to the public education we all say we prize so highly. I encourage you to watch this lovely clip from Jon Stewart as he exposes the lavish lifestyle of public teachers. warning, there's a little bleeped out language. but I think it's pretty great.

in short, there are a lot of women, young children, and disadvantaged persons to be affected here, and I think it screams where the real priorities of our leaders lie. if we're really people who are pro-life, shouldn't we be concerned with protecting our citizens first, especially those that truly need it? What do we communicate by these types of cuts? Will private corporations step in when government fails? Will churches? I suppose we'll see. I know many people think that would be best. It occurred to me the other day that, just as we tithe to our church, so others consider the taxes they pay to be a tithe of sorts, to be used for the betterment of others. I don't really know why I write that... maybe because I can understand it better than I could a couple of years ago.

there. I've lost a little sleep but it's good to get that off my chest.

-m.y.

what does one do?

when it's been too long between bloggings and there's too much to say?

POST A VIDEO.
we saw Robyn a couple of weeks ago at Warehouse Live and it was totally, totally fun. she's my favorite workout music right now and I wish she lived next door to us.



more stuff to come, thoughts and words and things. at least the ice is broken now.

-m.y.

eight months, everybody.

and we're officially loving this stage of babydom. I mean, they all have their merits and super-sweet bits, but it's really fun to see how responsive margaretann's becoming and watch her explore her little world and exert her independence (or dependence, as the case may be!). here are our photos with Raggedy Ann:

demonstrating our ability to pull up onto the ottoman:

and the coffeetable!

but I don't want to sit still while you take a photo, could you hurry it along?

seriously, take the picture, woman.

aaaaand, I'm out! stuff to do, things to see, you know...

it's not you, Raggedy Ann. you'll always be my homegirl.

some tidbits about this month... we got our first tooth and Magz got truly sick for the first time and was a sad, sad sight for a week. she pretty much wanted to hang out on Mama 24-7, and has had a bit of mama's girl-itis since. a little separation anxiety is pretty developmentally normal for her age anyway, so we're giving her lots of love while still encouraging her to have a good time with other people at places like the Y, church, etc. the sickness threw everything off, but we're getting good sleep again (9p-7a usually) and her appetite for food is back. this week we've tried roasted acorn squash, which has gone over well. magz seems to be a fan of mixing the food together... fyi, homemade squash and homemade pears are flipping delicious all mixed up. she's crawling everywhere and pulling up, and still takes two (sometimes three) naps a day. she likes a lot of her toys and still enjoys the exersaucer. we're seeing more of a strength in her personality... she babbles sweetly - sometimes it's reeely loud (which sounds fairly hilarious to us and has earned her the moniker 'the banshee'), and when she's upset about something I get the sense that she's really letting me have it in baby-speak. she experiences quite a few disappointments/spills/frustrations throughout the day as she tries new things and struggles to communicate wants and needs, but is generally pretty good about allowing herself to be emotionally redirected by mom & dad. and sometimes she just has to cry a little. :) she definitely likes to play and explore and then look around to reconnect with us, and it's one of my pleasures to stop and spend time with her throughout the day or plant her on my hip as I put away laundry. I love that she yearns for me right now... it's such a sweet time, and I'm grateful for it.

in short... we like her a lot and I'm so, so thankful for my little family.

-m.y.

freed photos on a rampage, drunk with freedom and running amuck

alright, grandparents, get ready to hit 'save'. I tried to cull them, but I just love too many photos. here are a few highs/lows/tricks from the past couple of weeks:

I thought this picture taken with the iphone was so interesting... I was sitting in the car waiting for my windshield to thaw out so I could go to Target, and as I rolled down my driver's side window bit by bit a thin sheet of ice was left for me to chip away:

Magz got sick. We've all been sick now, and it's taken forever to get over all of it. I *think* we're all mostly mended now, but this little girl camped out on me last Friday. it was pretty gratifying to be so needed:

bootie in the air!

so sick, but trying to wave and smile through the baby snot (of which there is so flipping much!):

head-butting daddy... she'll lean her forehead in and touch ours, it's pretty sweet.

biting down on daddy's finger with her tooth:

pulling books off the bottom shelf... oh how we all love 'the five love languages'... if you look closely, you can see her spots in this photo. our baby's broken out with hives twice now! three-day hives that come and go, don't itch, and don't cause fever. do we know what caused it? no. did the doctor provide an answer? no. just benadryl, which I'm not convinced did anything but help her get a couple of good naps.

ugh. so sweet.

honking daddy's nose:

preciouses!

she hasn't figured out that the sippy cup is for sipping yet, but she sure does like to handle and gnaw on it.

she's feeling better. we still have the sniffles but seem to be coming through to the other side. babies are so sad and pitiful when they're sick!

pulling up at the couch. hubs said she pulled up to her feet after I went to work. !!!

on the move!

today in the Meyerland parking lot. we took this picture for daddy, to tell him we were thinking about him and his important phone call today. yes, she's gnawing on a plastic bottle. what can I say - it was a restless point in the day and for five minutes she was all over that thing.

daddy came out to meet us... look how happy she is! I love these people.

you may now return to your lives.

-m.y.

photos trapped in camera - send help!

I was going to post a whole lotta photos and video, but my camera/computer connector is bent and I think I have to go buy another one. boo! BUT, that made me look for something else to post about, since the baby and hubs are still in bed and I have this expanse of coffee time.

I think this is terribly worthy.

we saw Amy Seiffert on the news yesterday, and I just got finished visiting her website/blog. what a great example to me right now. the news was covering her decision to wear the same dress for six months to raise money for the daughter project, and she came off as just being a fun, vibrant person. I really appreciated that, in a montage showing her wearing the dress different ways, one quick shot showed her holding a sign that read, 'Micah 6:8'. which is:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.

I want more stories of Christians like this, please.

stirring from the nursery. let's get this show on the road.

-m.y.

real quick before I go to work.

we've pretty much been hanging around the house for the past few days. baby and hubs have been sick, and the weather got the email and helped effectively carve out delicious home hibernation time. after the baby went to bed one night we watched most of Ghandi, and at the point where Indian men, women, and children were being massacred by English soldiers for the crime of publicly meeting together I lost my mind and started bawling. I cannot bear cruelty. I cannot bear being reminded that babies lose their parents every day, that there are those who would kill the most defenseless among us, that people treat people (and other living things) so thoughtlessly and cheaply. I look at my baby and wonder about her life, and wonder about my own. I want to stop everything and put up a forcefield to repel the evil.

I appreciated very much Ghandi's philosophy, and am still a little challenged to wrap my mind around it. to practice 'non-cooperation', a non-violent civil disobedience, to bring change about... there's nothing passive, wimpy, or safe about that. I mentioned to M last night that, to me, when the people began to really act out their convictions in a civil way, it only served to magnify the sheer brutality of the opposition, the lengths people and powers will go to maintain control whether there's actual cause for violence or not. while performing a cursory search, I found that there are many opposing opinions worldwide about both Ghandi and the philosophy he espoused. I'm glad of the movie, though, for challenging me. What would I do or condone to contain those I want to repress? Is violence part of our natural, God-given makeup to be allowed healthy exercise, or maybe just exercise in arenas we deem 'safe' or 'justified', like video games/sports/politics/religion/the dude who cut me off today? Do we claim an acceptable place for holy violence citing Christ in the temple, or call spiritual maturity the ability to suppress our tendencies to lash out and pursue the path of peace in His name?

and on an entirely different note:

while surfing the 'net this weekend, this post about body image issues for children at cjane (Feb 2 posting) caught my attention, reminding me that I simply must get over my own body issues to help magz grow up as free as possible of unhealthy self-scrutiny. I can happily report that my body seems to be, finally, bouncing back, and I'm so grateful for it.

-my

a 'personal' day

after waking up with the baby at 6a and waffling for about an hour, I made the super-best-most-awesome-and-unexpected choice for today: I rescheduled my audition and 4 hr session this afternoon to stay home and rest. which doesn't actually mean I spent the day on the couch or anything, but I *did* rest my voice and have a lovely, relaxing day at home drinking lots of hot things and leisurely puttering. which, I'm fairly positive, is the total opposite picture of the day I *would* have had had I gone and slug it out. *quick edit: I needed this day 'off' for more than my scratched up throat - I was reminded Saturday night at my meeting that the first, first, first thing is to take care of myself, and I'm suddenly aware that I've not been working my program very well. the evidence is in my mood swings, my thought processes, everything. here's to a step in the right direction.

this afternoon brought a sad note as I learned about the passing of a friend's dear grandmother, and I'm reminded of PaPa's passing last year. it almost seems trifling to blog about babies napping and pulling up and a lovely pile of bacon-y, shallot-y greens on days like this, when life reminds you how hard it really is to participate in the living of it. I'm thinking maybe that's why we do post about the sweet things and moments both important and inane, of kitties and 'bitties, because at the end of the day we want to hold onto connection and hope and memorialize those things we hold dear while we can. in that spirit and with deep, deep gratitude for the day I've been given, here are some things I'm happy to share today:

preparing to nap with musical seahorse! usually she's not this happy to be put down for a nap... I'm pretty sure she started bawling as soon as I walked away and was asleep in about 10 minutes.

out cold this afternoon. before falling asleep, she tends to fuss and cry and 'talk' and scoot around the bed, rubbing her face in the sheet, until she finally finds a comfy spot to settle.

playing in the kitchen while mama does dishes and makes lunch.

look what I can do! I ended up picking her up pretty quick after taking this photo, afraid her hands would slip and she'd bust her face on the cement floor. we spoke today of needing to crawl around and officially babyproof the house now. the other thing about babies crawling around on the floor, aside from making sure they don't hurt themselves, is that you're constantly looking for gross things for them to stumble upon. I mopped and Swiffered today. again.

discovering Daddy's record collection:

and now, because I really do like you guys, I want to share this recipe for delicious swiss chard. grab a couple of slices of bacon and chop them up (we love our Pederson's Farm Uncured Apple Smoked variety) :

roughly chop some shallots - you can use regular onions, sure, but shallots are milder and sweeter and way better in this dish, to my taste buds:

and chop some garlic, as much as you like:

your swiss chard should be washed, drained, and patted dry if needed. this was two bunches:

I take my knife and cut out the hard stem, stacking the leaves. I don't know what to make out of the stems and usually toss them - does anyone have another idea?:

splitting the pile into two bunches, I chop 'em all up:

in a large pan with a lid, cook your bacon and shallots, adding a little extra virgin olive oil if you need to (the bacon might render enough oil, might not). when the bacon is cooked and the shallots translucent, add in your garlic, and after a minute or two throw in the chard:

*do not be alarmed at the disembodied bear head in the photo above. it's Magz' pacifier clip that we now use to keep her from throwing her spoon to the floor at mealtime. so, you've put the chard in the pot. now for the extras... go ahead and season it with salt and pepper, add a good pinch of brown sugar, and a nice drizzle of sesame oil. the sesame oil makes it awesome and delicious!! careful, though, depending on how much oil you used back at the start it can get TOO oily, so take care in the beginning and remind yourself to leave room for the sesame oil:

mix it up, cover, and cook on med-low heat for, oh, five-eight minutes. you can always taste it to see if it's ready... it should be wilted and have lost any bitterness. sometimes, if I have a really strong, tough green, I'll cook it down and then add in some spinach to lighten it up, but this chard was delicious all on it's own:

voila. this was the plate mgb and I shared for lunch. yes, those are crunchy fish sticks. not pictured is the sriracha ketchup for dipping. gourmet all the way.

and now it's time to get ready to celebrate husband's birthday by eating at one of our favorite restaurants and then walking across the street to see this band's show. they're one of mgb's favorites; from my limited listening I'm under the impression that the lead guy just yells alot. :)

love, everybody.

-m.y.