Grab the Weekend Reflection Code
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Again my week went by way to quickly. I think I start this post off with that sentence a lot. I never got a phone call from the music store. Maybe they are not actually hiring. Or they might not have been impressed by my resume. After that I decided that I need to work harder on my blog and try to get more advertisers so I can bring in a suitable second income for my family. I vow to do just that.

This past week started off alright. The kids came down with nasty colds and coughs so I decided against going to the gym. I didn't want them to pass their colds to the other children in the day care center.

I had three terrible days in a row. You know when absolutely nothing goes right. I'm sure you've had those days. The first day was Wednesday. The kids made messes all day and Ciara was extremely disobedient. I was homesick, had a headache, was tired...and the list goes on. Thursday was very similar to Wednesday. Then I got a phone call from the medical clinic where I was supposed to have my first prenatal check up this Monday. They called to cancel. The doctor is going to be out of town and the soonest they could reschedule me is March 17. This made me even more homesick. I told the gal on the other line that I can not wait that long. She apologized but said she couldn't get me in any sooner. If I found a different clinic then I could call and cancel. I am not in the mood to call all over the place to find a different clinic.

On Monday my councilor told me that I need to get more active in the community. I'm an extrovert and am at my happiest when I'm surrounded by people. My college years were the happiest of my life. I was in the marching band, involved in three or four different organizations and had a part time job. I was constantly surrounded by people. Here I feel like I am stuck in this tiny little house. I feel trapped. I can not venture out into the neighborhood because we don't really have a very good one. (I've seen my neighbors doing drugs in their yards and there was a murder just down the street.) I don't feel safe or comfortable talking to my neighbors.

Our back yards are fenced in and that is new for me. In Wisconsin the only people with fences have them because they either own a dog, horse, cattle or other farm animals that need to be contained. I did not have a dog or farm animal so my back yard was wide open. I got to know my neighbors rather quickly that way. I feel claustrophobic in my fenced in yard.

I've got a lot of work to do to overcome my depression, homesickness and anxiety. I have another appointment with my counselor on Monday.

Chris found a few more jobs to apply to today. One of them is with the state's unemployment agency. I have mixed feelings about him getting a state job. I know that state jobs pay well and we will finally have benefits so I won't have to rely on MediCal. (Which isn't really reliable.) But I do not want to raise my children in California. When we moved here it was understood that it would only be temporary. I'm sorry if you are a native of this state and you are reading this, but I just do not feel comfortable here. I miss my Wisconsin roots, family, friends, small towns, and the culture of the Badger State and the Midwest. I grew up in the Midwest and that is where I want to raise my children. We are just waiting until we can be self sufficient again and afford to relocate. So if he takes a state job I will feel like we are stuck. I know that will just make my depression worse. I can't have that. I need to feel comfortable again.

So the kids are doing fine except for their colds. Courtney is grounded this weekend because she was being rude and sassy to me, but that is another story. Ciara is still a bully to her brother, world class mess maker, and silly three-year-old. Conan is doing just fine except for the occasional melt downs. He usually has these out of frustration or because Chris or I said "no" to something.

As for this blog. I'm still working my butt of to reach the goals that I've set. Slowly but surely I will get there. Once I reach those goals I will share with all of you how I got there. I have decided that I either need to promote this meme like mad or scrap it. So I've included the button and code on the top.

Here are my rules. I will try my best to post this every Saturday. I know sometimes I get busy on the weekend and it doesn't get posted until Sunday or Monday. But I will try extra hard to get it up every Saturday. I want to read about how your week went. Please share!

All you need to do is use the button code to promote this on your site. Then blog about how your week went. Or you can use this meme to vent if something is bothering you. I've done that in the past. Maybe you just want to share a short story about something funny that happened this past week. You don't have to make your Weekend Reflection post long winded like I usually do.

You see this is a resource blog, so I don't write much about the events in my life. I use this meme to write about them. I guess it is a form of therapy for me. The rest of the week I spend researching the latest information on health, pregnancy, parenting, women's issues, participate in other meme's and carnivals, and writing reviews. Sometimes that gets kind of boring. So I came up with Weekend Reflection. Please participate! It isn't that hard.

Another update. Starting this Tuesday I will be starting a new carnival called Potty Time Tuesdays. This will be for all you potty training parents. I just have to come up with a button and then I will post all the details on Tuesday. I need to get motivated to start potty training Conan. I have the potty for him, but just haven't spent as much time with it as I should. He's 19 months already. Courtney was trained by the time she was two and Ciara was trained by the time she was 2 1/2. I know I shouldn't compare my children, but I think it is mostly my fault. So if you are ready to tackle the world of potty training with your toddler, please join us on Tuesday!

If you plan on participating in the Weekend Reflection meme either this week or starting next week, please leave your link!

To participate in this meme make a blog post reflecting back on your week with a link back to. Weekend Reflection Sponsored by Healthy Moms. Then add your link to Mr. Linkys. I will visit everyone that participates.

We've got information for everyone here at Healthy Moms.

Faith Filled Sundays - Join in this meme every Sunday and share your faith with your readers.

Prayer Chain Across the Blogosphere - Need prayers? Please join us and pay for those in need and share your prayer requests. Don't forget to blog about the prayer chain on your site so other's can submit their prayers.

Healthy Moms Dictionary - Up to date definitions and information on parenting, child development, health terms, illnesses and disorders.

Potty Time Tuesdays - Are you potty training your child? Do you need tips or a support group? Join us every Tuesday for Potty Time Tuesday.

Wordless Wednesday - The title says it all!

Say It Forward/ Follow Me Friday - Recognizing loyal commenters and followers every Friday.

Spotlight Blog - We want to promote your blog! Do you have something to share with our readers? Maybe you have some secret blogging tips that you would like to reveal. Why do you blog? What is your inspiration? We want to know! Be in the spotlight here on Healthy Moms.

Weekend Reflection - Are you stressed out? Do you need to vent a little on your blog or just write about your past week? Join us every Saturday for Weekend Reflection.

This week I am featuring Kristie from Kristie's Notes. Kristie is a stay at home mom of two children and is a fairly new to the blogosphere. She understands how important comments are and I look forward to reading her comments here on Healthy Moms every day.

I also enjoy reading her blog. She writes about her kids, participates in Wordless Wednesday and posts recipes. I always learn something new or am entertained when I visit Kristie.

Please visit Kristie from Kristie's Notes, say hello, an tell her you found her site on Healthy Moms.

I was tagged twice in one day by Momma Young from Momma Young's at Home and Sherrie from Boogers, Screams, Headaches and Dreams.

The first tag is called the "weirdest tag." You are supposed to write 6 weird things about yourself and tag 6 people leaving a "you are tagged" comment on their blog. So here goes!

1. I clean when I am angry.
2. I have to make sure my wheels in the car are straight after I pull up into the driveway.
3. I have to smell the coffee grounds when a fresh can is opened.
4. I don't care about the latest fashion. I always dress for comfort.
5. I also don't care how tired my husband is if I am not in bed before he is I get really upset. And I can not fall asleep if he is snoring. I always have to nudge him.
6. I have to get up at 3am to write in my blog because I can not write anything decent without distractions. Our computer is in the family room.

I am going to tag the last 6 people that commented on Healthy Moms. And the winners are...drum roll please...

1. Blue Violet from A Nut in a Nutshell
2. Ryan from Cool Dad Central
3. Tim from Fort Thompson
4. Angie from My Pretty Purse
5. Kari from A Giveaway Addicted Mommy
and
6. Jenn from Random Thoughts

Have fun and thank you for commenting on Healthy Moms!

Now for the second tag.

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules in your blog.
3. Write 5 Random things about yourself.
4. Tag Random people at the end of the post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged.

Five random things about me.

1. I am short, or vertically challenged. I'm only 5'1"
2. After living in Sacramento for a year I learned that I am not a city girl. I miss the small Wisconsin towns that I once lived in.
3. I am the youngest of five children.
4. I play the flute although, it's been several months since I last picked it up. I used to play in church every Sunday but I haven't found a parish that has a choir looking for a flutist here in Sacramento yet. Still looking.
5. I haven't bought myself a new pair of shoes in three and a half years. The ones I wear every day are pretty broken in and getting rather "holy."

Alright I am going to tag five more people that recently commented on Healthy Moms.

1. Rialyn from Health, Nutrition and Beauty Tips
2. Toni from It is Nap Time
3. Karen from Karen's Opinion
4. Andrea Singer from No Time for a Haircut
and
5. Kristie from Kristie's Notes

Have fun and thank you for commenting on Healthy Moms!

Thank you Sherrie and Momma Young for tagging me. This was a lot of fun.

A team of doctors from Cambridge's Addenbrooke Hospital believe that they have found a cure for peanut allergies. They exposed a group of four children to peanuts over a six-month period and gradually built up their tolerance. By the end of the study the children were eating about five peanuts a day.

Scientists have desensitised people from pollen and wasp allergies but this is the first time they have been successful in doing this with a food allergy. More follow-up is required to confirm the results of this study.

The research team gave the children tiny 5mg doses of peanut flour every day before they started introducing 800mg, which is the equivalent to five whole peanuts.

The scientists said that this is not a permanent cure, but if the children keep taking a daily dose of peanuts this will help them maintain their tolerance. The researchers have expanded the study to include 18 more children. They believe that this could also work for adults.




Related Articles from Healthy Moms

US Schools are Overreacting to Nut Allergies Causing Nationwide Epidemic

Healthy Moms Dictionary- Multiple Food Protein Intolerance

What other bloggers are saying about this story:

British study shows success with nut allergies In Life CSS

A Cure For Peanut Allergies? In Ra 4 Food - Health and Nutritional Tips

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Sacramento. The temperatures were in the sixties and the sun was shinning all day. Is spring finally here?


The birds seem to think so...


The flowers seem to think so...




The trees seem to think so. See they are budding!


My silly daughter seems to think so...


Looks like spring to me. What do you think?

Forcast for today...high of 61 and showers. Just what we need more rain.

A nightmare is a dream that causes the sleeper to be frightened in some way. Common nightmares can be about falling, being in a dangerous situation, monsters, or even death. These dreams can be linked to physical causes such as a high fever or sleeping face down on the pillow (drowning nightmare), or it can be brought on by stressful events in the sleepers life. Children may have nightmares if they are exposed to something scary before bedtime, like something on television. Eating before bedtime can also trigger nightmares. Occasional nightmares are common but recurrent nightmares require medical attention.

Many children wake up with nightmares. Nightmares usually begin when children enter the pre-school age when their imaginations grow. If your preschooler is having frequent nightmares you might want to keep her away from anything scary before bedtime such as frightening images on television, or pretend monster games.

What is the difference between nightmares and night terrors? If your child is having night terrors this is easy to spot. She will still be asleep even though she might be crying or making a fuss. You can't calm down a child while they are having the night terror. Night terrors as apposed to nightmares are not scary for children because they are not aware that they are having them.

Child development experts believe that the best way to control nightmares is through talking to your child about his dreams. They suggest that you wait until your child initiates the conversation. Then you can ask him about his dream. If he is having a recurring nightmare you can turn the dream into a story and make up your own ending.

Childhood nightmares can cause stress for a whole family. Hopefully these tips will help and you and your spouse can enjoy a better night's sleep.





More information on Nightmares and Sleep Disorders

Nightmare Remedies: Helping Your Child Tame the Demons of the Night
Parenting and Child Health - Nightmares



Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler And Preschooler

The subscriber and follower count suddenly went down here on Healthy Moms so I need your help. I am going to post a series of surveys on my sidebar in attempts to find out what my readers want to read more of, what I should scrap, and how I can make this site better. Please take the time to answer my short, quick questions. I need to find out why my readers and followers are leaving. If you have any suggestions to make this site better please leave me a comment!

Thank you!




Update! I just found out what is going on. It is not my blog afterall. Google is having problems with the whole follower thing. Check this article out from A Nut in a Nutshell. This explains it all.

Blogger Has Gone Crazy Unfollowing People

I haven't really given this much thought so I am sort of winging this. But I decided I would give this a try. Here goes.

I've been a Catholic all my life. I was baptised when I was an infant at St. Ann's Catholic church in Stoughton, Wisconsin. I received four more sacraments including marriage at that same church. So what does my Catholic faith really mean to me?

My faith has always been important. I've struggled with depression my whole life and my relationship with Jesus has helped me to keep going. But what about being a Catholic?

I will begin with the sacraments. Catholics have seven sacraments. These are holy ceremonies that are designed to bring us closer to Jesus. We believe that children should get baptised right away; as soon as they are healthy enough to be in public. Most Catholic children are baptised by the time they are two months old. My babies were about three months when they were baptised.

When I was a child in second grade we received two sacraments. The sacrament of Reconciliation (or Confession) and First Holy Communion. Now some dioceses receive Reconciliation in fourth grade. Reconciliation is when we go to the priest to pray to Jesus for forgiveness of our sins. Some people may think that we believe that the priest is forgiving our sins but this is false. He is a liaison to Jesus. We ask him to pray for our forgiveness and he helps us to understand our sins and what we can do to try not to repeat those sins. Reconciliation is just another way for us to grow closer to Jesus. After all the prayers are said in the confessional the priest gives us what we call a penance. This may be some more prayers to say or some type of service. He may ask us to do something nice for someone that we may have hurt or just say a few prayers to ask Jesus for forgiveness. I always feel a sense of peace after leaving the confessional.

The sacrament of Holy Communion is when we receive Jesus in the form of bread and wine. Unlike the protestants we believe that through the power of Jesus the priest is able to change the bread and wine into his body and blood. This process is called the mass. Only a priest, bishop, cardinal or the pope can do this. When we go to Holy Communion we are receiving Jesus just like the apostles did at the last supper.

When I was growing up we received the sacrament of Confirmation when we were junior or seniors in high school. My daughter will be receiving this sacrament next year when she is in seventh grade. Confirmation is when you are confirming your Catholic faith. You decide that you are going to continue practicing your faith as an adult. That's why it is confusing to me as to why the dioceses of Sacramento has children get confirmed when they are only twelve or thirteen. When you get confirmed the Bishop comes to do the ceremony at church. You chose a sponsor who becomes your mentor or teacher as you prepare for confirmation. This person is an adult who has already been confirmed. You also choose a confirmation name. This name should be a name of a saint and is only used for ceremonial purposes. I don't even remember what my confirmation name was. The bishop comes and as a group everyone states what they believe then you go up to the bishop one by one to get blessed with oil. That is about it.

As an adult we can choose one of two different sacraments. Either the sacrament of Holy Orders or Matrimony. I chose Matrimony. Holy Orders is when an adult becomes either a priest, sister or brother. I don't think deacons fall under this, but correct me if I am wrong. Basically you are vowing to the church and to Jesus. You decide to be married to the church. Matrimony is when you commit yourself to another person. I got married on April 26, 2003 at St. Ann's Catholic Church in Stoughton, Wisconsin. We believe that marriage is a lifetime commitment. And your spouse should be second to God. This was a major challenge for my husband and I. For a long time I was putting our children ahead of Chris. And to be perfectly honest, I am still working on this concept.

The last sacrament is Anointing of the Sick. This usually happens if you are so sick that the doctors believe that you will die soon. The priest will visit you in the hospital, home or hospice and say some prayers for your soul and anoint you with oil. I hope I don't have to receive this sacrament for another fifty or sixty years.

Each of these sacraments are designed to bring us closer to Jesus. I decided to divide this post into two parts. This is part one The Sacraments. I haven't decided what I am going to write for part two yet. I figure I have a week to think about it. If you have any questions about this post I will try my best to answer them.

Not a whole lot has changed over the past week. I was getting pregnancy headaches so I decided to blame them on lack of sleep. For two weeks I slept in until about 6am. But when I did this I fell way behind on my blog. I found myself writing my feature columns a day or two later and post dating them (like I am now..shhh it is really Monday morning). With a fresh jar of Tylenol Rapid Release Gels in my medicine cabinet I am ready to wake up early again and get caught up.

I can not write when I am distracted. I just can't concentrate. The only way I can sit down at my computer and write is if nobody is in the house or if they are all still sleeping. I could stay up late like most of you probably do, but I have to get up by 6 am every morning. And sometimes Conan wakes up around 4 or 5am. So when 7pm rolls around I am crashed on the couch. It never fails. I just don't have the energy late at night like most people do. I used to have a ton of energy at night, when I was in college. But now I have kids. I swear kids change everything.

My kids wear me out. Maybe I am getting old. Here is a little advice for those of you who do not have children yet. Have your children while you are still young. Children take up a lot of energy. And I've noticed my energy level going way down as I've been getting older. Maybe there is something I can do about it. If I could add something to my diet to increase my energy I would. By the end of the day I am just drained. This fourth pregnancy has been tiring me out as well.

So here I am drinking a cup of coffee at four in the morning. I'm going to make sure I cut myself off at two cups because I know that caffeine isn't very good for you or the baby when you are pregnant. But if I am going to get up this early I need my coffee!

The kids have been doing fine. Ciara beat up her brother the other day. She pushed him and scratched his ear and face. I should have taken a picture after it happened. But with her tough personality I'm sure this won't be the first time. I talked to her about it afterwards and said that when she hurts her brother like that it makes Mommy sad and it makes Jesus sad. I told her that Jesus is in her heart and he knows when she isn't being nice to her brother. So we'll see if this sinks in.

Courtney had a nice birthday on Friday. Her party was Saturday. She wanted to just have a few friends over and we only invited them by word of mouth. When Chris and I asked her on Saturday morning how many friends were coming she said only one. She wasn't certain about her school friends. So I told Chris to call his parents and sister and invite them over. I couldn't bare to have a party for Courtney with only one person there. Fortunately everyone in Chris' family was able to make it and we had just enough pizza to go around. I think Courtney had a good time.

I found Conan's splash guard for his potty. So now I have to make time every day for the wonderful world of potty training. I thought about making his potty training journey into a meme for other parents who are also potty training. We'll see. I know that he is ready because whenever Ciara goes potty he asks to go as well. Hopefully I will reach my goal of getting him into pull ups by the time the baby is born. I have six months to go. I promise when he gets up this morning I will put him on the potty chair with his breakfast in front of him and Dora on television. From experience I know this works.

Chris is working five days a week now. Somehow the hours add up to 32 but I don't know exactly how they do it. He is back at his usual stores.

Yesterday I took Courtney to a nearby music store to get a beginner guitar book. Chris had an old guitar that we gave her for her birthday. She was thrilled! Now I just hope that she takes the time to practice! I also applied for a job at the store. We'll see. It would be nice if I got a part time job. That way I could pay for the groceries and we could save a little more each week. I also got some shaker eggs for Ciara. And the little ones are already fighting over them! I need to go back there and get a couple more for Conan.

Tell me about your week. I would love to hear it! Be the first one to participate in this meme. I promise I will edit the button and put the code up on my sidebar. You can publish your Weekend Reflection post on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays...or if you are lazy like I am Monday morning and then post date it! Join in the fun. I dare you!

To participate in this meme make a blog post reflecting back on your week with a link back to. Weekend Reflection Sponsored by Healthy Moms. Then add your link to Mr. Linkys. I will visit everyone that participates.

This week I am featuring Jennifer from Baby Making Machine. Jennifer is not a mom yet like most of my other commenters, but she is a loyal reader and comments regularly. I love visiting her blog where she writes about her dreams and plans to someday become a mother. She wants to learn as much as she can about parenting and network with other parents before she has a child of her own. Jennifer's blog is interesting and humorous. I always learn something new when I visit Jennifer. Read all about her journey towards motherhood at Baby Making Machine.



Thank you Jennifer for all your wonderful comments here on Healthy Moms!

Today my oldest turns 12. I can't find her baby photos. They got lost when we moved but I can share with you some photos that were taken within the past five years. She has grown up so fast!

First Holy Communion May 2005 She wore the same dress I wore when I received my First Holy Communion.