Another giveaway!

I think I have the worst giveaway luck...I never win! I am going to keep trying though because you can't win if you don't play! Elizabeth over at Confessions From a Working Mom is hosting her first giveaway of those cute baby legs leg warmers! I've thought about getting these for BBZ but never bought them. It would be just in time for the winter! Head on over to her blog and check it out. She's a journalist and always has something interesting to talk about, and as a working mom I love her insight of trying to have it all. Happy Sunday!

The Week in Pictures

Last Sunday I woke up at 4am, swooped up BBZ and headed to the airport. He and I flew the 2nd part of the round trip ticket I bought when I went to see my sister in a play last October. He did so great on the plane! He slept through the whole first flight which was from about 6am to 7:15 or so. He woke up when we landed and played like crazy in the terminal for the hour or so layover. We were playing with his little cars at the corner of the terminal so we had windows on both sides of us. I looked up from my car playing and saw BBZ with this look of absolute amazement on his face. I looked out the window and saw a huge airplane coming straight toward us! The door opened to our right and the nose of the plane was about 20 feet in front of us! The pilots even waved to us! BBZ was quite impressed. He did great on the next flight, which probably had the fewest people on it I have ever seen on a plane. BBZ talked and giggled and rambled on the whole time. I didn't mind though, it was way better than him screaming!

N and Delilah met us at my parent's house after dropping us off at the airport around 5am. It took him 11 1/2 hours, which is apparently a record. I guess it goes that much faster without a wife and a baby to slow you down :)

We hoped to find some different things to do this time around, so we drove about 30 minutes to a nearby town that had a cute little winery. Grapes cannot grow in this frozen part of America, so they use every other kind of fruit imaginable to make wine. We tasted wines such as Rhubarb, Choke Cherry, and Apple Jalapeno. It was interesting and much better than I thought it would be.

We also went to the town mall, which is small, but a nice place for BBZ to run around and explore. We also did some Christmas shopping.

BBZ's cousin, CJ, hung out with us almost the whole week!

Little cuties! I saw my sister's apartment for the first time and it is huge! On one of her shelves was a picture of me holding CJ when he was 14 months old, exactly the same age as BBZ now! That was 9 years ago...man how time flies. Here's a peek at his Thanksgiving outfit! He was moving non-stop. I got a few good ones, but this one reminded me of this one that Nikki over at Purple Lemon Photography took of BBZ during his 1 year photos! He's quick!

He did not really want to cooperate with me for a picture with Delilah...

...so we took a break to play some piano... ...and I got this one, which I love.

He managed to sit still long enough for this cute one with my dad, who he calls Ba-Pa, just like CJ did before he could say Papa. But not quite long enough for this one with my mom (Meme) which BBZ still can't quite say.

Watching football and eating strawberries with Daddy.

We decided to venture out into the cold, which was actually much more mild than it usually is in November.

Daddy bought him this awesome hat, which we all had bets on how long he would keep it on. It turns out, if you put gloves on a baby, they are unable to do just about anything with their hands, including removing a ridiculously cute hat from their head! I just love these that N took of him hobbling around the yard.

Then right in front of us he goes Christmas Story on us and totally licks this pole! I'm not sure what he was thinking, but I'm just glad that 1) it didn't stick and 2) that we had the camera!

My little winter munchkin! There was snow on the ground one morning, but it melted by the time we got up and moving around. We were hoping that BBZ could get some good snow-playing time! Oh well, hopefully he will have plenty of other opportunities soon.

Mmmm, turkey! BBZ had been refusing to eat meat for weeks, but this week he ate chicken, steak, and turkey! He was pumped about this one!

It was definitely a messy meal! But so worth it. I even caught a little video of him saying "gobble, gobble, gobble"!

We had no intention of going out into the black Friday ridiculousness as we have in years past, but we did end up going to the mall in an attempt to wear BBZ out for the 8 hour drive we planned, which started at 3pm on Friday. We thought we would maybe try the Santa picture, and I am so glad we did! There was absolutely no line and we walked right up. As you can see, BBZ was not very happy about it, but I honestly think that is half the fun.

Like I said, we left around 3pm Friday and drove about 8 hours. We thought about driving all the way through, and if BBZ had been in a deeper sleep we might have tried it, but N and I both said this morning that we made the right decision by staying at the hotel. BBZ was pretty wound up when we got there around midnight, but it didn't take too long for him to settle down and sleep. It was a bit harder for N since he drank so much caffeine, but we all managed to get enough sleep. It was crazy warm here today so we went for a walk then came home and played in the backyard for a while. I must say, it was a wonderful week out of town. I love spending time with my family and wish we were closer. I am very happy that we have one more weekend day left! I don't feel rushed to have everything done tonight for the week. I see tomorrow as a nice and lazy Sunday!

Not Me! Monday

I did not leave a full bag of poopy cloth diapers at BBZ's school on Friday only to realize this after the school closed. I am not out of town all week. The diapers will not sit there getting nastier and nastier for me to clean NEXT Monday. I am never in a rush and always take my time and would never do something so...dumb.

I did not allow my child to eat goldfish the entire time we were at our Le Leche League meeting so he would stay quiet and occupied the whole time. I would never use food to distract my child. Especially food that is not-so-good for him.

I was not a little excited about waking BBZ up at 4am when we left for our trip yesterday. I did not think it was a little funny to be the one waking him up at that hour instead of vise versa. I would never find excitement or humor in my child's unhappiness. That's just cruel and I am not that selfish!

Want to join in on the Not Me! Monday fun? I think she's skipping the carnival this week, but nevertheless, this blog carnival was started by MckMama, head on over to her blog and see what she and all the other moms have not been doing this week.

Some Deep Thoughts on Slavery

I wrote just a bit right here about slavery. About my wonder of how we as humans could do such horrible things to other humans. I shutter at the thought of what people went through, and in many ways are still going through, because of the color of their skin. My father is a very deep-thinking man. I remember growing up thinking that he was a man who just demanded respect. People flocked to him in admiration. I wondered how he did it...how he managed to have so many people think so highly of him. As I have grown older I realize that the respect and admiration he has is not because of something he does or demands, it is something he has earned through the way he approaches people. He respects and admires all people, and all things, and in turn has that same reflected upon him. It is his integrity and love of people and life that attracts so many followers and admirers. Who would not want to spend time with someone who makes you feel so good about yourself, about life, and about living? My father is also a reader. He reads poetry, and stories and was recently asked to speak during chapel at the college where he is the Chief Information Officer. My father is not a religious man, although his faith in people and his commitment to the betterment of society could quite easily hold the same distinction. He emailed me the speech he wrote, which I finally sat down and read today. I am so moved by his thoughts and will likely read them over and over when I feel like being closer to him. The following is an excerpt he included, which made tears pour down my face, while I read it at work. I don't know that I would have felt as strongly about this if I were not a mother, but I can almost feel the pain as I read the words of this young slave as she was being sold away from her family.

From the diary of Mary Prince – slave of Bermuda – written in 1831 – escaped from slavery to freedom in England in 1828

The black morning at length came; it came too soon for my poor mother and us. Whilst she was putting on us the new osnaburgs in which we were to be sold, she said, in a sorrowful voice, (I shall never forget it!) "See, I am shrouding my poor children; what a task for a mother!"--She then called Miss Betsey to take leave of us. "I am going to carry my little chickens to market," (these were her very words.) "take your last look of them: may be you will see them no more." "Oh, my poor slaves! my own slaves!" said dear Miss Betsey, "you belong to me: and it grieves my heart to part with you."--Miss Betsey kissed us all, and, when she left us, my mother called the rest of the slaves to bid us good-bye. One of them, a woman named Moll, came with her infant in her arms. "Ay!" said my mother, seeing her turn away and look at her child with the tears in her eyes, "your turn will come next." The slaves could say nothing to comfort us; they could only weep and lament with us. When I left my dear little brothers and the house in which I had been brought up, I thought my heart would burst.

Our mother, weeping as she went, called me away with the children Hannah and Dinah, and we took the road that led to Hamble Town, which we reached about four o'clock in the afternoon. We followed my mother to the market-place, where she placed us in a row against a large house, with our backs to the wall and our arms folded across our breasts. I, as the eldest, stood first, Hannah next to me, then Dinah; and our mother stood beside, crying over us. My heart throbbed with grief and terror so violently, that I pressed my hands quite tightly across my breast, but I could not keep it still, and it continued to leap as though it would burst out of my body. But who cared for that? Did one of the many by-standers, who were looking at us so carelessly, think of the pain that wrung the hearts of the negro woman and her young ones? No, no! They were not all bad, I dare say, but slavery hardens white people's hearts towards the blacks; and many of them were not slow to make their remarks upon us aloud, without regard to our grief--though their light words fell like cayenne on the fresh wounds of our hearts. Oh those white people have small hearts who can only feel for themselves.

At length the vendue master, who was to offer us for sale like sheep or cattle, arrived, and asked my mother which was the eldest. She said nothing, but pointed to me. He took me by the hand, and led me out into the middle of the street, and, turning me slowly round, exposed me to the view of those who attended the vendue. I was soon surrounded by strange men, who examined and handled me in the same manner that a butcher would a calf or a lamb he was about to purchase, and who talked about my shape and size in like words--as if I could no more understand their meaning than the dumb beasts. I was then put up to sale. The bidding commenced at a few pounds, and gradually rose to fifty-seven, when I was knocked down to the highest bidder; and the people who stood by said that I had fetched a great sum for so young a slave.

I then saw my sisters led forth, and sold to different owners: so that we had not the sad satisfaction of being partners in bondage. When the sale was over, my mother hugged and kissed us, and mourned over us, begging of us to keep up a good heart, and do our duty to our new masters. It was a sad parting; one went one way, one another, and our poor mammy went home with nothing.

I had to read this twice, so just so you get the full affect, go ahead and read it again. Don't worry. I'll wait. My heart sank as I imagined what is was like for women during this time. To love and embrace your child only to "shroud" them, as this woman's mother said. I had to look up the meaning to shroud, to shroud means to wrap and prepare for burial, but this mother was not burying her children, she was preparing them for a life she knows all to well. A life that she herself lived. She would then have to always wonder what her children were doing, how they were living, if they were living, if they gave her grandchildren that she would never meet. I worked with a woman once whose husband was severely injured in a car accident. After sustaining a massive head and spinal cord injury, he relied on a ventilator to breathe, a catheter to pee, his wife to change his clothing after accidents, and a life that would likely rely on nursing home placement, although this wife fought to avoid it. When she learned of the untimely death of the child of our agency's founder, she said to me "sometimes death is kinder". How true this might have been during this slave's life. At least in death one can find peace and closure. To never know what happens to your child would be torture. I wonder, if I lived as a black woman at that time, would I celebrate a life I created or mourn what was sure to come for my precious child? This is something I am so happy to say I do not have to even think about.

I wonder too, what became of this woman. This is the only time I have heard of this woman's diary, of her personal experiences with a life I can't begin to imagine. The heading states that she escaped slavery, so I wonder if she was reunited with her mother, with her family. I am searching for the happy ending, the something that can make me feel better after this sad story I have read. Even if this ending is happy, there are so many more unspoken stories of torn families, people sold as cattle, and treated as less-than-human.

I like to think the world has changed, and in many ways it has, but we have miles to go before we sleep and must never naively believe that things are as good as they can be.

Wet bag giveaway!

Many of you know that I am a happy gdiapers user. NappyShoppe.com is run by Sharni who is a SAHM (stay at home mom) who runs a cloth diapering website dedicated to lots of cloth diapering goodies, including accessories! I would love to win a fun colored wet bag! Who cares if poop and pee diapers go in it...it can still look cool! Click here to check out the giveaway!

Wordless Wednesday

Time for a makeover!

So I figured it was time to look around for a different layout for my blog. I really wanted one with gadgets on both sides and a little more flair...I think I found it! Hopefully it will be more fun to visit me!