Happy Mom

Shall I let the world in on a little secret? Today is Happy Mom's 45th Birthday. SO in honor of my amazing, awesome sister, I'm doing a post just about her. 'Cause she's cool, that's why!

Happy Mom is the perfect name for her. She is one of the happiest people I know (her asl name sign even means happy.) That's not to say she doesn't have bad days. She's a normal person. I've heard her complain about things, or get mad, or yell, or be frustrated, but underneath that is this innate happy spirit always looking for the best of things.
She always goes out of her way for family. One of her favorite things is to talk to people she loves, especially if she can do it in person. Even though she's 16 years older than me, she always made me feel like a loved sister. I know you aren't supposed to have favorites among your siblings, but if you were to ask any one of my other 6 siblings, I think all of us would say Happy Mom is really our favorite one.
I've always wanted to say I want to be just like her when I grow up (that is, if I ever manage to do such a task!). She makes the world a better place by being in it. Thanks Happy Mom for being you!

And now, because I'm so stinkin' pleased with how it turned out, you guys get to ogle her awesome present from me.
Hah! Doesn't that quote crack you up! I know you're all burning with jealousy and wishing you too lived 10 minutes away from me so I could make you one for your birthday. The best part about this present? Shh, don't tell anyone, but I didn't spend a nickle on it. I found the quote online 1 week ago, pulled out some scrap fabric and went to town. Want to make your own? Here's a BRIEF tutorial for you.

The center is a 9" square. I found the flower pattern HERE, and then typed up the words on my computer, lightly traced them with pencil, and then just did a simple back stich embroidery for the whole thing. For the outside I took more scraps cut in 1 3/4" to 2 1/4" strips, sewed them together, and then cut them 5" long. (I was guessing how big I needed the case to be- 5" was plenty long, and I trimmed it all to size later).
Here's the back:
The green + is about 3" wide. I sewed it all together, salvaged a pillow form from a pillow I made years ago that no longer use, put it together and hand sewed the opening shut. If I hadn't had a newborn that doesn't sleep all day, plus 2 preschoolers, I could have done the entire thing in 1 day. Instead, the embroidery took me 2 nights, and the pillow took 1 very VERY long day of work. But it's awesome!

I love you Happy Mom. Happy Birthday!

all emotional eaters can commiserate with me.

When its 9:16 am, and you're already needing a chocolate cake fix, you know it's going to be a long day.

Chocolate cake for breakfast isn't bad for you right?

'cause it's really interesting . . .

At least to me. I have no idea if I'll actually get to the point of conclusions/profoundness/or even slightly humorous with this post, but I'm rather fascinated with this subject, and feel the need to ramble.

About what you ask?

Blood.

(yes, I considered titling this post channeling my inner vampire, but then someone would think it was a twilight post, and decide not to read it just for that fact.)

More specifically, blood types.

First, a little biology lesson.

Most of you know there are 4 types of blood: O, A, B, and AB. Type is determined by antigens present on the blood cells. If you are type A, you have a antigens. B has b antigens. AB has both, and O has none at all.

Then there's the +/- part. Since the vast majority of my readers all share the same blood type as me, I won't go into much detail about the rh factor. In really lame terms (as apposed to layman's), if you have - blood, your body tries to kill your offspring. So - blood is lame, and should not be passed down to future generations. Fortunately, it's also way more rare.

Why is this occupying so much of my thoughts lately?

You see, in my little family of 5, we have 5 different blood types. Seriously. Here's the run down:

Myself: A-
Hubby: B+
Girly-Lou: B-
Buddy: AB+
Lil' flower: AB-

At first I was a bit dismayed at this fact. I thought that none of us could donate blood to each other if needed. After a bit of research, I found out I was wrong. We've got some lucky people, and some not so lucky people.

I can give blood to my two AB kids. Hubby would be able to give blood to all three kids, but due to that little -, can give only to Buddy (stupid -. I really hate that rh thing). In fact, anyone in the family can give Buddy blood. No one can give blood to Girly-Lou. Or me or Hubby.

Our whole family has relatively rare blood. Most of the world is O+ or A+. Lil' Flower has the rarest blood type in the world. According to Wikipedia, only .6% of the nation shares her blood. Girly-Lou has the second rarest, with 1.5%. Then Buddy with 3.4%, and me, with 6.3%. Hubby is downright common in comparison with the rest of us with 8.5%.

Something else, because of Hubby's type and my type, we could have offspring with any possible combination of blood type, including O (O is a recessive gene, so both of us could carry it). So future offspring could have any kind of blood.

My conclusions? I've got none. But it's fascinating to me all the different combinations in my family.

How about you? Do you know what's in your family? Do you care, or is this post nothing but my inner geek breaking free?

"The tale of three blankets" or "Great minds think alike"

Once upon a time, there was a young Mommy eagerly awaiting the arrival of her third child. This mom was blessed with a large, loving family, who wished to give her gifts for her coming child. Wanting the gifts to be of the useful sort, they encouraged her to make a baby registry. So she headed off to the land of the red bulls eye, where she and her two children had way too much fun with the scanner. Because they had decided to remain uninformed of the coming offspring's gender, much things of green were on the list.

A few weeks later, the mommy received a package from her noble brother and sister in law. The parcel was full of very useful, and adorable, items for the coming infant, including a luscious plush green blanket. The mommy was full of joy at the adorableness, and was tempted to use the blanket for herself instead.

A week before the arrival of the joyous child, another package arrived, this time from the mommy's fabulous in-laws. It too was full of wonderful, useful things . . .including a luscious plush green blanket. Slightly confused, the mommy consulted the land of the bulls eye's electronic companion, where she discovered that no one had informed the bulls eye people who the gifts were for. The electronic bulls eye said the mommy still had not received anything from her list. Because there was no way to change this, the mommy shrugged and went on her way.

The blessed day arrived, and the mommy welcomed her little flower into the world. That same day, her sister, who lived in a far off land, consulted the electric bulls eye and purchased some thoughtful gifts to welcome the new child . . .including a luscious plush green blanket. When the package arrived, the mommy was overcome with giggles, feeling much love both from and for her family. For it is always nice to know that others agree with your good ideas, and gift receipts are a joyful invention!


*i just typed a whole post one-handed. I've got some mad feeding skills here people!

Furry Ears and other randomnesses (and a winner!)

Waking up every 2.5 hours all night long produces very random thoughts. I find myself remodeling our house, quoting old movies, noticing strange things about my life and children.

My baby has furry ears. She does! Look:

(You can see it better if you click on the picture to make it full sized). It's not too noticeable, since her hair just covers her ears. But I wonder how long this fur will last. It could lead to some very interesting hair styles as she ages.

And she's a really messy eater:(Anyone else care to join me in a round of "what do you do with a drunken pirate?" No? Just me. Ok, moving on.)

I firmly believe most people take the ability to roll over in their sleep for granted. I know I do. You never notice how important something is until it's taken away from you. Of course, as fast as this recover is, I should be able to roll over soon, but still, it's really a luxury.

Walking around with pants that now fall off is kind of a fun sensation. (the fact that they are your maternity pants because wearing any other kind scares your incision we'll keep quiet about.)

Bread bowls are one of the worlds best inventions. And if it's filled with an amazing fat free creamy chicken noodle soup, life just doesn't get much better.

If you spend hours of energy doing all kinds of crazy things to finally re-establish your almost non-existent milk supply, your baby will sleep all day long. Some women just make lousy milk cows.

Why does your need for batteries triple with every offspring produced?

Why does anyone really care about what goes through my head at 3 am?

Oh, because you want to know who won the book, that's why!

Obviously, asking for just a comment means you guys actually do a contest with me! Wahoo! I decided to get all fancy and do random.org to generate the number (but I can't figure out how to SHOW that random number generator . . .) any who. It's #3. And who is #3?

My cutie sister Leann, who said a whole bunch of stuff, but my favorite part is this" In someways (now don't laugh) but I could see you being somewhat like Sadie when you are older. You love piecing things together with your very logical mind and you do get great cooking urges. "

Are you saying I like to stick my nose into places it doesn't really belong? NO, NEVER ME! (cough). And I'm glad to hear you think my cooking abilities have improved from the days when I dipped Doritos in milk and cheese in frosting (although that last combination is really good . . .)

Anyway, Congrats, Leann!