Wonderfall Event

Going to a wonderful beach location as a family with tons of activities for everyone is a dream of ours. Planning for a vacation is hard work, because you have to keep adding in the cost of everything, hoping you don't forget something and that things are not more expensive than you thought.

Beaches Resorts solves that problem with all inclusive vacation packages! Scuba diving, game rooms, kids activities, babysitting, all meals and drinks all included! What about airport pickup and tips? Included!

The kids have loads of activities that they can take part in through the day and sometimes evenings. The babies have a fun nursery and activities, including water time. The older kids have swimming, treasure hunts, arts and crafts, glass bottom boats and more. The teens even have an Xbox 360 game area, karaoke nights, and more.

I just love all the water sport activities that are free, even the equipment for scuba diving! Donnie and I could go on a romantic sailboat ride while the kids enjoyed their own activities. And then we could all enjoy things together, also, like playing beach volley ball or swimming in a cool, clear pool. (What? You didn't think I'd go in the water where the fish are, did you?)

Beaches is having a Wonderfall event in September and October with up to 45% off! A 5-6 night stay gives you one free night, and a 7+ nights stay gives you two free nights stay. Go check them out and see just how wonderful a worry-free vacation could be!

Got Skin?

Living in Minnesota in the winter causes some intense dry skin. Being a mom causes dry skin, with all the washing of dishes and little bodies and mess after mess.
I absolutely hate having dry skin. It burns and itches and I am a wimp.

We have gone through tons of lotions, but nothing actually heals, just temporarily covers up the problem. Until now.

Skin MD is a shielding lotion that protects and moisturizes your skin. Cleaning chemicals and soaps are absorbed into the skin causing it to dry out. Adding lotions convinces your skin it is moisturized enough so it stops producing enough moisture. Shielding lotion blocks the chemicals from being absorbed into your skin and holds the moisture your body naturally makes inside by bonding to your skin.

Even serious problem skin can be helped with Skin MD. People who have eczema and psoriasis have had great results. My own daughter, Kaytlin, has sensitive skin and uses a shielding lotion with much better results than any lotion has ever given her.

Skin MD goes on like liquid silk and feels amazing on your skin. Soft and moist and finally comfortable. Skin MD is not yet for sale very close to my home, but I shall be suggesting it to our local pharmacies. I even have a sample in my purse to run up to my doctor, I think he and his staff will love it with all the hand washing they do.

Refreshing Security with Schlage Locks

Security is something that we have not put a lot of thought into, or at least not enough. We want to keep our family safe, but we don't want all of our children carrying keys around with them. That would be 10 keys floating around if we all had one. I do enough losing of the keys to trust the kids with them.

This has caused us a lot of problems. If we lock the front door typically we can't hear someone knocking. (the doorbell is another story, our door bell rings the bell across the street and vice versa) So, it is unlocked a lot. Even when I would not be home when the kids got home from school, I would have to leave a door open, not knowing which kid would come home first, so noone had a key.

Schlage lock provided the answer for us! Schlage Electronic Keypad Security Products provide a safe option for families without the worry of losing a key. (or 7) You can program up to 17 different combinations into the lock. Everyone can get in that needs to get in without numerous keys.

We love being able to lock our doors and not worry about being home in time to let the school kids in after school. But we also love that we can give grandparents their own code so they can come and go while we are away (or don't hear the door). Sometimes we need to have a pet sitter come in when we go out of town, and Grandpa is the sitter of choice. But, you can also put in a temporary code to let in a repair man while you are at work. They can get their work done with you gone and no chance of a key being copied, then remove the code!

We were so impressed with the quality of the Schlage locks. They are heavy duty and secure. They are so easy to program and use. Installing the first one was a bit tricky, as you know, men are not big on reading directions, ahem. Nothing a little wood filler won't cure, I hope. But once you know what you are doing it is actually easy to install.

Having a keyless entry to our garage is a bonus, too. It keeps the little kids out, but allows us to be able to come and go during yard work without carrying our key chain around with us.

The locks come in four great finishes and several styles:

Thank you Schlage and Mom Central for allowing me to be a part of this tour! It really solved a dilemma in our home.

Wowser! What a great prize!

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Isn't that amazing?! Five baby carriers of your choice of style! I've been wanting to get a Mei Tai for some time, and I hope to win this one!

Stop picking on Devon Day

I can't keep picking on Devon much longer, even though he does give us lots of material, he is maturing and changing so much over the last year and I am so proud of him.
I have had people come up to me and tell me how Devon has befriended their (new) child into the youth group, and I keep wondering if there are two Devon's in the church. But, no, he is actually starting to be kind and thoughtful and he doesn't care too much what other people think of him.
For instance, Devon will declare his faith, and he will even risk trouble at school to argue the truth with evolutionists. He has refused to do assignments that compromised his faith; he was supposed to make up a god, and he strongly believes in not having any other Gods. The teacher called me, and when it was confirmed that it was his religious belief, he was given a different writing assignment.
Most of Devon's friends are not Christians and do not always do things that are appropriate. Devon, who is 15, chooses to stay home most evenings and weekends instead of having to make those choices. That makes me so proud of him! I know he'd rather be off having fun, but he isn't going to compromise.

This weekend Devon leaves for a week long learning and service trip to Salt Lake City. I wasn't very excited about the cost, the distance or the city, but our youth pastor really hounded me about it until Donnie and I agreed to let him go. Pastor C really thinks this is going to be great for Devon, and I trust him, he has done amazing things with the youth in our church. And he liked Devon, or at least pretended to, even before Devon turned his behavior around, lol. So, Devon leaves, way out of my reach, for the second time in his life and I am really excited for him. And this time I even trust him.

Devon has a knack for living life. We can send him some place with no money, and he will be fine. It is weird, but people just buy him things, take him places, etc. We don't know how. He is also extremely fortunate, winning things, things going his way, etc.

Thus ends Pick on Devon Week.

Pick on Devon Day 6

Devon is close to fearless, jumping, diving, eating, anything for the amusement of others. Drives me nuts, though. His friends will offer up money for him to do something, like eat a fuzzy tomato off the ground, and he will do it. But they don't actually pay. And he does it again, knowing they aren't going to pay. I've told him I have a couple of rules to this behavior.
1. Make them present the money up front or don't do it. He should at least get paid for it.
2. Don't do it during hours the Urgent Care isn't open, the ER is more expensive.

But there are times when he just does it for the thrill.

Like one time he decided to skateboard off the roof. Of the church.

All went well on the ride down and the free falling. The landing went a little badly and he landed on the skateboard on his butt. Probably breaking his tail bone. He didn't tell me until the next day when it was hurting and he had gym to participate in. I said too bad and sent him off to school.

Soon I got a call from the school nurse who said she didn't know what had happened but that Devon said he had a hard time dealing with the pain and that I could write him a note for two days, but more than that he needed a doctor's note. I told her that I do not write notes for stupidity.

You should have heard the silence on the other end!

Devon did whine about the pain for some time, we were all sure he had cracked his tailbone. But knowing they don't treat that unless it is bad, we opted not to bring him in. The pain should teach him a lesson. But he persisted, so we told him how they fix broken tail bones if they are really, really bad. My husband used very descriptive wording and that was the LAST we heard of any pain.

Guess it wasn't all that broken.

Pick on Devon Day 5

Today we are going to give new meaning to the word "pick" in Pick on Devon Day. Who knew what would come up as I am writing these things? With seven kids things to blog about just tend to fall into my lap! Thankfully this didn't ACTUALLY fall into my lap!

Last night Devon came downstairs and sat next to his dad. I was listening in on the conversation:
Devon: Dad, I was blowing my nose and thought I was blowing out a bugger, but look at this!
Dad: What is that? Whoa!
Devon: A tick! A bugger coated tick!
Dad: Are you sure it is a tick?
Devon: I can see its legs in there! It is definitely a tick.

Today I found out it is all Drew's fault, but he isn't going to enlighten Devon. Drew found a tick on him but didn't want to get out of bed and deal with it, so he put it in a CD case. In the morning the tick was gone. And Devon blew one out of his nose......

Pick on Devon Day 4

At age 7, Devon continued his tough, active guy persona. One summer night Devon asked me for an Advil, and I told him he could have one. Devon is not one to complain about pain, so for him to even ask for something should have triggered my suspicions, but it didn't.
The next day Devon again asked for some Advil for pain. After saying "yes" to him it finally clicked that something big was going on. So I asked him what was wrong and he said he had hurt his ankle a couple days before, so I took a look and it was very, very swollen!

What kind of mother am I that I wouldn't know about that?? He hadn't bothered to mention it to me even. Drew, Kay and Devon were walking to the gas station about 5 blocks away when he ran ahead of the other two. They yelled at him to stop because they were supposed to stick together, and Devon stopped and twisted at the same time, hurting his ankle. Later I found out that my mom had driven by and saw him limping and she offered him a ride home and he said he was fine and stopped limping, so she went on home.

I took Devon to the doctor who put him on crutches for the bad sprain and sent us for x-rays. About 3 days later I got a knock on the door, and it was a nurse from the clinic, they hadn't asked for updated information when we'd been in and didn't have our new phone number. They had spent 3 days trying to tell me that Devon had also broken his ankle!

Oh, what a horrible feeling! My son had been running around on a sprained and broken ankle for two days before I even found out he had been hurt! The guilt!

We set up an appointment with Dr. Pain. Seriously. Well, it may have been spelled Payne, but it was still PAIN. He explained in more detail that Devon had actually broken a piece off the tip of his ankle, so it wasn't a bad break. It was up to Devon whether or not he wanted a cast, which would keep him from swimming for a long time. He chose no cast, and even was allowed to ditch the crutches, which he had actually been very faithful about using. The doctor said it would hurt to use the foot, but it would heal just as fast as not using it, it was up to Devon. Devon didn't mind the pain. Weirdo.

Pick on Devon Day 3

Devon is the guy in the middle there in the pic, taken last week.

Devon has always been a big time climber, an addiction he has no intention of outgrowing as far as I can tell.

When Devon was 2 1/2 we were at a Little Tykes play room in a mall in Virginia and he was climbing up all the fun toys. Well, sure enough, he fell head first off of one of the toys and landed on his head on the stone floor of the mall. (it did have a very thin layer of carpeting over it, but no protection from injuries at all.)
I had little baby Cody to carry, the diaper bags, and Devon who could not even hold his head upright, then try to keep hold of Drew and Kaytlin and get out of the mall. Devon couldn't even hold his head up sitting in the carseat! I was really freaked out. When I got home I couldn't get ahold of Donnie to help me, and bringing all the kids to an ER was not appealing. While I was trying to find a way to go Devon fell asleep. I could not wake him up! I totally freaked out!
I got a neighbor that I didn't know very well to agree to come watch the other kids because I was sure that Devon had a concussion at that point.
I kept trying to wake him up. "Do you wanna pet a puppy? Do you want some ice cream? Candy?" I kept going through the things he loves, nothing, not even a flicker of consciousness. Then, just as I was about to open the door for my neighbor the TV show Land of the Lost came on TV and Devon sat right up, wide awake, to watch it. So, I didn't even take him in, though I am sure he got a concussion.

Then a few years later we built one of those wooden playgrounds for the kids. They loved it and spent hours and hours outside every day. One day I heard the kids freaking out and ran to see what the commotion was all about. Devon was dripping blood! Apparently he had climbed to the top of the playground and fell off, landing on his nose on a 2x4.

I totally freaked again! I put him on the couch with a cold wet cloth for his nose and called Donnie to come home to take him to the hospital for a broken nose. Donnie refused to take him, saying that it was pointless because they can't fix a broken nose. I was so mad! I was crying and yelling at him about what an awful parent he was and on and on..... then I turned around and Devon had taken off to resume his playing.

That was not the end of Devon's falling from high places. The seemed to get progressively higher from there. Three foot play area, 7 foot play ground, and then 12 feet out of a tree.

Devon was up in a tree in our backyard, the tree leaned out back over the fence and over a deep drainage ditch from the Chesapeake Bay. Devon was a mighty climber at this time, at the ripe old age of 5, but the tree gave way. The branch he was standing on had snapped, sending him on a mad dash down to the ground. To save himself he would grab a branch, and it would break, and down he would go, branch after branch. Until there were none left to save him and his brand new white sweatsuit from taking the last 6 foot plunge to the black sludge of the ditch. Need I mention that the black sludge smelled really rotten? And that it was black on his white sweatsuit? Brand new white sweat suit?

I would NOT allow him to go across my entire house to get to the bathroom dripping that black, stinky sludge, so we had to strip him outside and lift him through the bathroom window in order to get him clean. Devon was scratched from the top to the bottom of his torso. But he went back up that same day.

Pick on Devon Day 2

Devon is our wild man, not out of control wild, just seems to get himself into a bit of trouble or tight spots often.
When he was about 5 or 6 we lived in Virginia he was always outside. He lived to be outdoors.
Donnie and I had a side job cleaning some offices and would take the kids with us to help dust and sweep.
We were about to leave home and head to the offices so I went to track Devon down. I found him in the back yard and called him in. He held one hand behind his back and stared at me. He said he would be right in. Now with Devon you have to pick your battles and I wasn't about to start a fight finding out what he was hiding, which was probably a snake or spider or something, which I didn't want to see anyways.
I went in the house and soon Devon came through the front door. Again, he hid his hand behind his back. Meaning he hadn't ditched whatever it was he had. I just grabbed his hand without asking and took a peek.

He had snuck his dad's pocket knife outside. That is a big no-no, and he found out why. He had sliced open his hand below his thumb. It was wide open and nasty.
Great, he had cut himself open and not told us. That sounds like Devon. I think he's only come to us twice when hurt, and it wasn't when he broke and sprained his ankle or this one.

So we were driving to the ER for some stitches and I was telling him how they would give him a shot so that the stitches wouldn't hurt, but the shot would hurt like a pinch. So he says "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure." "Are you positive?" (all in a little scared voice) "Yes, I'm positive, sweetie." "Ha! Only fools are positive!" We had a little game in our family based on some movie that we wouldn't say we were positive, and we'd try to trick each other into saying it. He got me. He didn't care about the cut or getting stitches at all.

When we got to the ER there was a 3 hour wait, so I asked Devon if he wanted to wait or not, if we didn't get stitches he would get a scar. He asked what a scar was and I told him and guess what he said?

"Oh, those are so cool! See, I have one here, too!"

Pick on Devon Day

For lack of anything cool happening I have declared it "Pick on Devon day Week". Sometimes he frustrates me, so I think I shall air his dirty laundry for awhile, you know, just for kicks!

Many a year ago, I'm thinking he must have been about 4-5 because he still wasn't talking much, Devon came running in the house crying. That wasn't all that weird, except that he was actually wanting help, usually he just sucks it up and deals with whatever pain he is in.
Devon had lots and lots of speech delays and trying to figure out what happened was going to take near-super-powers.
I deduced through my mom-powers that something was in his eye as he was clawing at it and crying and pointing at it. Then I deduced that it must be something poisonous because there was a bit of a chemical-like smell to him, on his hands and face. Maybe he was in some cleaner and rubbed his eye?
So I started holding his head under running water, trying to hold his eye open. The crying continued, causing me to do some more mommy-powered deducing.
He was outside, possibly in the van, as we were getting ready to leave. Hmm, what could be in the van?
Out I went. I opened the van door and was knocked to the ground by the over-whelming odor and pain to my eyes.

Devon had sprayed pepper spray in the van.

After I was able to get up, I held my breath and shut my eyes so I could open all the doors and release the painful gas from the van.

Then I thought it was pretty funny that Devon had done that to himself, cause I am all about the empathy. Devon did actually learn from that one and never did it again. Or I just returned it to the neighbor and he didn't have the opportunity. I had borrowed it to keep me safe at a meeting in downtown Norfolk.

My first time

Yesterday was my first time chaperoning teenagers on a youth trip. It was actually a lot of fun! We went to Valley Fair, which is an amusement park in Minnesota. Most of the kids did not need someone with them, they just needed to check in at times, so the adults got to go play, too. And the best part, it was free for the adults!

Part of the time Donnie and I were alone. Like a date! I made him go on rides he doesn't like (wet and upside down) and I went on rides I don't like (fast and serious drops). It really was a great day.
Here is a picture of us after going on The Wave, which is similar to a log ride, but SO MUCH wetter. Donnie hates it, but I could go on it all day over and over. We were pretty wet. We thought.

Then we went to Thunder Canyon. It is a great raft ride through some mild rapids and some water falls. There are six people to a raft.

There is one point in the ride that we go under a water fall and one person gets SOAKED. Like, hold your breath soaked. It was coming up and Donnie hates getting wet, so I hoped it would hit someone else. As we were nearing it the tube was turning and Donnie's back was to it. I was sure I was going to get it so I started reassuring him "It looks like it is going to get me, oh, never mind." and then the tube stopped turning and Donnie went under. Totally drenched him! He started cracking up big time! I couldn't believe he was being such a good sport about it, but apparently the way I said it cracked him up so it was worth the soaking.

But after the ride was done we were so drenched and just could not stop dripping water all over. I had to get some new shorts because I couldn't walk in my drenched capris. Really, there wasn't much of a choice of clothing at the shops there, of course, so I had to get Valley Fair shorts. Not that that is so bad, but they only had shorts with sayings on the butt. And we do not buy clothing like that. I figured I would just use them for pajamas after that, though. The dilemma became how to cover the saying. Because it did not say "Valley Fair" on the butt. No, that would have been OK. But we were with a youth group and guess what was plastered across my butt?

Wild Ride.

I really wasn't interested in promoting that side of myself, you know, so we got a shirt that I tucked in my fanny pack and covered up, lol.

The kids had a great time, we had a great time, and I am most assuredly a willing chaperon for the next few years, too!

It's up!

Donnie has my computer up and running! But now my network part isn't working. So, still no internet. However, I have a wireless card somewhere that I put away and can't remember where, and that will solve my problems. Pray for my memory, people!

My uncle came over today and fixed my plumbing problems!!!!! No more clogged toilet, and we still have NO idea what was causing the problem. He unclogged my upstairs bathroom sink and replaced it with a new, nicer sink and faucet we've been planning to switch to, AND added some shut off valves that we didn't have before. (the beauty of really old houses) And he also fixed my kitchen sink which was apparently leaking underneath. He checked out my dishwasher, which is pretty much just a goner. And then he replaced the spout in the upstairs bathtub with one that has a hand held shower head. Whew! Yes, he worked ALL day. Gotta love him!

Now, if only I could get my washing machine fixed.............

Almost there!

Donnie has my computer up and running, but the internet will NOT work. No reason that we can find, yet, but no internet. Don't worry, he'll get it, he likes me online because I leave him alone with his computer game that way.

Last night was ladies night. Super fun, as always! Last night was Paula's birthday, and since she is the one who said that, like my boys, she would eat her poop I made her a pile of poop birthday cake. She loved it, and yes, she did eat it. Ok, so it was made of chocolate cake and chocolate frosting, but it was still too gross looking for anyone else to try it, lol. Paula found out you have to watch what you say at LNO. We played Bunco instead of Quelf, and I am sure Cindy was bummed, but she stayed even after the games stopped, so maybe we were interesting enough to make up for the lack of Quelf.

When I got home it was just like every other ladies night, no one did their chores. And we have company coming this morning. To FINALLY get our plumbing fixed! YAHOO!!!! I don't think my uncle has any idea what is in store for him, lol. The toilet is clogged, the upstairs sink is clogged (the sink in the bathroom with the working toilet), we need a new sink installed up there, a shower head and faucet installed in that bathroom, he plans to look at my dishwasher, but I plan to get him to look at my washing machine that died the other day.

Hopefully he doesn't find a horrible problem with my floor in the upstairs bathroom after Samuel flooding it AGAIN. It flooded from the main floor, through the ceiling to the main floor and also followed the toilet pipes to drench my basement.

Yes, I often wonder myself if I am cursed.

Yippee!!

I couldn't believe how fast my doctor got my MRI results, but he called me within a couple of hours and let me know they did actually find something. Good news, though. Migraines don't show up, but they did find a sinus infection that actually could be the cause of my problems. I don't really understand how it could be causing migraines for 4 years, but lets hope this is my problem and all is well at the end of my medication. At the very least, it could be the cause of the dizziness/fainting spells and not the migraines. And that is still a very good solution to me. I can live with the migraines at the rate they are now.

Well, we finally have a nice day here in Minnesota, so I better get outside and enjoy it! (yes, this is Lisa, I have not been kidnapped or taken over by aliens)

Soon, it will all be fixed!

Yep, Donnie ordered a new hard drive for my computer. I am hopeful that he can extract the videos and pictures. I have the pictures on disc, but not sure I can actually access them all. Long story.

Tomorrow is my MRI! It is a bummer that I have to miss some of VBS, but it was the only appointment available. We pretty much know that I have Basilar Migraines, which are rare, and I am hoping this scan will give us a good picture.

I was able to save the Parents Appreciation videos, so those will resume soon! And you are in for a treat, becuase the rest of them are funny!

Now, I'm off to nurse off this miserable migraine. Can't wait until I am back on my computer!

I think I'm gonna cry!

I can live with the computer dying, but I am losing all my videos! I don't know for sure if the pictures are going to transfer or not. I have them on discs, but we'll see if we can open them on a different computer or not. The videos go on disc, too, but won't open. Drew can't even open the files, his computer spits the disc out.

If only my computer would connect to the internet and let me download the vids to Youtube! Whaaaa!

Sam's burn is not too bad, he has a few blisters, but they are a bit deeper and not in danger of popping and getting infected. He doesn't seem to be in pain and doesn't even baby that hand now.

Day one of VBS is down, and playing with 4 toddler boys for 3 hours is quite the task, but we managed.

Screeeeeeeeeeeeech!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is the sound my life makes when my computer stops working. Well, it does work, as long as I don't want to have anything to do with the Internet. I can play games, work on pictures, etc, but try to turn on the Internet? It all comes to a screeching halt.
Now, even though I am married to a computer guy, I am not sure I have any hope at all of saving my computer. The scanning won't work, there is an error that prevents it.

Lovely.

So, it is a good thing that it is VBS week at our church and I will have the mornings occupied to distract me from my sad new life.

So, until further notice (or one of the rare moments my computer lets me online) I will not be able to continue the parent appreciation posts. And I have 3 more to go.

OH, and tonight poor little Sam burned his hand. Drew was getting ready for a grad party and left the iron on and left the room. No one else was in there because we were all cooking. So, Sam grabbed the iron.
It is like deja 'vu for us. Drew did the same thing when he was a little older. It was a super bad burn, too. Sam's is not quite that bad. He has some blisters, but they are not huge, thankfully. (or YET, Drew's took some time to grow huge)

Sam seems fine now. Lots and lots of soaking in cold water, and two kinds of topical pain reliever for burns, more cold water soaks, more pain reliever, and some Tylenol, then some candy and some ice cream, and he is now running around having fun and not really even babying the burned hand.

Parent Appreciation Day Part 1

A while back our youth group held a parent appreciation night. They had dessert, some games (to embarass the parents), and a video of appreciation from the kids.

Here is Drew's:

Yes, I do feel loved.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Parent Appreciation.

It's Official!

I am now the mom of an adult. Drew graduated and has his diploma. In a couple short months from now he will be moving out and starting his Air Force career.

I wasn't sure I would cry during graduation, but sure enough I was crying by 6:30. Graduation started at 7. I was looking at the pics of all the graduates and realized that our whole community and church are going to change, not just our family. Wow. Drew's class is a group of leaders, strong and moral. It is going to have an impact on our community.

During one of the speeches someone said something about being "the class of 2008" and I started remembering way back. Back to a time when (skinny) Donnie and I were laying in bed with a squirmy little infant in between us. We were in such awe of him and started counting the years to see what year he would graduate. Sure, it seemed exciting, but I never realized that this day would actually get here, and certainly not as fast as it came.

We had a great time tonight and we are so proud of all the graduates and so proud of Drew. Congratulations, Drew! We love you!

Today my baby graduates!

My little bitty baby Drew......

Is now my great big taller than his dad graduate!

I'll work on scanning lots of pics and put up a slide show of him soon. Today is graduation day, so I'm not sure I'll find the time.

Potty Trained at last??

Sam came to me and took my hand and said "Poop." So I walked him to the bathroom and helped him undress and sit on the potty chair.
Sure enough, there was poop and pee in the potty!!
Wooo hoo!!!




And then I woke up.

Natural way to start your labor

Going into labor on my own doesn't happen easily for me. I wish I had this book when I was pregnant!
Easier, Shorter and Safer Birth by Lena Leino is a great resource to jumpstarting your labor naturally, which translates to "safely." Pitocin doesn't always work, and it hurts if you are not ready for labor. But, it also carries a high rate of c-sections following the use of it.
Ms. Leino describes and illustrates how to use acupuncture to bring on labor with no stress to the baby. Medical intervention is the biggest factor in the high c-section rates in our country, and I want to do whatever I can to prevent that from happening to me AGAIN. I have had 2 c-sections, and unless I can go into labor on my own and walk in ready to deliver, I won't be having a natural birth again.

Here is what you will find in the book:

• 
  how to induce labor at home and avoid the risks and discomforts of
  chemical labor induction in a hospital

  the amazing acupressure points that help your cervix dilate and
  significantly decrease your chances of a Cesarean delivery

  very simple techniques to speed up an extremely slow early labor

  how to help your baby descend better into the pelvis and help him or her to
  make the most important journey into this world

  techniques to stimulate onset of labor contractions to start and to
  strengthen contractions during labor when necessary

  how to use the maternity acupressure method to prime your body for labor and
  delivery

  proven acupressure point combinations that help you to make better progress
  in labor

  two simple acupressure techniques that help a baby in a posterior position
  turn into an optimal anterior position for easier birth

  which maternity acupressure techniques which will help in cases where the
  cervix is fully dilated, but it's difficult to push the baby through the birth
  canal

  the technique that will help ease into the transition phase
  And
  more…

  7 acupressure techniques that produce a pleasant anesthetizing effect on
  the contraction pains – WITHOUT medication (guess why the doctors won’t tell you
  about these…)

  simple techniques that relieve pain especially on the lower back area

  acupressure tactics that calm your mind and give relief from anxiety and
  nervousness before and during labor

  relaxing acupressure techniques that release the tension working against
  labor

  amazingly helpful acupressure techniques that combat the feelings of nausea
  and vomiting which sometimes occur during labor

  
  

I have heard of women hiring an acupuncturist to assist them in labor, but most people do not have that kind of money, especially when they don't know it will work. But for $29 for the book, it is certainly a good deal, with the added benefit of not having a stranger touching you in labor.

There is a free bonus for buying the ebook, too, another ebook called The Amazing Hidden Facts of Good Birthing Positions.

Call me a hippie, but I am buying these books if I ever have another child!
If you are pregnant, go buy these books! Click Here!

New year's resolution update!

Our New Year's resolution is one that we desperately want to keep. We are going to eat at a new restaurant once a month for a year. So, here is May's update!

Donnie chose Hucklebucks bar and grill. It was a little drive, but not as long as the IDS Tower for April. He had heard that they had great burgers and ribs. Men and their ribs.



When we got there it wasn't too packed, so it was nice. We had an excellent waitress, too. It was tough to choose what we wanted to eat, the menu sounded too good! I chose fish because I am having constant headaches and fish is good for that. Donnie chose the special, prime rib.
The fish was amazing! OH, the appetizers, deep fried cauliflower, were AWESOME!!!! Donnie's meal, however was the highlight of the evening.


Seriously.

The "steak" was the size of a roast for our size family. Huge doesn't do it justice. We had to slice it in half length-wise to fit it in the take home box!

The flavor got Donnie hooked. It was so smokey. I thought it tasted just like a campfire smells. It made me cough, just like the smoke does while camping, too. Donnie didn't agree, he absolutely loved it.

Hucklebucks is now a Qtpies favorite! Next time we try the fish fingers appetizers and ribs.