****Bragging Wife Alert****

I was thinking this morning that I brag about my children way more than I do about my husband. It's so easy to let the kids take the focus of my life simply because they have the bulk of my time and attention right now. Justin was around before they came along and will hopefully be with me much longer than they will., so I spent the morning thinking about all the reasons I am proud of him. I think when you live with someone day in and day out you tend to get focused on everything that drives you batty about them. Taking time to list what you admire about them really changes your perspective. So, in no particular order:

• He is an amazing financial planner and we rarely have any debt; which in this society says a lot.
• He cares about providing a stable present and future for me and the kiddos, and therefore, works hard at what he does.
• The line of work he is in generally requires a college degree, but he's so intelligent that he can do it without one.
• Just because he has a good job without having a degree, doesn't mean he isn't diligently working towards one.
• Somehow he balances work, family, church, school and all his other responsibilities without going crazy.
• He is supportive of my desire to stay home with the kiddos, even though me going to work would relieve some of the stress he feels about providing for us.
• He is an awesome servant...if someone has a need and he can fill it, he's there. That's why he served as a preschool Sunday School coordinator for about two and a half years despite the fact that he really doesn't like small children (unless they belong to him, even then it's questionable).
  
• I am not the easiest person to live with, but he is patient with me and doesn't let on that I annoy him too much.

There's more, but my mind is having a hard time putting them into words.

This semester I am taking an introductory Women's Studies course, and while I am learning many facts I did not know previously, there are some facts I would rather not be aware of. For instance, while researching information on abortion for a reading response I came across this number....857,475. That's the total number of abortions reported for 2000. What I find even more disturbing is this number 1.4%, the percentage of abortions performed after 21 weeks gestation. Now 1.4% sounds like a small number, but 1.4% of 857.475 is 12, 004. Now does that number seem small? Most abortion supporters make themselves feel better because of this number: 87%--the percentage of abortion performed before 13 weeks. They rationalize, saying that the fetus isn't really a human being. Well, when I was pregnant with William, I had sonograms about every 3 weeks starting at 6 weeks gestation. I saw his heart beat when his little body was only 4 weeks old...now tell me, how is that not proof of his humanity.

Please do not misunderstand me...I am a realistic person who understands not everyone shares my believe on when life begins, so I do not believe abortion should be made illegal. I do believe, however, the procedure needs to be more controlled. Too many women see abortion as a means of birth control. I know one women in particular who had 9 before she was 27 years old. And it is obvious to me that if at least 857,475 unintended pregnancies occurred, women are seriously in the dark in regards to how their bodies and reproductive systems work. And don't get me started on the "safe sex" education debate...apparently women aren't listening.

Enough of my soap box...I'll get down now.

***Another Bragging Parent Alert***

So William doesn't feel left out.....I was beginning to wonder when this child would ever begin to speak, but in the last week he has started using about 10 words regularly. I think he knew how to say them all along and was just waiting until he had good reason to use them.

Here's his vocabulary:

"Mama"--finally!
"Ball"
"Door"
"Book"
"Drink"
"Bath"
"Down"
"Baby"
"Baba"--his pacifier
"Night-night"

While looking through some pictures, I found this one. I miss her little baby curls!

**Bragging Parent Alert**

Kayleigh was coloring yesterday and yelled out, "Mommy I wrote my name!". I, of course, blew it off thinking she had done her usually scribbling that she calls writing. Well, when I walked over to look at her paper this is what I saw:



Starting with the pink "K" is a pretty recognizable "Kaylei" followed by a scribble and an "h". Of course the "a" is backwards, but that's totally normal for a three-year old. I have not begun instructing her on handwriting, but I am beginning to think I might need to before she develops incorrect writing techniques. Right now we are concentrating on phonics and basic math with a little art and science thrown in. I was worried that I was beginning to school her too early, but she actually requests to "do school" on a regular basis, so I don't think I am rushing her into it.