Pray

Have you voted? I voted last week. Voting is a great privilege that many around the world do not have, so please, go vote if you have not already done so. I hope you are voting the same way I am but regardless, go vote. Today I am praying for our election. I am the first to admit that I am not on top of politics and all of the issues but I do know who I do and do not want to win the presidential election.

Regardless of who will be our president for the next 4 years, I know that God is sovereign. He is above earthly leaders and His will can be accomplished regardless of who is president. His plan cannot be thwarted because a certain man is in leadership. That is a huge comfort in these times. So, I voted last week and am praying today for the future of our country.

By the way, I saw on the news last night that if you vote you can get a free coffee from Starbucks, donut from Krispy Kreme and ice cream from Ben and Jerry's. I am not sure if you actually have to take your stamped voters registration card but even if your candidate does not win, you can at least get some free stuff out of doing your civic duty.

Let's compare kids

People keep asking me if I think that Caroline looks like Katherine. It is so hard for me to tell. I think that they look very different but there are times that I see something in Caroline that reminds me of Katherine. So, tonight I went through pictures of Katherine and tried to find similar poses at the same age to compare. I am curious what you all think. Do they look alike? If so, what features are the same.

I do know there are a few differences. The first is hair color. Both are blond but Katherine has had white blond hair from the beginning whereas Caroline's is darker and has a little red to it in certain light. Caroline is also bigger than Katherine. Looking at pictures I see Katherine in outfits at 3-4 months that Caroline has already been wearing for a few weeks.

In each set of pictures Katherine is first and Caroline is second.

Must have chickin!

Katherine and I have a slight Chick-Fil-A addiction. She says it "Chicken Fay" and recognizes the sign as we drive by on the highway. We go there at least once a week, usually twice. I don't feel too bad though because it is literally the only fast food place I have ever taken her. She has never had McD's, Taco Bell or any others. I love how Chick-Fil-A is so family and kid friendly. I also feel like their food is semi-healthy, at least for fast food. They have great values centered toys and a clean play area. Recently a new one opened in our area so it is so much more convenient.

Today (Labor Day) you can get a free order of Chicken Strips at any Chick-Fil-A. All you have to do is show up wearing a high school, college or pro football shirt. So, today Caroline and I will be donning our Aggie outfits to get free chicken strips. She will be giving her to her sister who does not have any A&M gear.

My painful confession

Many of my friends have commented on how impressed they are with how easily and how often I have ventured out with two kids. Caroline is now 5 weeks old and I feel that I am no longer intimidated to get out of the house with both of them. Today we left at 9:45 and went to Pump It Up, Chick-Fil-A and then I dropped Katherine off at Nana's so I could go to the book fair at a home school convention. We got home at 4:15.

There is a trade off though and this is where the confession comes in. My house is an absolute wreck. Maybe that is why I get out of the house every day. By the time I get home each day I am exhausted. It is time for nap. I rarely take one, not because I am being a good housekeeper though I do keep the clothes clean (not put away and folded). Instead of a nap I usually waste time on the computer (like right now). It is my down time.

So, here are the shocking photos of the state of my house right now. I think that this weekend I need to do nothing but work on cleaning up around here.
Here is our bedroom. Notice the red shirt I slept in next to Sam's pj pants on the bed. We have not one but two baskets of clean laundry sitting on a box of stuff that needs to be thrown away next to a mirror that was never rehung after our bathroom remodel. You can't tell but my dresser is full of junk and so is Sam's which is out of the photo. Here is our den. There are toys and baby items EVERYWHERE. For some reason we have not asked, nor required Katherine to clean up her stuff for a few days. Now I think it would be a bit overwhelming for her but after nap we will try to tackle a little at a time. You can see the breakfast room table which has 2 diaper bags and 4 cups on it along with a lot of papers. Last, here is our dining room with about a week's worth of mail including several baby gifts on the table. Also on the table are things I bought yesterday when shopping. Somehow the jogging stroller ended up inside as did Katherine's tricycle. Oops, you can't even see the tricycle because the pile of boxes is so high. We also have Sam's shop lights in our dining room from 3 weeks ago when we were going to use them to try to set up a photo shoot for Caroline. They need to go back out into the workshop.

So for those of you who have expressed your amazement, be amazed no more. I assure you I am no supermom. I just like to get out of the house every day, probably because my house is not a great place to be.

Electricity

So, who else is just floored by their electric bills this summer? In June we received our bill and it was for $581. At first I thought I must have forgotten to pay it last month since it was about double our regular bill. Nope, the price of electricity just went way up. So, I pulled our all of our bills from last year to compare usage and bills. Last year our June bill was only $240. Our usage was up a but but mainly it was the fact that the price went up to 23.2 cents/kWh from 13.8 last year. Yikes.

So, this month we raised our thermostat hoping that would make a difference. We had not been watching it at all. Hey I was 8 months pregnant and hot all the time. We also had an AC company come out to look at our unit. We found out that it is 19 years old and that a properly maintained unit in Texas has an average life of 12 years. But, she said ours was in perfect working order. Both good and bad news. We don't have to buy a new unit but we are not going to be able to do much to increase efficiency either.

So, yesterday I received our July bill. I opened it hoping that it went down since we had raised the thermostat. $675! You have got to be kidding. How in the world did it go up almost $100 when we had lowered the thermostat? We have switched companies to another one whose advertised rates are lower but it will not start until the next billing cycle. I guess we are just stuck paying these outrageous electric rates.

What about you, how high has your bill gone? I am curious who has the highest bill and what company has the highest and lowest rates.

A "green" Bible

It seems like being "green" is quite the trend these days. Sam and I have had many conversations about what that means for us. It is quite confusing and controversial. We do recycle and luckily our local waste management makes that easy by collecting the recycling from our curb and it does not have to be sorted. We have a few compact fluorescent light bulbs. We use cloth diapers. I have started buying "green" cleaning products. I try to buy organic food from time to time and as much as I can that is from recycled goods but overall it is not a large part of our lives. I want it to be but I just have not made the changes.

There is a lot of debate in the media relating to "green" topics. Is the globe really warming? If so, what part do we as humans have? What is our responsibility as Christians even as we are stewards of the earth that God has placed us on. That is the tough question for me. I know that our little family alone cannot make a huge impact but if there are a lot of families like mine all doing the same thing, we will. God has placed me on the earth and I have a responsibility to take care of it. What does that mean day to day? I am still working that out.

Here is a question though for Christians and for "green" living people. Would you buy the Green Bible? Yes, I read on Nature Mom's Blog that Harper Collins will be publishing a Green Bible in October. What makes this Bible "Green"? Well, several things. It is printed on environmentally sustainable paper, has a cotton and linen cover, and uses soy-based inks. Great, I am sure there are other Bibles out there printed in environmentally friendly ways. The description of this Bible on Amazon says that "the definitive green movement Bible that shows God is green and explains how we can care for and protect God's creation." It does this by highlighting in green ink the verses that speak to God's care for creation. There are also poems, essays and quotes by well known Christians about caring for God's creation. There is a study guide and an appendix with suggestions on how to take practical steps toward being "green".

I thought this was an interesting step for the "green" movement and for study Bibles. Great marketing for both perhaps? I don't typically think of the "green" movement as something that most Christians have embraced though I think they should but I do not know that this is the way to do it.

Nature Mom's Blog asked for comments on if you would buy this Bible. I am also curious as to what my friends and readers think about this. I have all kinds of readers and really want to know what you think about this.

Here is the comment I left on her blog. Some of the other comments are interesting and make me think. I read them after I left my comment.

I would not buy it. I have too many Bibles as it is between attending a Christian school from grades 4-12 and then seminary for grad school. I have numerous versions and sizes and feel guilty for how many I have when there are people who have no Bible at all.

I have never been a fan of any type of “gimick” Bible. There are all kinds out there - teens, kids, moms, dads, recovery . . . Those things are fine but I would prefer to have my devotionals separate from my Bible. The Bible can speak well enough for itself. I would prefer that the authors write a book/commentary about what the Bible has to say about green living and the earth rather than highlighting those passages in the Bible.

That is my opinion. On the other hand if it gets someone to buy a Bible who did not have one or encourages someone to read it who has not been reading then I pray that God uses it as a tool for His glory.

An invasion

As Katherine has been more interested in her toys and preferring certain ones, I am realizing that we have been invaded by stuffed animals. For a long time it was easy to ignore. She did not care for them and they were all neatly contained in a basket with the exception of one or two that I chose to put in her bed with her in attempts of her attaching to a "lovey". Now, however she moves them out of the said basket, onto her bed, the couch, my bed, the kitchen, the car, EVERYWHERE! I did not realize how many stuffed animals we have accumulated over the past 2.5 years until now. I know I have bought some and she has been given many others as gifts as well. It is an easy thing to give at Christmas, Valentines, Easter . . . I am resolving though to buy not a single additional stuffed animal for this child. I bought her a Bitty Baby from the American Doll boutique as a big sister gift but that is different. Every girl needs a really nice baby doll.

Clean Up

I realized that I spend too much time on the computer. One of the culprits is reading blogs. It is a serious way for me to have some down time. I don't read and don't have the energy to exercise at 8 months pregnant. I have then all added into my google reader and I log on a few times a day to catch up on my reading. So, this afternoon I went through and deleted a lot of blogs from my reader. Don't worry friends and family, I left you all there. I was deleting photographers, quad families (except for my 2 favorites) and what I call random mommy blogs. I still have 135 subscriptions but a lot of those do not update frequently. I tried to delete those that were clogging my reader and keeping me occupied on insignificant stuff. I did not check how many I had before but I would guess over 200. Hopefully this small housekeeping item will free up some time. If not, I will continue to slash and burn. I continually complain that I do not have enough time to get everything done so I need to try to get rid of those things that drain my time.

So much to do, so little time

According to my "widget" in my sidebar, there are 45 days left until my "guess date". (I prefer to think of it as a guess date rather than a due date because who knows when Squeak will arrive). Some days that feels like it is sooooo far away that it will never get here but recently it has felt much more immanent and I realize that I have a very long list of things to do and I am not sure that they will all get done.

Here is my overzealous "to do" list. Note that not all of the items relate to Squeak, but I realize that time will be even more limited when she arrives. By the way, I thrive off of lists and crossing things off so I will return to this list and cross them off as they are done.

Squeak's list

• Pick a name
• Schedule photographer for birth
• Order return labels for the announcements
• Decide on announcement design
• Update mailing list and print announcement mailing labels
• Wash cloth diapers
• Wash preemie, newborn and 0-3 clothes
• Talk with Dr. Cindy about doula stuff
• Tweak and finalize Birth plan
• Make a new nursing cover (Katherine's was lost in Helsinki, I did buy fabric 6/13)
• Get a gift for Squeak to give Katherine and for Katherine to give Squeak.
• Order bows and headbands
• Paint name on canvas(bought letters instead)
• Get a blank wall calendar
• Check that preadmittance at Baylor is in order
• Pack hospital bags
• Go to Peppermint to look at baby carriers and register
• Order birthing skirt?? (I have no idea what to wear during labor and don't look forward to a hospital gown)
• Schedule and get a massage at Maternity store
• Wash and install the car seat
• Get all baby toys and paraphernalia out of garage and clean them
• Declutter bedroom to make room for pack and play

At Home

• Paint bathroom doors and shelves
• Install bathroom doors and shelves
• Organize and put away bathroom stuff
• Vacuum Squeak's room (since we are moving around the furniture)
• Vacuum dressing room (from the mess the workers made
• Put together Squeak's bookcase
• Move the glider in Squeak's room)
• Move the buttons on Katherine's shirt
• Decorate nursery
• iron Katherine's clothes (remind me not to buy tiny clothes that need to be ironed

Computer type stuff

• Do a google calendar for the family
• Make a hypnobabies checklist
• Make a phone list to put in my calendar
• Blog, blog, blog
• Use itunes gift certificate
• Find a nightlight lamp for Katherine's room
• change credit card info on auto bill pay (ours was lost and canceled)

There is a lot to do and I am sure this is not even the half of it but it helps me to have a list to organize my priorities. I want to make sure that most of all I spend a lot of quality time with Katherine since I know that her world is about to be turned upside down and I will not get as much time with her when Squeak comes.

Trade in your BPA bottles

Yesterday I read on the Baby Cheapskate blog that many Babies R Us stores are taking back older bottles that contain BPA in them. The Freebies 4 Mom blog did a post about BPA free bottles and even has a link to a long list of bottles and sippy cups that are BPA free.

The comments on these blogs are varied as far as the success of returning the old bottles. Some locations give a gift card with full store credit, some will only trade for newer bottles without BPA and some do nothing. It is up to the manager of that store. I have a collection of barely used bottles that all contain BPA. I thought I would check out this opportunity since I am 7 weeks away from having a potential bottle user. I went to the Town East location with 6 Avent bottles and 6 Gerber bottles. At first they said I could trade them for other bottles which was fine with me. Then for some reason the checker decided it would be easier to just give me a store credit which I then could use for anything. It was for $35! This was for used bottles that were over 2 years old, with no receipt! I did buy one new pack of bottles, but I mainly used the credit to buy more safe sippy cups for Katherine since that is really what I need right now.



So, I encourage any of you out there who are concerned about BPA or those who have unused bottles sitting around to run to your nearest BRU to check it out. You might call first if it is a trip out of the way since it is up to each store manager whether or not they will take these back.

Tax Protest

I am feeling quite proud of myself. We received our housing appraisal for property taxes for next year. As usual, they went up a lot. This is good in some ways because it shows that our home value is increasing. But, since we are not looking to sell our house for awhile it means that we are out more money for property taxes.

Every year since we have moved here our property has been reassessed and every year I have driven downtown to fight it. Every year I have had it reduced. This is an area where my type a personality and my math/spreadsheet abilities benefit me. I actually have a spreadsheet that I use every year with the information from every house on our block. It makes me quite mad when I plug in the numbers and analyze the data. This year the value of the land went up on every house. At the same time, the value of the actual houses went down on every house but 4. Guess whose house was included in those whose value went up? OURS! Not only did it go up, but it increased by 28%! The other houses that increased only increased by about 5%. I was baffled at why our house increased so much more than any other. We are not the largest house or the nicest house on our street and we had done no improvements on the property since last year. Not only that but our house's value per square foot was $25 over the average value per square foot for our street. Something is not equatable here.

So, I went in to the appraisal office with my spreadsheets, along with the list of homes that sold on our street in the last year. I had figured out what our house would be valued at if we were assessed at the average value per square foot for either the block or the homes that sold last year. I also had information that one of my neighbors had already fought his appraisal which started out higher than ours by 10K and he got them down lower than ours last year. That was the nail in the coffin for the appraiser.

The first year I went in with my data the appraiser jokingly offered me a job because I was more thorough than they are. This year they were also impressed. There is a lot more that goes into the appraisal process than just having an equatable average for your street but with my data and the information from my neighbor, I was able to get our property value down 22% which will save us just under $1000 in taxes this year.

So, I encourage all of you to do your homework and fight your property taxes if it seems you are being assessed higher than your neighbors. You have until the end of the month to do it. Email me for more details or websites to look at if you need to.

De-lurk all of you, de-lurk

Katherine says, "Please Comment"

I just finished looking at my blog stats and wonder who all of you out there are reading my blog. I had 437 unique visitors to my blog this month. Yikes, I know a lot of people but I think that even I do not know that many people. I would have guessed that I had maybe 50 regular readers and 50 casual readers.

So, I would like to make a request. Whether you are a regular reader, someone who stops by occasionally, or a lurker, would you please leave me a comment on this post so I know you are a reader. I find it so funny when I run into someone and they tell me that they have been reading my blog for the last year and I had no idea. Usually they tell me that they never comment because they don't want me to think they are weird for reading my blog when they don't know me well. Let me assure you, I do not think you are weird. I read many a blog of people that I do not know well and many that I do not know at all! If I don't know me, let me know how you found my blog (if you remember).

When you leave your comment I have a survey question for you. I am in the process of writing a long blog post for later this week and in doing my research, I am curious how you get to my blog when you read my posts. Here are the main options that I can think of but feel free to select another.

• I receive an email with the entire post in it and I do not click on your actual website.
• I receive an email and then I go to your website to read the post.
• I have a reader or feed service through which I read my blogs. If so, tell me which one you use.
• I have a link to your blog on my own blog.
• I click a link to your blog on someone else's blog.
• I have you saved in my favorites.
• I type your web address every time.

Also, I have changed my blog comment settings so that you do not have to have a google account to make a comment. I know that has deterred some people in the past. I still do not allow anonymous comments though. Thanks for your comments!

So what is your opinion?

Tomorrow Texas has our Presidential primaries. Sam and I have talked about voting in the other party primary so we can vote against a candidate that we do not want to see as President rather than voting in our party primary for a candidate. What are your thoughts on that? Honestly, I do not pay that much attention to politics so if I vote in my party's primary I have no idea which candidate I would vote for.