It’s too boring just to do a standard “here’s what I’ve been doing” type post.  At least, I think it is.  But you know what makes a standerd “here’s what I’ve been doing” type post more interesting?  PICTURES.  Gosh, I love pictures.  Don’t you?  They’re so…  colorful.  Except when they’re black and white.  Then they’re just photo-y.  And yes, that’s totally a word.

There are times I look at Evie and can’t believe she’s only 5 months (and change) and there are other times I can’t believe she’s already 5 months.  The verdict is that so far she is a TOTAL mama’s girl.  But then, aren’t they all at this age?  We’ll reassess the situation when she’s a year old.  But the in the meantime, I’m just going to soak it up.  Nothing makes me happier than snuggling with her.  She’s just a darling baby. (I just made you want to puke, didn’t I?)

My fingers (and finger nails) are mysteriously messed up.  I mean MESSED UP.  See that picture?  See how the finger tips are all wrinkly and red and icky looking?  WTF??  It feels as if I’ve lost several layers or skin or something there, as they are ridiculously sensitive to heat, cold, sharp things, rough things, etc.  The good news is that they’re already starting to get better and aren’t near as bad as when I took that picture (which was several days ago).  Still… WHY?

Liam is two.  Can’t you tell?  This is one of his many tantrums.  I’m not sure exactly what brought this one on the other day.  But he was throwing himself around and screaming his frustration.  So what did I do?  I grabbed the camera.  What a good mom I am!  Anyhow, this only served to piss him off even more.  But when it was all said and done, we hugged and made up and he forgave me for exploiting his volcanic temper.  For now.

This little bit of loveliness here is a goodmama diaper.  They are ridiculously difficult to get ahold of and are rather expensive to boot (made out of organic bamboo velour!).   BUT, they are so soft and so beautiful and they work fantastically (and they’re one-size which means they fit the baby clear through potty training).  So I guess they’re worth it.  Shoot, what am I saying?  They’re TOTALLY worth it.  I am not ashamed to say that I rubbed this on my face when it came in the mail because it is so soft.  Hey, it was clean, people.  Anyhow, I plan to do a post over at Cloth Diaper Mamas this week about goodmama diapers (and this one in particular) so stay tuned for that!

It is insanely easy to get Evie to smile.  Pretty much, all I have to do is call her name and get her to look at me.  Then she just BEAMS with her dimples showing and everything.  Absolutely adorable.  I tried to take this picture showing an example of what happens when I call her name while she’s in the ’saucer.  I wasn’t able to capture the full magnitude of one of her grins, but you get the basic gist.  Oh yes.  She’s TOTALLY edible.

Harry is obsessed with the acoustic guitar my brother gave him for Christmas years ago these days.  He fancies himself becoming a rock star someday (this would be the fault of Rock Band, I’m sure).  He was playing around with it the other morning and Liam was predictably curious about the new “toy”.  Harry surprised me by trying to ‘teach’ Liam how to play the guitar.  This is humorous mostly because Harry himself doesn’t even know how to play it.  But whatever.  I had to admire that he would actually LET a hormonal 2 year old touch his precious guitar.  Of course, then he would snatch it away from him and Liam would scream and vent his spleen all over the living room… but hey.  It made for good Saturday morning entertainment.

And, finally (and no, I don’t have a picture to accompany this, I’m sorry), I have to admit that “Twilight” is growing on me.  I didn’t think it was going to be possible there for a while.  And then, lo and behold, about half way through the book I found myself trying to find more excuses to go read it.  Before I knew it, I was trying to explain the plot to Kile (who humors me as best he can), looking up movie trailers online and checking out the price tag on a “Team Edward” t-shirt at Hot Topic at the mall.  D’oh!  I guess we can all say that I’ve officially been sucked in.  Good thing I picked up “New Moon” the other night at Walmart so I have that on hand.  That’s called thinking ahead!

Damnit.  I hate Sunday nights.  That means it’s Monday tomorrow.  BOO!  Did you all have great weekends too?

I’m thinking… I’m going to tone down the political talk around here for a while.  Not that I’ve done a lot, particularly here on the blog, but I am starting to see where politics can easily take over my life and I gotta nip that in the bud while I still can.  We’ve got two whole months left in this election and while I can’t promise I won’t return to politics when the election rolls around, I think it’s better if I turned to other topics in the meantime.

Twitter, especially, is a political snark enabler for me.  It’s just so easy to type out the things we say to one another when watching speeches and whatnot on television.  Now, my intention has never been to hurt anyone’s feelings.  Of course not!  I’ve said before that I know an awful lot of Republicans.  My in laws are almost all Republican.  I’m rather used to coexisting peacefully with people who have other political beliefs than myself.  And how best do I accomplish this?  I keep my thoughts to myself.

So that’s what I’m going to do.  Keep my thoughts to myself.

I respect my Republican friends and I hope they respect me back.  I don’t want some of my friends to feel they need to avoid my blog in the next couple of months and I don’t want to feel like I have to avoid theirs.  So yeah.  Nipping it in the bud.

Let’s all play nice, okay?  After all, the important thing is still true: At least we’re getting a new President either way.

In other news: Check out the giveaway this week over at Cloth Diaper Mamas!  You don’t have to have a baby in cloth diapers to want this adorable gift.  Go check it out!

Holy cow, it’s August!  I think back to last August, that total TRAINWRECK that WASN’T and… well… SO much can happen in a year, can’t it?  Wait, before I start waxing poetic, let’s just get to this week’s link list, shall we?  It nearly rivals last week for sheer number of posts.  Except there’s a definite THEME this week.  And that theme?  LIFE SUCKS.  Or pretty close to it.  See, I wasn’t the only one who has had a rough time of it.  Maybe I was just drawn to posts where people were dealing with The Shit.  I don’t know.  I’ll let you decide, how about that?

• Cancer from Midwestern Mommy.  I know how to start with a bang, don’t I?  Probably the biggest news in the blogosphere this week was from Midwestern Mommy whose somewhat casual visit to Urgent Care for what she thought was a stomach bug ended up in her being admitted to the Oncology Ward at the hospital.  SCARY AS HECK.  And yet, I had to admire the (seeming) calmness with which she talked about it.  All my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.
• Little Pieces Everywhere from Swistle.  I could identify with all of this, from the awkward social situation remembered in minute detail, the difficulty falling asleep and the angst over a clean house (or lack thereof).  Shoot, can I just go ahead and put my name on this post and call it a day?
• Brave and If You’re Happy And You Know It from The Spohrs Are Multiplying.  First, we have a post that is so sweet.  I’ve been following the story of Jackie! with interest and the story of the “brave” t-shirt just warmed my heart and put a tear in my eye.  The juxtaposition of the entire post really got to me.  Then we have the second post from Heather and… well… Like I said in the beginning, I think I picked a lot of these posts for a reason.  And I can tell you, I don’t want it to take nine months.  Bravo to her for finding the road to wellness.
• Cloth Diaper Mamas’s Friday Giveaway from Cloth Diaper Mamas.  Whew, a break from all that heavy stuff!  Are you in the market for a (OMG CUTE) ring sling?  You still have time, just hop on over to my Cloth Diaper Mamas blog and enter Brit’s giveaway.  You have until Sunday night to comment to win!
• I’ll be your Huckleberry from Mamalogues.  Dana wrote an entirely awesome post concerning the NY Times/HBM/VoxDay debacle that I urge you to go read.  She writes it from the perspective of a Christian woman and I think it’s safe to say that she pretty much nailed it.
• Blog the Recession from Motherhood Uncensored.  See, I’m not the only one who noticed that there’s a whole lot of suckiness in the blogosphere lately.  Shoot, there’s a whole lot of suckiness in the WORLD right now.  I have to applaud Kristen’s effort to try to bring something positive out of it and her “Blog the Recession” campaign includes some awesome blog bling (see mine in my sidebar?) and a promise to click through to the sites you read from your feed-reader and give them some much needed pageviews for their ads.  I can do it.  How about you?  Head over to MU and get your own button and write a post spreading the word.
• 8 Useful Tips for Building Your Mommy Blog Into a Business from ProBlogger Blog Tips.  Hot on the heels of BlogHer, comes this great post that gives some really good tips for growing your blog (and psst: they don’t JUST apply to mommy blogs!).  There is some great advice here and while it’s only the tip of the iceberg, it’s a great place to start.
• what happy people look like from and so she blogs.  Yep, I’m there with you girlfriend.  I am pretty low on the friends numbers and most of the friends I do have live so far away that I’m LUCKY if I get to see them once a year.  In the case of my best friend from high school it has been FOUR years.  Maybe this is why the week or two after BlogHer is so hard for so many.  We go from scads of wonderful friends to our lonely lives back home and it’s just such a LETDOWN.
• Power Blogging Tips: Comment on Blogs From Within Google Reader from Lorelle on WordPress.  Wow, do I actually have something up on Lorelle?  I’ve been using this Firefox Addon for months now and I don’t know how I lived without it.  Basically, it allows me to visit sites, comment and read sites who truncate their feeds without leaving Google Reader.  It is FANTASTIC.
• Dads and Daughters from Attack of the Redneck Mommy.  I love this story of a daddy trying to protect his daughter’s honor (in his underwear no less) and her obvious love for him just shines through her teenage annoyance.  Again, my thoughts and prayers are with her and her father as he undergoes a painful surgery and recovery.
• Dropping eggs and shoving fat kids from moosh in indy.  I understand all too well what Casey feels like when it comes to having a second child.  Well, maybe not all of it, but at least the frustration with “Why am I not pregnancy already??” The constant ticking of The Clock, everyone else getting pregnant and having babies and then getting pregnant AGAIN, all while you wait for just one positive pregnancy test… It is it’s own brand of agony, right there.
• Perceptions and personal responsibility from Poot and Cubby.  Along the lines of my own post on this subject (but a lot more eloquently), she talks about some of the negative feelings that surround BlogHer and how at some point we have to take responsibility for our own feelings.  Amen, sister.
• Because You Haven’t Really Arrived As A Feminist Until You’ve Bitched About Being Condescended To By The New York Times from Catherine @ MamaPop.  Her Bad Mother cranks out a fist-pumping post regarding the recent article in the NYT about this year’s BlogHer.  She also addresses a rather disdainful blog post or two from certain misogynists who believe that mommy bloggers don’t have anything interesting to talk about.  Quite plainly, this is a serious MUST READ post.
• Hey little boy don’t press my buttons from Slackerpapa.  What’s a little nepotism, huh?  But I honestly did enjoy this post from My Dearest on his Very Own Blog.  I enjoyed the wildlife aspect of the photos he took.  It gave me a chuckle, which is desperately needed this week.
• The Blogging Justice League from Backpacking Dad.  I gotta love the notion here.  I hope the idea really catches on because I think we can use a Justice League (we certainly needed it this week!).  And who better to champion it than our own Knight in Shining Armor than Backpacking Dad?  It’s destiny, yo.
• Things That Just Need To Be Said from Dad Gone Mad.  HA! When it comes to standing up for mommy bloggers, Danny does a mighty fine job too.  And I loved his suggestions to the BlogHer peeps and the kicking to the curb of all the teen Disney stars.  A-freakin-MEN.  I have a feeling a post like this is in my future because it seems wonderfully soul-clearing.
• That’s Me In The Corner from Her Bad Mother.  Shoot, here’s another post that I could written myself (except for the minor detail that I cannot even TRY to write this well).  This is almost spot-on exactly how I felt at BlogHer this year.  Who knew that she felt the same?  Let it be known: BlogHer with a baby in tow is a big, hot, mess.  Be advised.
• When in Doubt (or in Thyroid Hell) Post Pictures! from Joy Unexpected.  I can definitely identify with Thyroid Hell.  And I love the pictures she got from BlogHer.  Makes me ache for a GOOD camera.  And a weekend in the city sans children.  And perhaps a McDonald’s cheeseburger.
• In which I pretend that I didn’t go to a blogging conference from Absolutely Bananas.  Okay, this was the damn funniest post I read this week.  The pictures along with the staunch denials of BlogHer were enough to make me snort my coffee.  (In case you were wondering: That’s a god thing.)
• Quite Frankly, I’m sick of it from Mrs. Flinger.  Mrs. Flinger fires off a post calling out the whiners (hey, much like I did!) and calls a spade a spade.  Popularity, I’m afraid, is so often in the eye of the beholder.  And a lot of people just need to realize that and get over it and MOVE ON. (I’m moving on, how about you?)

Whew!!  Wow, that was another loooong list wasn’t it?  I hope you didn’t have any other plans this weekend.  As for me, I recently popped my first thyroid pill in FOUR MONTHS and am drinking a cup of coffee and starting to feel like something resembling a human being (well, minus the strange, crippling pain in my left hand.  What’s the dealio??).

So I finally got an appointment.  Kile made it for me after I spazed out yesterday (yep, I spazed out).  He instructed me to go lie down with Evie and rest while Liam was napping and he would call the doctor’s office.  When I woke up an hour later, I had an appointment for 11am this morning.  WOW.  I asked him what sexual favors he had to promise in order to get in so fast.  He told me that Raul, the receptionist, wants him to take him to dinner tonight.  (That’s a joke, in case you didn’t get it.)

I went in and the doctor is a real nice guy.  I’m not used to having a male doctor, but he was a kindly sort.  Even though it was strange discussing my sex drive with a guy.  He did ask me some questions about postpartum depression and I told him I honestly didnt’ know what was thyroid and what wasn’t.  SO, the plan is to get me on some thyroid medication right now and get my thyroid tested as soon as I can (probably not until early next week).  Then, test the thyroid again in a month and see how I’m reacting the medication.  I was on 200mcg before, but I will be taking 100mcg to start.  We don’t want to completely freak my system out, which I can understand.  And hey, it’ll be something.

He also wants to see me in a month.  When my thyroid is under control, I think he wants to revisit the possibility of postpartum depression.  He said he also wants to test my cholesterol, but not until the thyroid is happy.  So there’s that.

We’re on the road towards better health at last.  I’m pretty embarassed that I let it go this far, by the way.   So far that I can’t tell what is what anymore.  I know us moms tend to put ourselves last, but try explaining to a doctor why you’ve done nothing about your lapsed thyroid medicine in FOUR MONTHS.  That can make you feel pretty stupid pretty quick.

And I want to thank you all fo ryour kind words and encouragement this week.  You guys are, quite seriously and without sarcasm, the wind beneath my wings.  I love you all.  You guys keep me going.

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In other (but no less fabulous) news: the wonderful Brit has posted a NEW! EXCITING! GIVEAWAY! on the Cloth Diaper Mamas blog.  We hope for this giveaway to become a regular feature and this week, she is graciously putting up one of her handmade slings to one lucky commenter.  You have until Sunday night to enter so get on over there and check it out!

I dare not believe it, lest it be snatched from my fingers at the last moment.  And I desperately need for today to be a Friday.  It’s just that this was such a busy week and I think I’ve completely lost track of time.  So much so that I nearly forgot that “Lost” was on last night.  Nearly.  But not.

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Can you believe they shut down our Krispy Kreme shop here in Reno?  I think I’m still in shock over this.  NO MORE KRISPY KREMES.  No more stopping by while we’re out shopping for a little snack, a mid-day treat.  No more watching the donuts get made.  No more handy drive-up window.  I find myself trying to remember the last time we were there and wishing we had stopped by last weekend when we were in that part of town.

Going to Krispy Kreme was always a big deal for Harry.  The shop opened up when he was still very little and he used to love to go watch donuts get made, wear the little paper hat and eat his weight in donuts.  He was partial to the frosted chocolate donuts with sprinkles on them.  Now we’ll never get to do that with Liam or Evie.

It’s the end of an era.  It’s really sad.  And WHERE the HECK am I going to get my donuts now??

***

I’ve got a question for you all:  On Noggin, when Moose and Z are doing their little sketches, what the heck is Henrietta?  This has been bothering us for a while now.  I just can’t seem to figure it out.  It doesn’t help that in the lastest “song of the month” she appears to have put on significant weight.  WTH?

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Evie hit 8 weeks old yesterday.  WOW.  How did that happen?  She goes in for her two month appointment next week and I’m a little more than freaked out about that.  Because there will be shots.  And I don’t like shots.  In fact, you could say that I hate shots.  Shots are of the devil.  I better make sure we have some infants tylenol on hand or something.  And maybe some vodka.  For me.

***

I went to MOPS on Wednesday.  That’s not interesting in and of itself, of course.  But it was the first time I went all by my little own self.  Kile normally accompanies me and watches in the 1 year old room while I’m off having fun and socializing.  But he had to work on Wednesday so I was on my own.  With two little kids.  And I made it!  Nobody got overwhelmed.  No one over three feet tall cried.  Everyone had a good time.  Well, I don’t know about Evie, but she didn’t complain so that’s something.  So it can be done.  I have the proof.  However, I’m very glad that Kile will be able to go with me to the next (and last) meeting.

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Speaking of things being remarkable, last night we went to McDonald’s and then to Walmart for some quick shopping.  And Evie stayed in her carseat the entire time.   It’s a damned miracle, ya’ll.   I’m hoping against all hope that it wasn’t just a fluke either.   I do enjoy carrying her around in the sling, but there are times where having her hang out in her carseat would come in mighty handy.

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Last but not least, let’s not forget my new cloth diaper blog!  I’ve got some great gals helping me out over there now too, so it’s not just my own mindless blatherings.  Once again, even if you just think you might remotely interested in what cloth diapering is all about, go check it out.   I’m looking to add lots more features and fun stuff over the days and weeks to come.  I’d love it if you would join me there.