Fluorescent Lightbulbs

If you use fluorescent lightbulbs, you need to read this article for the safety of the people in your home, especially if you are pregnant or have young children.

Here's an excerpt:

The study recommended that if a compact fluorescent breaks, get children and pets out of the room. Ventilate the room. Never use a vacuum, even on a rug, to clean up a broken compact fluorescent lamps. Instead, use stiff paper such as index cards and tape to pick up pieces, and then wipe the area with a wet wipe or damp paper towel. If there are young children or pregnant woman in the house, consider cutting out the piece of carpet where the lamp broke as a precaution. Place the shards and cleanup debris in a glass jar with a screw top and remove the jar from the house.

After reading the article, Hubby and I have decided not to use fluorescent bulbs in freestanding lamps that could tip over or other places where the bulbs might easily be broken.

Pregnancy Brain Strikes Again

Chalk it up to the hormones, the interrupted sleep, the many details whirling around in my head, or what have you, but I have been known to say some pretty silly things while pregnant. Last night, I went into the bedroom to get something. When Hubby asked if I would be coming to bed soon, I said, "I think I was doing something; I have to go see what I was doing." Hubby laughed and laughed.

By the way, here's another quote from last time around when I was pregnant with Dear Little Fellow. Hubby and I were out shopping together; you have to understand that what I was trying to say was that while I would be needing a restroom soon, I wasn't desperate yet. How it came out was, "I could stand to use the bathroom."

"Really?" he asked skeptically, with an amused smile.

Dear Little Fellow's newest words: chips, cocoa, grin

Nice...

I was munching on some trail mix at the kitchen table while making a couple tweaks to the blog. I knew a chocolate chip escaped, but I couldn't tell where it went. I looked all over the table, under the table, on my chair, under the chair, and couldn't find it, so I concluded that it must have fallen back into the bag.

Then I decided I would be more comfortable on the couch, so I took my laptop over and sat down and did a few more things on the computer. As I was setting my laptop aside to stand up, I discovered that the chocolate chip had melted onto my laptop and my lap-top. :-) Khaki pants and chocolate don't go together so well.

Random Ramblings

-When Dear Little Fellow was in the womb, he was very active, and kicked, and kicked, and kicked; this baby seems to be more mellow, making mainly gentle movements. I wonder... is behavior in the womb is at all a predictor of future personality?

-I have had a lot of colds this pregnancy. It seems that as soon as I get over one, I'm getting a new one. I have a feeling I only have myself to blame. Although I generally eat pretty healthy (lots of protein, lots of fruits and veggies, almost no processed foods), I have been craving chocolate and eating a lot of it. At least it's been good-quality semi-sweet chocolate, which has less sugar than milk chocolate, but still, it's chocolate, and I think the sugar it does contain has been weakening my immune system. Also, when I got blood work done a few weeks ago, everything was fine, except I was low in B vitamins. I did a little research and found out that caffeine (which is present in small amounts in chocolate) can deplete B vitamins. I'm not ready to swear off chocolate completely, but I am trying to cut back. By the way, Dear Little Fellow and I both currently have colds. I usually read and sing to him a lot throughout the day, but my throat is scratchy and my voice keeps cracking, so I can't do much of that at present. I'm trying to find things to keep him occupied that don't require much talking on my part!

-I don't read a ton of fiction (not that I don't love it--I do--but I try to use my reading time wisely, and that often means reading "practical" non-fiction books instead), but lately I have been enjoying the works of a Christian author named Jamie Langston Turner. I've finished her books Suncatchers , No Dark Valley, Some Wildflower in My Heart, and I'm almost done with By the Light of a Thousand Stars. I have a couple of her other books on my shelf, waiting to be read (yay for my public library system that lets me renew books indefinitely unless someone places a hold on them!). Her quality of writing is a couple notches above most Christian fiction...it's obvious that Turner is intelligent and well-read. Her characters are quirky, which to me, makes them enjoyable. Quite a few of her protagonists are bitter middle-aged women, which is a change from the typical naive 17-year-old female main characters readily found in the "Christian fiction" genre. All of Turner's books I've read so far have been challenging and thought-provoking. Her most hardened, worldly characters come to know the Lord as a result of the kindness and perseverance of everyday people...usually their neighbors or co-workers. Although the books are all stand-alone novels as far as I know, a lot of the characters live in the same town and end up interacting with each other. Turner does deal (not explicitly) with some mature subject matter, so I'd recommend her books for those over eighteen.

Valentine's Day Banquet

Tonight was our church's 2nd annual Valentine's Day Banquet. This is not your typical "couples"/romantic banquet...it is only for the ladies of the church, and it is put on by the men. We all sat at a beautifully-decorated long table (that was one of Hubby's tasks, along with childcare). There was live music. Mostly we ladies just talked, but we also played a game and ate lots of chocolate! We had our choice of steak or fettuccine alfredo, salad or mixed grilled vegetables, broccoli or pear soup, and apple or chocolate cream pie. I had steak, and it was magnificent, probably the best steak I've ever had. Mmmmm....

The dress was semi-formal. I wore this dress from Motherhood Maternity with a black cardigan.

It was a very special time. I appreciate the way my brothers in Christ take this opportunity each year to serve and bless the ladies of the church.

Dear Little Fellow

I have decided that 1-year-old will henceforth be referred to as "Dear Little Fellow" on this blog. It's one of the nicknames we've called him since he was little, and it's better than calling him 1-year-old all the time (I'm still working on a better moniker for Hubby).

One of the things Hubby and I most love about Dear Little Fellow is watching him learn and grow. He is walking and talking now, and he's not much of a baby anymore! He literally says new words every day, but here is a list of some that I can think of, somewhat in order of when he learned them:

By 14 months: Yum-yum, Papa, Mama, Yeah, Clock, Ham, Nana (banana), Didee (diaper), Cat, Meow, Roooo! (elephant noise), Grrr/roar (bear/lion noise), Brrr (bird), Hat, Hot, Hi, Help/Helper, Mat (that his highchair is on)

15/16 months: Home, Snack, Neigh (horse noise), Baa (sheep noise), No, his own name, Caw (bird noise), Blocks, Box, Hmm… (sometimes he will look in the refrigerator and say that; Hubby says he got it from me!), Din-din (dinner)

16/17 months: Dizzy (when he wants Hubby to spin him around), Out, Squirt (referring to his bath toys), Yap/Wow-wow (dog noises), Wow!, Ring, Bed, Bath, Hoo (owl noise), Book, Milk, Walk, Burp (bupp), Cack (quack, duck noise), Bawk (chicken noise), Peep (chick noise), Baby, Maybe, Good, Box (for mailbox, when he wants to get the mail), Read, Door, Key, Eat

Updated to add: Honk, Beep, Goin' (going), Doin' (doing), Red (the color...it is the only color he knows, but he says "red" pretty consistently for red things), In, Dry (as in, to dry off with a towel), Ride, Tree, Water, Library

Mama Burped :-)

1-year-old is walking now on his own. It's fun to hear the "pitter-patter of little feet" as he toddles around the house. I've been taking him outside for lots of walks lately. He enjoys patting trees and bushes and posts, and with all the exercise, he has been sleeping a ton! He is also talking up a storm. I used to try to write down all his words, but I've given that up, because he literally learns new words every day! He mostly says single words, but there is one consistent phrase he says. He loves to point out if he or anyone else burps. If I burp, he says "Mama bupp" (burped). If he burps, he says it about himself, using his own name. Now if only he will get "Excuse me" down....

The more independent 1-year-old gets, the more I look forward to having a newborn around the house again. I went over last night to visit my friend, who has a darling 2-month-old baby. She nursed him while I was there, and I went ga-ga over the sweetness of it all...the desperate little searching mouth, the cute sucking noises, and then the inevitable contented, milk-induced coma afterward. Nursing will be more challenging this time around, since I have a busy toddler to keep track of, but I am still looking forward to it. I nursed 1-year-old exclusively for 6 1/2 months before introducing solid foods, and I am planning to exclusively nurse this baby even longer. This page explains several good reasons to delay introducing solids.