Prop 8 Continued...

It has come to my attention that the website I linked to in my previous post, with the article I want you to read, is actually a website created by Mormons who do not necessarily oppose gay marriage. So I guess a disclaimer is in order:

I don't condone or support gay marriage. I don't support that website. I don't spend my time reading the articles on that website. I am pro Prop 8 - I believe marriage should be defined as a union between a man and a woman only. I do not want you to read other articles on that site. I did not post that link with the intention of leading readers to support the site. Please do not surf that site and say "Kristie told me to do it" or "Kristie did it, so it must be OK".

I do still feel that the article that I linked to is valid and should be read. The legal references made in the article are legitimate. I stand by the belief that it is important to educate ourselves and not be scared into voting a certain way.

And THIS is why I usually stay out of it. *wink*

Prop 8

Here's the dealio: I hate politics. I don't like to get involved. I don't understand what's going on most of the time and call me irresponsible, but I usually let Eric do all the research then vote how he tells me to. He listens to talk radio and reads a lot - he is interested in the stuff and so I
trust him to tell me the right thing to do.

I've been VERY apprehensive to get involved in this whole Prop 8 plight. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with Prop 8, you can go to http://www.protectmarriage.com/ to learn more) Our church has encouraged us to get involved and go out to neighborhoods and encourage others to vote YES on Prop 8. I KNOW how important it is (because we've been told a thousand times) and I will be voting in November, but there have been some things weighing very heavily on me. For one, I have not felt comfortable going out and knocking on doors or making phone calls to encourage people to vote. Then I feel uncomfortable because I think I'm going to be judged for NOT doing those things. So a member of our bishopric said that we each need to pray about what is the right level of involvement for us, as individuals and as couples. For some, the right level of involvement may be to get out and vote. For some, knocking on doors is the way to go. I feel a lot more comfortable with the whole thing knowing that if Eric and I prayerfully decide how to proceed, we will do the right thing for us and nobody can fault us for that.

Ok, moving on...I got an e-mail about 6 things that will happen if Prop 8 does not pass. I think that most of us LDS folks have probably seen it. Well, I just saw this article on the blog of a friend of a friend. An adjunct professor at BYU Law School has taken the time to research each of the 6 claims written in that e-mail (which, by the way, could have been written by anyone - the author did not put his/her name or credentials). So, maybe this is my level of involvment - to pass along information to everyone in my reach - and further educate so that we can all say we researched and learned as much as we could rather than blindly voting for something because we were told it was the right thing to do.

I like what this man wrote, because he is in no way saying we should not vote for Prop 8 - he is simply showing us that many of the claims made are simply not accurate - and for the most part, designed to scare us into voting yes - well, he explains himself very well - much better than I am explaining it. I encourage anyone who reads by blog to click the link below. It is a long document, but I think well worth the time.

http://www.mormonsformarriage.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/secondversionresponsestosixconsequencesifprop8fails1.pdf

(How's this for not getting involved in politics??)

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I've been keeping track of some funny things Haylie's been saying lately...so I've compiled them here...

June 15, 2008
Today Haylie was holding Anna and said, "Mommy, did you get Anna at the store?" (If only it were that easy!) and I said, "No, I got Anna from Heaven". Then she thought for a moment and said, "Thank you for getting Anna from Heaven." How sweet is that?

Some other funny things:
"Oh my goodness!" (Wonder where she got that from?)

"OK! Alright Alright!!!" (When I ask her repeatedly to do something)

Sometimes I call Anna "Sugarbean" (not sure why or where it came from) and every so often I hear Haylie go up to Anna, squeeze her cheeks and say emphatically "Hi Sugarbean!!"


July 15, 2008
Me: Come on, Haylie, time for a bath!
Haylie: Ummm, maybe not.


July 2008 while on vacation at my mom's house:
Me: Haylie, are you ready for bed?
Haylie: Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...............no.

September 21 - Emmy night
Eric and I don't usually watch the Emmy's - but there was not much else on, so I turned it on. For those of you who did not see it, there was a little montage in the beginning where various celebrities were quoting famous quotes from different shows over the years. So one of the quotes was Frank from Everybody Loves Raymond - so there were about 7 or 8 people that said over and over "HOLY CRAP!" Well, I was totally not paying attention - and realized too late that Haylie was watching too...of course, about 2 seconds later she blurts out "HOLY CRAP!!" - whoops. So Eric and I try our best not to laugh, or make too big a deal out of it - cuz we all know that if I tell her not to say it - she'll say it even more just to spite me. So, *knock on wood* she hasn't said it again and appears to have forgotten all about it. Whew. She is such a little sponge!

I Love Snapdragons

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

I'm not sure how accurate that is, I mean - I like to consider myself a good friend - but I don't think I'm much of a prankster. But I do love snapdragons...take the quiz and tell me what you are!

You Know It's Bad When...

...you're lying in bed at 2 a.m. because your baby won't sleep and you're formulating the words for your next blog in your head.

And why is it that when I lay her down in her crib, she waits until I'm all snuggly in my bed to start crying again?

*YAWN*

More confessions

So, I have sort of made a pact with myself to post more blogs that will include more of the unpleasantries of life. Not to make us all miserable, but because I am counting this as a journal of sorts - and I feel like I need to document it all - the good, the bad, AND the ugly. Plus, I got a lot of responses that I'm not alone, etc. So I think it's sorta' nice to lay it all out there - so we can all feel a little more normal in our bad moments.

So, with that said, I have to confess. I let Anna roll off my bed yesterday. I had just fed her, and she was almost asleep so I laid her on my bed cuz we were getting ready to leave for church - I didn't want to lay her in her crib then have to get her up 5 minutes later to leave. Anyway, I got dressed then went into the bathroom to do Haylie's hair - totally forgot that I left Anna in my room. All I heard was a thump and knew what happened.

She cried for a couple minutes - I cried for a couple minutes. But she was totally ok. I just could've kicked myself - you know? Everybody knows you don't lay an 8 month old on a bed. DUH!!

Redemption

Ok - sorry my last post was a bit of a downer - but thank you to those of you who helped me realize that I am most definitely not alone! We had two bad nights and two bad days. And amazingly, once Anna started sleeping again, I was able to handle Haylie's moods again!

And to redeem myself, I thought I'd post this video we took the other night when Haylie was supposed to be quieting down for bed. Right. It's a little dark until we realized we should turn on the light - but you'll get a kick out of Miss Anna. She does love her big sister...

Confessions of a Sleep-Deprived Mommy

I usually like to keep my posts pretty upbeat. I try to focus on the positive. I try. Not today. Anna started sleeping through the night when she was 3 months old. I know, I know, that was pure luck. But it has been sooo nice! Then, in July, she started waking up every couple of hours when we were at my mom's house. Ugh. AND, I had to feed her every time she got up because there were other people in the house that I didn't want her to wake up - so the easiest way to quiet her was to feed her. Anyway, when we got home from vacation, she sprung two teeth within a week of each other, and I refused to feed her at night anymore. So the last month, she's been back to normal - sleeping all night, etc. Until 2 nights ago. Once again, every couple of hours. And to make matters worse, she has started pulling herself up in her crib - but once she gets up, she doesn't know how to get back down - so she screams until someone comes to rescue her. So, again, to quiet her, I fed her, etc. Last night, I made up my mind again that I was not going to feed her in the middle of the night - we're not starting that now! Between the hours of 11 and 2, Haylie got up 3 times. Why? I have no idea. But she insists on being carried back into her bed. Fine. Then at 2, Anna wakes up. I gently lay her back down and tell her it is time for bed. She cries, stands up, I lay her back down. This goes on for about 30 minutes during which time I feel like my right eyeball is going to pop out of my head - is it a stress headache? Is it a "I need more sleep" headache? Whatever. I go take some ibuprofen and leave her in her room to cry. Eric got up to try and calm her. He ended up in her room with her for about 20 minutes rubbing her back when I finally went in and told him that he should leave her - we can't create middle-of-the-night habits like that. So I gave her a dose of Tylenol and miraculously, she stopped crying and went back to sleep. I know that I've been incredibly spoiled up to this point, in that I have had some of the best sleeping babies ever. I think that is what makes it more difficult to handle.

Then, on top of that, my sweet little 3 year old has been replaced by some alien creature I do not know. I feel like all I do all day long is argue with her. It doesn't matter what the topic, it seems like everything I ask her to do turns into an epic battle. For example, if we're getting ready to leave the house, I'll ask her to go potty. Her response 9 times out of 10 is this: "I already went yesterday!" Umm...yeah...you gotta go potty more than once a day. Then I either have to drag her to the toilet myself or threaten a time out. Again, I realize that this is normal 3-year-old behavior and I know it could be worse. But, I'm not used to it, and I'm sleep-deprived so I am having a bit of trouble coping.

I love being a mom and I love my girls. I just don't particularly like them right now.

Being a Pretty Princess...

...is exhausting!

The World in Haylie's Eyes

We decided to give Haylie our old camera to play with. She has had lots of fun over the last couple weeks taking pictures. It has been fun to see what the world looks like from her little perspective...

Here she is with her camera


This is a shot of her 3 year old picture on the wall


I think she has a thing for feet...


Anna's feet


Haylie's foot - notice the camera lens cap hanging down


There are about 8 shots identical to this one of her feet...she kept moving her toes


Those are my hands on on the keyboard


A couple shots of Anna


To see all of her silly pictures, click here.