Reading List

I haven't had enough time to post what I have been reading, so here's the list:

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

Elena Michaels is the world's only female werewolf. And she's tired of it. Tired of a life spent hiding and protecting, a life where her most important job is hunting down rogue werewolves. Tired of a world that not only accepts the worst in her— her temper, her violence—but requires it. Worst of all, she realizes she's growing content with that life, with being that person.

So she left the Pack and returned to Toronto where she's trying to live as a human. When the Pack leader calls asking for her help fighting a sudden uprising, she only agrees because she owes him. Once this is over, she'll be squared with the Pack and free to live life as a human. Which is what she wants. Really.

How Children Fail by John Holt
In his groundbreaking book, John Holt, draws upon his observations of children both in school and at play to identify ways in which our traditional educational system predestines our young people for failure.

Holt argues that children fail primarily "because they are afraid, bored, and confused." This, combined with misguided teaching strategies and a school environment that is disconnected from reality and "real learning", results in a school system that kills children’s innate desire to learn.

Stalemate by Iris Johansen
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killer Dreams comes a terrifying new thriller that will leave you guessing - and gasping - till the final nerve-racking page. The suspense begins with a phone call and leads forensic sculptor Eve Duncan to the trail of a killer even killers fear to face.

Eve Duncan has turned down the job twice already. Her skill and devotion in identifying murder victims and helping bring their killers to justice may be world-renowned. But Eve works exclusively for law enforcement and the families of the innocent, and the man on the other end of the phone is many things - none of them law-abiding or innocent.


Those were the most notable, because other than that, its been trash magazines at work (which has been, ooh, a LOT of my time lately...sometimes 5-6 shifts a week. I am crazy, I know) so I haven't had much quality reading time! They were all really great reads!

Shiny.....

...my birthday present from Kandice, when we went to the antiques show...soooo shiney...must have BBQ and serve devilled eggs....


And I finished Bitten, by Kelley Armstrong, a book about a female werewolf that Amanda gave me, and its FANTASTIC!! I am on to You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore next! I have to update my books over on the right, maybe tonight....

Little Big Run

Well, we've gone and been crazy. I received an email from work last night about their Little Big Run, and Mike and I are going to tackle the 5km on June 1st.

Little Big Run

All the money goes towards kids programs through the Capital region, no donations needed, our registration fee is the fund raising in itself.

Ironically, its Mike who's going to have to get into better shape, I've been doing 5km three times a week for quite a while now. Not that I don't expect pain and suffering when I go, I most certainly do ;) But I have to cheer on Mike now!

Anyone else who wants to, go join up! Nothing better than starting a Sunday morning with a good fund-raising run! (ok, I had to come back and edit, cause yes, there are better things, like champagne and strawberries in bed in Tahiti, but work with me here)

Signs of Spring

And not a moment too soon for my sanity.

It's Been A While....

And since there are still a) new moms and b) expecting moms reading this I will post some more interesting breastfeeding links.

Remember This? Woman Who Refused to Cover Baby's Head During Flight WINS Human Rights Complaint

Breastfeeding Prevents Iron Deficiency

Breastfeeding May Explain Weight Disparities

OH NO YOU JUST DIDN'T!!! (oh yah, READ this one!)


LOVE IT

LOVE IT

LOVE IT

LOVE IT

LOVE IT


Ok time for my trash tv. America's Next Top Model, yeehooo!

Bitter cold bites pine beetle

EDMONTON - Albertans who shivered through a frigid winter can take heart knowing that the bitter cold has likely taken a big bite out of mountain pine beetle populations.

Two cold snaps blasted central Alberta in late January and late February, with temperatures that scientists believe are cold enough to kill significant numbers of the voracious pest.

"We need 12 consecutive hours of minus 40 ambient air temperature to affect beetle mortality," said Alberta Sustainable Resource Development spokesman Duncan MacDonnell.

Reports from field weather stations showed the areas hit those temperatures or came close for the required time, he said.

"It looks like in west-central Alberta, where the bulk of the infestation was, we hit the required low temperatures for the duration that we need to have significant mortality."

The department will know better when crews head out in May to strip bark off trees and count larvae which survived the winter.

"We're cautiously optimistic we'll get significant mortality because of those temperatures."

But southwest Alberta didn't get cold enough to do much damage to beetle infestation there, he said.

I know, you are all wondering why the hell I posted this. But I have said several times over this winter, about the cold, that "at least it should be killing off the pine beetles"., and of course, received blank stares and weird looks from most people LOL! So here, this is what I meant....I actually find all this very interesting and have been avidly reading any articles on it. Resilient little effers, those pine beetles....

Elizabeth : The Golden Age

Gooood movie. BUT I really enjoy this genre, Mike lost interest about 3/4 of the way through (I know, why not just finish it?) I swear I have watched the first one, in fact, I would be surprised if I hadn't, but I can't remember it...it DID come out almost 10 years ago, that might be why...Cate Blanchett is amazing as the queen, absolutely amazing.

Just getting ready for The Other Boleyn Girl next weekend! I can't wait for that one!

The Napkin Says It All

Thanks to Nicole for the laugh! These will stay in my purse!

Brioche

So besides being cruel and cranky, I also tackled Brioche for the first time today, and it turned out AMAZING! Sometimes yeast breads and I don't always get along well, but, today, we were in beautiful, golden crisp, harmony. This is an orange zest and raisin brioche, that I will serve with peach jam tonight for dessert. The best part was that the kids helped braid it, and Mr K just thought that it was the coolest thing ever to braid dough into a shape that will be bread.


Is is dessert time yet?

A Little Pregnant

Hahaha not me! Betcha I made your eyes pop outta your head! What was that?? I was cruel? Why yes, I am in a kinda cruel, mean mood. Sorry.

Anyways, I have been reading this one woman's blog for a long time, and today she just had the BEST POST about infertility and the hush surrounding it, go take a read, I just laughed my ass off. She writes so well, but this post was mocking celebs and is just GREAT.

A Little Pregnant

Bee Movie = UGH

The kids got this movie as a present last weekend, and even tho I wasn't so sure of it, we sat down and watched it yesterday. Let's just say we are going to "lend" it to Auntie Karami for a looooong time.

I was disappointed in Kids In Mind (movie ratings website) because tho it was pretty thorough, they missed a LOT that I was disgusted with.

For example they reviewed " . A woman is roughly handled by the police, and a man is arrested and roughly handled by the police."

What they actually left out is that its a woman sitting at a table, who's head is PUSHED onto the table, then GUNS are pointed at her head by the police surrounding her!! I think my chin hit my chest in shock.

There were guns everywhere I looked towards the end, guns guarding floats, police running around with guns, guns being pointed at people. I was really mad that the Website didn't list the guns, I consider the mere appearance of them in a movie notable in a review. They mentioned a tranq gun ONCE.

They missed a part where people are actually smoking outside, I was like shit, I do NOT want to have this talk yet, Mr K hasn't noticed smokers yet. But there they were puffing away in a kids movie. And they had cigarettes in their hands, pretty obvious. I think that no matter the "plot"
smoking should NOT be allowed in a kids movie.

I think it was underrated for violence, the words "kill" "killed" and "dead' are used SO frequently I lost count. The website did mention some instances where they used the words, but OMG, it was CONSTANT in the movie.

My review? Its freaking AWFUL. I just sat the whole movie cringing. I am getting more and more liberal with what Kade can watch, but they lost me at the whole guns being pointed at the womans head while she was "detained" on the table.

THIS website had a more accurate review, too bad I found it after. They list all the smoking and guns use, plus more of the actual language used.

Bee Review

Post Secret

Hahaha I loved Post Secret this week. Halfway down the page is a secret that says

"Hey lactation nurse, I told you that its because of my medication for my Lupus, but its really because I didn't want to give up my naturally PERFECT rack" and a postcard of Similac can pictures.


A women replied with a picture of well, her rack, clothed of course lol (and I must say, its a nice rack she has too)

"This is my naturally perfect rack after nursing for five and a half years. Nursing doesn't damage women's breasts."

And I say YOU GO GIRL!

He changes them tomorrow, so if you can read and have a laugh today, go for it.

PostSecret

Happy Colors

I forgot that I had to remember (haha figure that one out) to make a sweet treat for Mr K's Easter Soiree at Preschool, so whilst getting our seeds this morning I also grabbed what I needed to bake up some creations.

They are just so happy looking :) and the colors are even happier in real life. And when I eat a leftover mini chocolate egg, I am happy too!


And speaking of seeds, I thought I was so far behind, but really, everything this year is about picking my perennials, planting them where they are going to stay, and that's that. I bought Delphiniums which will come up every year, I plan on lots of Peonies and lily and anything that will come up again and again. All that though, will be after I get the beds dug up how I finally want them (I know, yah right, but really, I WILL COMMIT THIS YEAR) then plant away on May Long. Which, is only 8.5 weeks away! Good weather is sooooo close!

When You're This Old, Your Birthday Candles DO Light Stuff on Fire..

...at least telepathically.. I guess its a day to go down in family history, Trev turns 30, I turn 32 and my parents house almost burns down. Hey! I got something interesting to blog about out of it!

I guess the neighbor behind them, top of this picture, was out burning his trash and lit the damn grass on fire. Since there is almost no snow left, its dry as tinder and went up...and all the way thru 20 acres of pasture back there....


..all the way to where the yellow barn was...that's the fire crew putting out the remainder (which was nothing, the barn was toast. literally)
..how close it got to the house from the west side...

...how damn close it got to the house on the north side.
Some of the Hutterites from the colony where my mom teaches came out and lent my dad a hand, there were lots of hot spots left hours later, of course the fence posts are all smoldering if they weren't consumed completely.....


Not sure how the house didn't get burnt other than by the grace of the gods or a fast Fire unit response...I think it must have been Irricana, Airdrie doesn't have red pumpers, do they? AND they own the acreage beside it too, and that house was surrounded by small brush and bushes....and luckily the fire didn't get close to that. The yellow barn had tons of storage, Mike and I aren't sure what we had left in there, but nothing that important I don't think...I had taken my wedding crystal ages ago...mostly my parents things, and unfortunately all the stuff from when I and my siblings were babies :(

I AM upset that my Crystal Palace and She-Ra dolls went up in flames LOL...I really think I only had odds and ends out there but I guess we will think on it this week. It won't be anything that couldn't be replaced anyways!

So for happy news, my parents house is intact, at least I am not 40, my parents are ok, my wonderful husband sent me a photo montage e-card that made me cry this morning it was so sweet and thoughtful..E Card From Mike,

I also received my first Canadian Gardening magazine today, which was a treat! And Mike's present for me is coming in a few weeks....will post pics when I receive it, I am excited and totally spoiled rotten.

However. That said, I honestly don't think I can take much more stress this month, so a certain sister of mine better hurry up and have that baby for some cheers!

Poor Lisa Marie Presley

I followed a link to her MySpace, and read her statement, and man, I felt really sorry for her. One tends to forget that celebs are people too...usually I don't really feel too bad for them lol but I really did for her.. I also heard she's suing! Good for her!

From her MySpace...

Confirmation under the gun.

After being the target all week of slanderous and degrading stories, horribly manipulated pictures and articles in the media, I have had to show my cards and announce under the gun and under vicious personal attack that I am in fact pregnant.
Once they got a glimpse of my expanding physique a few days ago, they have been like a pack of coyotes circling their prey whilst eerily howling with delight. Starting with a London publication and then New York and Chicago all writing false defamatory degrading stories about all of the dark possible reasons I could be putting on weight. The US tabloids have been calling all day wanting confirmation on all kinds of insane theories.
They couldn't wait to find out if my weight gain was because I was just overeating, in which case It would be open season and they can do the old following in her fathers sad and unfortunate demise story again or less interesting for them and probably much to their dismay, I could just be pregnant and therefore have a legitimate reason for weight gain at which point they should probably wipe the saliva off of their fangs and put them back in their mouths or they may expose the black little souls that they are.
Now that things are confirmed, hopefully they can stop all of the harassment and I can stop dodging the continuous bullets.
It is unfortunate that I couldn't have announced something that is this much of a blessing and that has made us so incredibly happy under better circumstances.
How they have handled themselves with this has been nothing short of irresponsible and disgusting.
Pardon my seething contemptuous tone but ladies, You KNOW if you were pregnant and you felt you were expanding uncontrollably by the moment as a result and the worldwide media started badgering and harassing you for it, plastering you everywhere in an unflattering light, you would be mortified as well.

Sincerely,
~LMP

Dude

How did I grow up not twisted watching this? Sheesh, what were we, 8 and watching LOVE TRIANGLES on Jem?

I am off to find the shows to watch now lol!

Still Alive....

Yawn but barely! We have been soo busy between Mike and I working that's there's hardly a moment to blog.

Not much is new, I am finally picking up shifts at work, I had my first full one yesterday and my first time alone on the big scary desk. No one like the big scary desk because that's where codes come in (you know, code blue, all those hospital speak ones you hear on tv) and then you have to do the whole rigamarole while trying not to panic. Yah. Just not at that "no panic" stage yet since I haven't had one. I sat chewing my nails till the night girl got in LOL!

I haven't planted sweet all yet, I am SO behind thanks to work. I just want to grab as many shifts as possible while I can, before more people are trained and then there are less hours (one could dream) I am admiring Jane's blog and her lovelies that are growing...sigh. Maybe this coming weekend I will run out and grab some early starters and some peat pellets... I think a lot of what I am growing this year are going to be in the peony/daylily/roses category, and those are not from seed, I want things to stay where they are and come back every year. It was so much work last year starting those bazillion seedlings, tho granted, the Asters are worth it and I will be growing those again for sure.

Walmart had just a fantastic selection of bulbs for lillies etc already.. and I have my patio furniture picked out already....just need a gas firepit....see? See why I have to work? I just spent a thousand bucks in my head. Honestly.Who could afford me?

We are doing some massive spring cleaning, we switched the kids rooms around so they are separate again, Mr K just wasn't getting sleep with The Princess being up all night. So that entailed a huge toy donation blitz, I have 3 bags (hidden out of the kids view) full of toys to go. But they are sooo excited and playing upstairs now because its all "new".

Thats it. So exciting eh?

Jesus in a Pickle

I was going to call the news and have them over, but thought, naw, I don't need all the fame and fortune that goes with finding the face of Jesus in a pickle...I will just blog it to let everyone know!

And then sell it on Ebay :)

I kid you not tho, this was about two weeks ago and I forgot till I went thru my pics tonight. Mr K wanted a pickle sandwich (his favorite I don't know why) and he yelled at me from the table "Mom! My pickle has a happy face!"

And he did, and he does and its quite weird and freakish, but damn, I got a blog post out of it too! If I was more awake, I am sure I could have ran with this more, but I will leave it at this.

Rays of Sunshine

I guess if I can't have the real thing in my backyard yet, these will do. Mike's been doing a great job keeping me in flowers and greenery lately, without a hint! Other than my moping and moaning that summer isn't here yet. I tried Gerbera's last year, and they are so finicky, they croaked right away. Too bad, I adore them. I stuck these smack in the middle of my island in the kitchen to cheer myself up. Just totally the color of the sun...in summer.....which isn't here.....

SIIIIIGH.

Stop Me

I shouldn't have access to my old posts. I shouldn't. Cause I still here, whimpering, over my pictures of green grass and beautiful flowers and kids in shorts and bathing suits and just wanna cry.

What IS it this year? The kids ages? Needing so much more attention and activity? We even are using the basement to play in, three levels of house and toys isn't enough for pete's sake??! (and that goes for me too, with my stir-craziness) And, while looking back, we didn't get snow until November this year, Halloween was beautiful and warm....sigh.

I am so desperate I want shifts at work....lots of shifts, so I can go out and buy lots of stuff. Like plants and stuff. So by May said basement is just crammed full of stuff that has to go outside. Argh.

Blah. Maybe I just haven't been out sans kids for too long (thus the crazy wanting to work idea LOL!) Maybe getting out for a movie will help.

I Feel Like I Should Write Something...

Ha! Its been what, 5 days? I guess I should write something...

The past week was really busy. Oh right! That's why I haven't blogged, ha, just reminded myself! Between Thursday the week before, to Wednesday this past week, I babysat for friends 4 times and worked two shifts. I think I blocked it out LMAO! The babysitting was great, I really never mind doing it because the kids had playmates, and they are all getting to the age where they play well with no hitting or biting (ooh, doesn't that time seem so short a while ago, tho? the constant supervising in case of flying fists or biting little teeth? oh wait...there's still The Princess....) and work is going great.

So yes, it was a super damn busy week, must have been my karma for the babysitting I asked for while training I guess! I am guessing that I am trained for work because I have just worked on my own for the past two shifts now, and I have no more training shifts scheduled. Its all a guessing game right now....maybe tomorrow they will let me know LOL!

I am enjoying it, the pace is SO much slower than Telus was, I actually get to talk to the other girls working between taking calls, the nights and weekends are so delightfully quiet compared to the day training I had where it was insanely busy, and I would probably have left if I had to work days. I actually don't dread going into work, Telus was very hard to do after "working" (yah damn straight its a job lol) all day at home with the kids, then going into a very fast paced job for another 4 hours. I realize now what a difference the pace of a job can make and no wonder I was just dead after my shifts there. I worked till 10:30 the other night and was just fine the whole shift, even after a busy day with the kids. So here's hoping I get shifts and it all works out!

Other than that, my parents were up this weekend, I worked Saturday morning, then spent the day relaxing and chatting with them. Wyatt and Christina were over a lot, and that was nice to see them as well, and the whole weekend was very much visiting-based, very nice.

AND I am so ready for real spring weather to be here....little patches of grass are showing up in my backyard....teasing me......I have just had it this year, must be the ages of the kids or something, because I can't take it anymore, I am ready to snap if this damn snow doesn't disappear soon!

Boob Links

Meh I am on a breastfeeding kick, and I know my sister and Kandice at least like all my breastfeeding stuff so here's some links to cool stuff

Breastfeeding Helpline Launched in Uk - Are we jealous or WHAT! Who couldn't have used that!

Formula Freebies in Hospital- Karami, tell the nurses to stick it where the sun don't shine.

It's Ok Past a Year! hahah this one's for you, Kandice

Codeine Warning While breastfeeding : Good to know... little late for me now after all my T3's....

Nicole Ritchie is Breastfeeding - AND had a natural birth! Has hell frozen over????

Breastmilk Eases Vaccination Pain - I believe it.

New Study Rocks the Breastfeeding Boat

Infant feeding 'may affect brain'

Early nutrition may have a profound impact

Nutrition in the first weeks of life could have a profound impact on the way the brain develops, research suggests.

London researchers found preterm babies fed enriched formula milk in their first weeks consistently outperformed other premature babies in IQ tests.

Their latest study, published in Pediatric Research, shows the benefits continue into the teenage years.

It also found a particular part of the brain is better developed in those given the enriched milk.

The care that premature babies receive in their first few hours and days of life is crucial and will shape their future development and quality of life Bliss, the premature baby charity

The team from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the UCL Institute of Child Health note that while nutrition has been linked with behaviour, their findings are among the first to show how early feeding may even alter brain structure.

Lead researcher Dr Elizabeth Isaacs said: "It is not clear whether this just relates to preterm infants, who have very specific development issues.

"But obviously a next question would be if there are any wider implications, both for feeding beyond those first few weeks, and for babies who are born at term."

Explaining the gap

Babies were given either standard formula, or a version enriched with extra protein, fat, calcium, phosphorous, iron, zinc, copper and several other micronutrients.

Other babies received "bank" breast milk - ie not from their own mothers, while others received a mix of bank milk and formula.

Whatever the comparison, the child who had received the enriched formula milk performed better.

At the age of seven or eight, the difference was particularly notable in boys: those fed the normal diet had a verbal IQ 12.2 points lower on average than those fed the enriched formula.

In the latest analysis, carried out when the babies were aged about 16, there was a wider gap between the girls fed the standard version and their enriched counterparts, of nine points, than there was between the boys, which had narrowed to seven.

But this time in addition to IQ tests, researchers also took scans of the children's brains in an attempt to explain these variations.

They found substantial differences between the two groups in the size of the caudate nucleus - a part of the brain associated with memory and learning.

They speculated that this could account for the differences seen, particularly given that there were no particularly striking variations in other key areas of the brain between the two groups.

These days many preterm babies are fed a highly-enriched formula milk.

It is unclear whether it is one or the combination of the many extra nutrients in this formula which accounts for the differences in development among premature babies.

Bliss, the premature baby charity, welcomed this latest research.

"These findings are potentially very interesting and could have an influence on current thinking about how, when and what to feed premature infants.

"The care that premature babies receive in their first few hours and days of life is crucial and will shape their future development and quality of life.

"Anything that improves outcomes for these vulnerable babies is very welcome."

About one in 10 babies in the UK is born prematurely.

ARTICLE HERE


I found this really interesting, and on the first glance, it looks, of course, anti-breastfeeding for premies, but then I got to thinking.( yah, uh oh)

The article has a lot of emphasis on "quality of life" and don't get me wrong, smarts are definitely quality of life, but however, they have completely ignored any health benefits or detriments!! What about all the studies that show children are more inclined to be obese, have high blood pressure, higher cancer risk etc etc when formula fed? To me, health is the most important thing for quality of life, not IQ. And not when you are talking a few points. As much as I tout all the benefits of breastfeeding, IQ points honestly is the last one I am concerned with. The health benefits have ALWAYS been first and foremost on my mind.

I understand where they are coming from with premies, they are at a greater chance for slower development, delays etc, but also, are they not at greater risk for health as well?

I also have a HUGE (see bold in article) problem with the fact that the babies received "banked breast milk", last time I checked, (and I did check into donating breastmilk LOL!) they have to pasteurize it! Which means steaming it and destroying who knows what properties? Also, the milk is not a genetic mate to the mother. Remember good ol' stem cell discovery I already posted? So, no genetic matching in the breastmilk either. So they took steamed breastmilk not genetically matched to the baby, and compared it to super enriched formula.

I want to know who bankrolled this study, I really do. The more I read and thought on this, the more I went Heeeeey, this doesn't match up...

Can we say formula company?

Sorry folks, there STILL isn't any getting around it. Breastmilk, straight from mom, is the best. I fully believe that if they took milk pumped from the babies mothers that went straight to their baby, and compared it to the formula, they would have at best been a match, and probably breastfeeding would come ahead.

Stuff like this pisses me off, because not everyone stops to think HEY like I do (or looks for an argument like I do.) This is just one more thing for people to ignorantly glance at and think , Oh, formula is BETTER!

And to think that this Bliss, this premature baby charity, not the breastfeeding one, is thinking about re-evaluating current thought on feeding premies, based on an obviously flawed study is really scary.

Name Tag

I read Cori's blog this evening, and since no one else is admitting they read her post and are "tagged", I'll do this ditty. Take my middle name (ah ,which one says I..let's go with Averil) and from each letter, tell a word that describes me.

A- Affectionate. Yip, love smothering my kids with kisses & hugs. I think I also PDA with hubby too much as well sometimes LOL!

V- Vindictive. Oh yes, very much so when I want to be.

E- Effusive.

R- Restless. Lately yes, this is not something I would attribute to me, but I think spring fever has me going nuts.

I- Interesting. Damn straight.

L- Lucky. I look at my husband and kids every day and think so :)

There ya go Cori! But I never tag people to do things either, so it dies here :) Unless you are reading this, and if that's the case, if you don't do the same as I did, your luck will run out, your house will cave in, and you will be covered in burning pustules.

Soo Sweet My Teeth Hurt

Ok, this made Mike and I laugh,I've never heard a better version of Hey Jude! I saw this on ParentDish.

Xtina

From People...Christina Aguilera on the Ellen show. I heart Ellen. Watch the video its a good chuckle.

This week's PEOPLE cover subject Christina Aguilera is happy to chat about motherhood – every aspect of her new role, in fact. During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show scheduled to air Wednesday, the talk-show host playfully asks the pop star – who sported a low-cut shirt – "You look great. One question: Are you nursing?"

A blushing Aguilera responded: "I guess it's a little obvious," and DeGeneres quipped back, "It's going to be a healthy baby boy." (Watch the clip here.)

Aguilera, 27, did not demure when talked turned to her son's Bris. "We are not a very conservative couple," she told DeGeneres. "For decorations we put up penis balloons all over the place. It was really fun, it was really great." A stunned Ellen replied: "Really, they have penis balloons in a shop ... you can just buy them?"

Link to video

Just Don't

If you are going to a playgroup/indoor free gym, can you kindly NOT:

..ignore the no food/drink signs and let your toddler run around with a bottle, not only hanging out of his face while running, but also leaving a heave-worthy milk-trail all over the toys and climbers wherever he goes.

....be the other parent who ignored the same sign and give your kid a sucker, and let them race full tilt around the gym as well as zoom around on peddle cars, while the rest of us try to explain to our children loudly that there is NO FOOD ALLOWED and even if there were, there is no way in hell you run around with a sucker in your mouth

....ignore the fact that my son came up to you, asked oh-so heart-meltingly politely if he could have a turn with a car when your son was done, tell him "yah, when he's done" then let your child sit in it for 25 minutes. Asshole. Don't make my ass come over there and teach you how to share . Cause bitch, it will hurt.

....let your child keep crashing his pedal tractor into my kids, over...and over...and over....while I keep loudly telling my own son "no crashing please honey" Are you that stupid that you can't take a hint?



Ok that's done. Deep breath. Holy crap, what a morning. I am usually very tolerant of the different ways that people parent, tho of course, I am always right ;) but I just couldn't take it today! Too much. Those are literally only the ones that I can remember, I spent the whole 2 hours stressed out, watching my kids like a hawk waiting to see who's child was going to run them over, who's child was going to hit, if that kids was going to impale his freaking throat with a sucker stick... another deep breath.

I did, however, meet and talk to another mom who was there for the first time and told her to come back, that there's a few of us who go every Friday and we're kinda awesome. LMAO! She had mentioned she had a hard time getting to know people, and that everytime she tried talking to women at playdates they sorta mumbled an answer back and didn't converse. Nice! I also referred her to a website that I don't frequent anymore and said she could probably find playdates etc in her area of Clareview. I didn't go into the kwality of people there (like my ghetto quality with a k?) all present company who read my blog excluded, of course ;)

OOkkkk rant over. Holy stressed out mama this week. I think I need to go in to work tomorrow and take a break!

My Mad Little Scientist

I DO watch my kids, I really, truly do. I have no idea how Mr K managed to do this, I know that the margarine was on the counter, the rolling pin was in the living room because The Princess wanted to play with it.

I just walked by the table, and you know how you catch something out of the corner of your eye? Well the table was supposed to be clear...so I did one of those sloooooowly turn...sloooowly peek at what's on the table....and breathed a sigh of relief. Wasn't as bad as I thought.

What made me laugh is he was smart enough to get a tea towel and lay it down, so he could, well, I guess, roll the margarine out neatly?




It was either a poltergeist or Mr K, and upon asking him, he informed me that it was his experiment.

I don't know WHAT'S up with these experiments, I am sure its my fault somehow..we did the good old baking soda and vinegar "My-First-Experiment" experiment, then tried it with water, etc, to see which react and which don't. That was before Christmas. And now he's just experimenting with anything that he gets his hands on, whether I see the sense or not. (usually not, I don't get it, WHY would you roll margarine???)

I STILL don't know where I was when he did this!! I lost time......I have a small bump on the back of my neck....and just a new general cosmic awareness....

Ah my mad scientist...how he makes me laugh....and keeps me on my toes. Er, when I am around to parent, that is.

Long Weekend

Well, that's what happens when I get distracted with a long weekend, no blogging. Not that its a bad thing, I had a fantastic weekend! FAN-TASTIC. On Sunday Jen, who was up from Airdrie, and her mom Phyllis came and picked Mr K and I up, and we went shopping at West Ed. And I must have been crazy but I enjoyed myself. Like really had a good time.

Now I know for a fact a huge part is that Mr K is the most awesomest kid ever for shopping, he walked the entire mall for hours with us, held hands with Jens daughter and walked ever so nicely, didn't stray from me, we had lunch, it was great. He impressed Phyllis with how well he shopped, she was amazed, but then I reminded her that I was punished enough with the one I left at home with Mike. My karma came, baby, with The Princess. And that's ok. One day, she too will like shopping with her Momma. However, I forsee lots of arguments over clothes. I only pray she wants to wear combat boots because usually that means the matching clothes actually cover her body.....

I found a birthday present for the next birthday coming up, and a space book that Mr K just can't put down. I looked at all sorts of purses (yes, I have this purse fetish lately) and found the one I want. When you see me and my new purse, you will know that I hit a weight-loss goal that I am rewarding myself for LOL. We looked through all the kids stores, and I was horrified by the clothes in Old Navy, good thing I don't shop there. The "safari" theme this year is just grotesque for women, has anyone seen it? The colors are disgusting, all tans in awful jumpers that look like tour guide outfits, and that awful dull red color that doesn't look good on ANYONE. The whole store was dull and boring. The only good thing is the animal prints, I loooove me some animal prints!

I digress, I am not writing a fashion blog LOL. But I do need clothes so desperately. I did a Goodwill cleanse and I have NO clothes, I got rid of all my maternity wear, all the clothes that are too big now (not a hardship, not complaining here) and my closet is bare to the bones. I have a lot of dress shirts which saved my ass for work this last week, they matched my one pair of black dress pants and one skirt, but everything else is t-shirts and I have 3 pairs of jeans. Those I scored at the Goodwill lol...its a cycle...in and out...

But after a while everyone else decided to come to the mall, and it was the busiest I have ever seen it, talk about insane! We quickly left at that point.

The rest of the weekend has really, appropriately, been family time. We played and played outside, did lots of reading, played Wii, did some shopping all together, and it was just so relaxing and nice.

Hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend!

Is It Spring YET?????

Someone needs to stop me from looking back on my blog and the kids and bemoaning the loss of summertime..its BAD. Mr K and I went through his whole blog, watching the vids and looking at the pictures... but I lingered on the ones of them outside....us putting the grass in.....my flowers (sniffle sob)...oooh I get so restless by this time of year. I am just DONE.

Its also the time I start my planning, and yes, I have my drawings scattered around the house of what plants I want, new designs for the flowerbeds (especially since I hated the front last year) new things I want to try, and to actually maybe finalize the backyard. I think I am a yard commitment phobe, I really like ripping things up and trying new things, BUT I actually placed a NAME to the style of gardening I like, after picking up some magazines. Now this may not seem like a huge thing, but it is :) To finally figure out that a "cottage garden " (English garden) is what I aspire to just clicked a light bulb off in my head. My love of white picket fences, and arbors and trellises with climbing vines.. yup, thats it by George.

I am the kind of person who planted her dill in with her asters, tomatoes with her pansies, and the whole point of a cottage garden in the olden days was to fill up the space with not only flowers, but herbs and vegetables as well for use in the home. Exactly my style of gardening.

So I am planning....and waiting....impatiently...sighing over the seeds in Walmart....buying gardening magazines to help (or maybe they're making it worse) stave off the longing for greenness.

Lipstick Jungle

Anyone else watching this? I made sure to tune in last week to catch the first one, and caught it again last night. It has received mixed reviews, but I think too many people are depending on it to fill the gap that Sex and the City left. Cashmere Mafia (don't ask) is one of the silliest shows I have ever seen (once, very, very briefly, I can't stand Lucy Liu) and other than that, there aren't any fashion parade, wild sex crazed women shows out there.

I loved this show from the first purse. Kandice will have a good laugh at this one. See said blue purse below? Well, while watching the show, I saw this purse and said WOW! I love that blue purse! Then we started talking about Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo and Mike literally turned to us and asked us if we were speaking another language LOL.

I digress. What I meant to blog about was the fact that I have this innate, gold-digging talent to pick the absolute MOST expensive item and covet it, without ever peering at a price tag. Said purse? Retails for $1600. I was sitting here with Mike, and said "OH! I should google that purse while I am blogging about the show. " So I look it up, find out it's Jimmy Choo, (money warning bells started clanging in my ears at that point) and poked Mike "Hey, honey, watch this" went to the website where its sold, and showed him the price tag. His response was " How the hell do you DO that?" followed by "Who in their right freaking mind would pay $1600 for a PURSE!!!"


Oh, yes, and aside from the fashion...the plots are interesting ;). They are tho, I really like Brooke Shields as an actor, and she's really great in this as the working mom/movie exec. She really is doing a good job portraying the mom who's trying to do it all, and I like the plot with her husband being the one staying at home (hell, damn straight, you go mingle with stars while he stays at home). The whole nanny-expose book angle is interesting as well. I like the other characters, I LOVE that one is a fashion designer down on her luck, that should be very interesting and can go sooo many places. I don't like that once again, there is a character who's a high level exec with a magazine (isn't there another job in New York??? I know, that and fashion, nothing else to do there I guess) but I do love that she's having an affair with a gorgeous younger man.

Its just a darn good show with lots of fashion fluff, great actors, good storylines and I am so glad there is something on Thursday nights now instead of Survivor crap!

Er, Happy Belated Valentines!

Hahahaha I so can live without Valentines Day! I realized that yesterday, instead of well wishes and looove to you all, what do I post? The new Indiana Jones preview.

Ok, I DID send presents via Facecrack, but that was Hug a Dork with my wishes for you to survive the commercialism of the day. And I did make the kids their own valentines and make them pancakes with homemade sauce for breakfast. Then I raced home after my training for my new job, and took Mr K to the last half of his preschool party. THAT was a labor of sheer love for my children. Then came home and made Mike a fantastic dinner, with beer, followed by homemade cake. It doesn't sound like much, but let me tell you, after training and a preschool party, that also took some luv. But thats just kinda Mom/wife stuff anyways, y'know?

Mike was a sweetie and surprised me with a subscription to Canadian Gardening magazine, which is one I wanted. I had told him exactly what I wanted, my indoor greenhouse, but I told him not to bother right now because I am so busy, and I want to be able to relax, set it up, plan and enjoy it. So he went out and bought me my magazine instead, which was so thoughtful of him...only a husband would know that a gardening magazine would make me happy :) The girls at work laughed but I told them that I truly wanted that more than chocolates or roses, and the thought that went into it meant so much more.

I used to like getting flowers from Mike at work on Feb 14th, but I used to LOVE getting them when it wasn't Valentines Day. I adored when he just picked a random day and sent them, and everyone in the office oooohed and aaaahed and I was a wee bit embarrassed yet giggly pleased and lovey-dovey at the same time. It was nicer to get them because he didn't HAVE to give them to me because of the calendar date, and everyone else in my office knew that too, and that makes you feel special. When something is requisite, it kinda loses the appeal. Thats really how I feel about Valentines Day, I don't like that everyone is expected to do something on that one day for the person you love.

Then there's the fact that we celebrate the 11th as the anniversary of our first date, so we really lost Valentines Day, it has no meaning when compared to the 11th for us. So to turn around 2 days later and do something special again just because the rest of the world does to seems redundant. Perhaps if the 11th wasn't a special day to us, we might celebrate it more, who knows.

But that's just me and my humble opinion, and of course, I hope everyone else was romanticized and chocolatized and spoiled rotten!

Jonesing for May 22nd

I CAN'T FREAKING WAIT! This will be what we take my Dad to for his Father's Day movie this year..but I will have to wait 3 agonizing weeks! I was incredibly glad to see Harrison all kicking some ass and being all Indy....hopefully Shia can measure up!

Breastmilk Contains Stem Cells

Uh, I was rendered speechless at this, thank Karen for the article on her BLISS blog..I hadn't found that article yet. I mean, there really is just nothing to say about this amazing discovery, nothing. I wish I could go on forever, but I am speechless. (quick. make a note of the date lol)

The Perth scientist who made the world-first discovery that human breast milk contains stem cells is confident that within five years scientists will be harvesting them to research treatment for conditions as far-reaching as spinal injuries, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.

But what Dr Mark Cregan is excited about right now is the promise that his discovery could be the start of many more exciting revelations about the potency of breast milk.

He believes that it not only meets all the nutritional needs of a growing infant but contains key markers that guide his or her development into adulthood.

“We already know how breast milk provides for the baby’s nutritional needs, but we are only just beginning to understand that it probably performs many other functions,” says Dr Cregan, a molecular biologist at The University of Western Australia.

He says that, in essence, a new mother’s mammary glands take over from the placenta to provide the development guidance to ensure a baby’s genetic destiny is fulfilled.

“It is setting the baby up for the perfect development,” he says. “We already know that babies who are breast fed have an IQ advantage and that there’s a raft of other health benefits. Researchers also believe that the protective effects of being breast fed continue well into adult life.

“The point is that many mothers see milks as identical – formula milk and breast milk look the same so they must be the same. But we know now that they are quite different and a lot of the effects of breast milk versus formula don’t become apparent for decades. Formula companies have focussed on matching breast milk’s nutritional qualities but formula can never provide the developmental guidance.”

It was Dr Cregan’s interest in infant health that led him to investigate the complex cellular components of human milk. “I was looking at this vast complexity of cells and I thought, ‘No one knows anything about them’.”

His hunch was that if breast milk contains all these cells, surely it has their precursors, too?

His team cultured cells from human breast milk and found a population that tested positive for the stem cell marker, nestin. Further analysis showed that a side population of the stem cells were of multiple lineages with the potential to differentiate into multiple cell types. This means the cells could potentially be “reprogrammed” to form many types of human tissue.

He presented his research at the end of January to 200 of the world’s leading experts in the field at the International Conference of the Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation in Perth.

“We have shown these cells have all the physical characteristics of stem cells. What we will do next is to see if they behave like stem cells,” he says.

If so, they promise to provide researchers with an entirely ethical means of harvesting stem cells for research without the debate that has dogged the harvesting of cells from embryos.

Further research on immune cells, which have also been found in breast milk and have already been shown to survive the baby’s digestive process, could provide a pathway to developing targets to beat certain viruses or bacteria.

Original Article

Oh, I should add the picture wasn't in the article LMAO, it's one of my favorite sayings, and damned if it just doesn't suit the situation.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy anniversary to my honey! Today is the 9th anniversary of our first date. We don't usually remember most dates, to be honest, if you asked when Mike proposed I wouldn't be able to give you a date, just a month. But we remember this because Mike was irked that I was going away to Manitoba for Valentines Day, so he asked me out before I left instead.

Its also weird, but I started with Telus on this day 3 years ago too, and at the time newly unknowingly pregnant with The Princess...so I was VERY WEIRDED OUT today, that my first day of training at my new job was on this anniversary as well....and let me assure you we are not trying for a third LOL!

First Day

Well I made it through the first day of training, and let me again tell you how much I really would never want to go back full time days. UGH. I admire women who can get up in the morning, get dressed in office attire with hair and make-up done, (yah, no jeans for me, insert disgruntled face right about.....here) get your kids out the door and to whomever is sitting them then off to the office, and all usually BEFORE 8. I barely managed to get the kids to Melissa's for 8, to the university for 9, and that was with Melissa feeding my kids lol. All I did was get them up and dressed and teeth brushed and out the door. I wonder about those women who actually prefer going to work, rather than staying at home...they just can't enjoy the actual chaotic mornings before they get to work...just not feasible. They must breathe a sigh of relief once they are there. This morning showed me that I literally can't think of anything more stressful with more suckage than getting two very cute but generally very uncooperative (can you blame them? the sun wasn't even up) kids ready with massive time constraints, racing to the sitters, then barreling through rush hour traffic with all the rest of the lunatics, trying to find parking, getting into the office on time.... Shudder. I don't thrive on that kind of stress LOL! Its so different with two to get out the door, I can't believe it! I did full time (this is only 9-1) training when Mr K was 15 months, and I can't remember being this stressed out. You just get one dressed, and the other one has taken off her coat....you get the other boots on, the other one has taken off her mitts...one runs upstairs with her boots on. the other won't get his mitts on.... and on and on and seriously, ON. WTF, do you have to chain one to the couch in order to get two fully dressed children out the damn door? :)

But aside from my whining about what millions of moms do daily, and probably most without the whine, the job should be ok. And I say ok because like with Telus, its very overwhelming at first. But, like with Telus, I know that once you get it down, you can do it almost with your eyes closed. I just hate the process of getting there. But I remember when I started Telus thinking "eff, I will NEVER be that fast" yet you do and will and are eventually.

Tomorrow Uncle Wyatt is here, so now I need to go work on the list of what to do and not do and many, many emergency contact numbers, as well as how to change a dirty diaper, what knives my children can and can't play with, and where Mr K hides his matches. S'all good.

Body Worlds

I was REALLY excited to learn that this exhibit is coming to the Telus World of Science, Mike and I had thought it would be fascinating, and I was jealous that it hit Toronto and Vancouver and not here. But its coming! They have posters up at the Science center announcing it, and I was doing a jig of joy when I read them lol.

See the human body like never before as TELUS World of Science™ - Edmonton presents Gunther von Hagens' BODY WORLDS: The Original Exhibition of Real Human Bodies, the most highly attended touring exhibition in the world. From individual organs to whole bodies, BODY WORLDS offers visitors a rare opportunity to see the complexity of human anatomy and physiology.

BODY WORLDS features authentic human specimens preserved through a revolutionary process called Plastination. This remarkable preservation technique replaces bodily fluids and fat with reactive plastics, thereby preserving human tissue in its natural state. Visitors who embark on this amazing journey below the skin's surface will view an extensive collection including more than 200 authentic organs, systems and whole-body displays.

Body Worlds

Its pretty damn pricey, $27 which includes general admission, but my desire to see this exhibit actually overpowers my cheapness LOL. I think we are going to co-ordinate with Kandice and Dan and go, I asked if it was going to Calgary and they didn't think it would. I think its too scarey for Mr K, if he was older I would take him for sure. I also would like to take the time sans kids to read and learn and poke around. They have evening ones, so I think we will buy tickets for one of those and have a certain Uncle babysit :)

I just read on the site that it takes 1500 hours to plastinate one body, no wonder its that expensive! That a huge amount of man hours and the cost must be insane.

Chocolate Hotdog

I couldn't make this stuff up any better if you paid me to, I swear. Somedays its just a three ring comedy circus around this house! I was putting the Princess down for a nap the other day, when the door creaked open, and this little hand with a hotdog bun curled around the corner. Then Mr K whispered

" Mom!"

"Ssssh K! I am trying to get Ivy to sleep"

"But Mom! I made you a chocolate hotdog"

Oh crap. Now this I have to see, waking the Princess be damned. He tiptoed over and put a hotdog bun in my hand, which I opened to see:

"oh, um YUM, K, now let me get your sister to sleep. DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING ELSE DOWNSTAIRS!"

"ok mom"

So the Princess slept, I went downstairs and found this at the bottom of the stairs:
And this on the counter, the remnants of HIS chocolate hotdog, which he claims was fantastic.

So yes, my son literally had a chocolate hotdog for lunch on Monday. Parent of the Year Award, here I come! I shouldn't be surprised, he is very much into his "experiments" lately, (not sure why he calls them that) the last one was mixing Cajun seasoning with rice milk, then soaking a piece of bread in it. And he actually tried a bite. (gag)

Other than that, Auntie K, Uncle Dan and the girlies are up, so off to the mall we go today...and I think the Science Center tomorrow, that should be fun!

Screwing Around..

And yah I am screwing around with the blog template etc so maybe one day I will finish it.

No link between autism and MMR vaccine

LONDON - A vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella does not cause autism, according to the largest study yet showing there is no evidence linking the childhood shot to the development disorder.

The study, published on Tuesday in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, found no evidence of any abnormal biological response from the shot that could point to a link between the vaccine and autism.

"This study really supports the view these are safe vaccines," said David Brown, a researcher at Britain's Health Protection Agency who worked on the study. "The evidence is now so solid there really isn't a need for further studies here."

In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield of Royal Free Hospital in London and colleagues sparked a fierce worldwide debate among scientists and a health scare by suggesting the MMR jab caused autism. Outbreaks of all three diseases followed.

Autism is marked by a variety of difficulties in social interaction and behavior, from the awkwardness of Asperger syndrome to severely debilitating repetitive behaviors and an inability to speak.

The British study looked at nearly 100 autistic children, a group of 52 with learning difficulties and 90 who were developing normally.

All the volunteers chosen from a sample of 57,000 children in southern England had received an MMR vaccination but not everybody got both doses, said Gillian Baird, a pediatrician at the Newcomen Centre for Child Development, who led the study.

The researchers took blood samples from the children and found no abnormal immune response in any of them marked by higher antibody levels or presence of a measles virus still left in the body from the shot, Baird added.

Wakefield, whose research has been widely discredited, had pointed to these two factors as a way to explain the link but the latest findings do not back up that case, Baird said. Wakefield said in a newspaper interview last year he believed it was biologically plausible the shot could cause autism.

Click for related content

Study refutes autism, thimerosal link Fever can unlock autism's grip temporarily Baby shampoo study raises chemical concerns Chemical in formula packaging may harm baby

"There was no difference across any of the groups no matter how you cut them up," Baird said in a telephone interview. "The response to the MMR vaccine was the same in every group."

Before Wakefield's study, more than 90 percent of British children received the vaccination, a figure that dropped to 80 percent before recovering to a current 85 percent, according to government figures.

Baird said she hoped the findings, along with a U.S. study last week showing that a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal did not cause autism, would bolster confidence in the MMR shot.

"It is a big study and we hope people can have confidence in the MMR shot again," Baird said in a telephone interview. "Measles has come back again because people have stopped immunizing their children."

Original Article

I always find these articles interesting, I delayed the kids MMR shots till they were older than 2, actually, I still have to get The Princess in to have hers. Hmm should book that..... I think part of the problem is a lack of informed physicians, I had a wonderful pediatrician who told me that if I felt uncomfortable, then I could delay the shots, but he recommended that they had them before school.

I reasoned that autism can start showing itself as early as age one, but around 18 months (MMR time) the indications become pretty clear in most cases. There is an actual screening checklist that physicians can do at the 18 months checkup. So it wasn't as much the fact that I thought the shot caused it, but why not wait until you are in the clear for Autism, then proceed with the vax, your mind can rest easier.

I also left in the links above because the ones about chemicals in baby shampoos were interesting, go have a read. Actually, they are all interesting but I don't have time to post them all LOL. Today I have something to DO! Hurray for preschool!

Love Actually..

I did a silly little movie compatibility test on Facecrack today, then of course, I had to see who was my movie match LOL. I looked at my favorite movie on the list, Love Actually, and was really surprised how many people did NOT want to even see it. Those who saw it, rated it 5/5, like myself. But a lot of people didn't even have it down as a want to see.

All favoritism aside (Alan Rickman, my acting god/old-man-crush, and Colin Firth, Englishman-who-makes-my-heart go-bumpity-bump) it has to be the best relationship movie I have ever seen. I laughed my ass off, I cried buckets, I loved the plots and I adored the characters.

The relationships aren't perfect, some are horribly painfully real, some are cutesy and fantasy-like. And if you like a movie full of vignettes that finally tie together in the end, this is the movie for you. Mike actually loved this movie as well, and now I have convinced him to watch it again with me this week sometime :)

Speaking of which, I really also want to see that movie Vantage Point. Not my usual fare, but I LOVE movies that piece together several points of view to come together to a shocking conclusion :) hehe I sound like a movie trailer. So see the actual one below.

Mother thanks her lucky star: Edmonton Journal

EDMONTON - Roxanne Follet sat in a wheelchair, clutching a bright red, heart-shaped pillow and a photo of her newborn daughter lying in a nearby neonatal intensive care unit.

Her voice cracked with emotion Saturday, as she talked about the miracle baby that saved her life.

Miracle Astra Alice Alfreda Follett was born prematurely, 35 weeks into the pregnancy, on Jan. 24 at the University Hospital. In a rare double operation, worthy of an episode of TV's Grey's Anatomy, she was delivered by caesarian section, moments before doctors started open-heart surgery on her mother.

Roxanne Follett gazes into the face of her newborn daughter, Miracle Astra Alice Afreda, at the University Hospital on Saturday after undergoing simultaneous open-heart surgery and delivery.

It was the first such operation for cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Rod MacArthur and obstetrician Dr. Billy Wong, who both said it was so rare they don't expect to perform another one during their careers.

"There have been approximately 40 cases reported worldwide over the last 25 years and in only approximately half of those cases have both mother and baby survived, so it truly is an exceptional case," MacArthur said during a news conference at the hospital.

As far as MacArthur knows, it is the first such operation in Canada.

Wong said Roxanne Follett would likely not be alive today if she hadn't been pregnant because a tear in her aorta would probably not have been discovered otherwise. Within 24 to 48 hours an aortic tear usually ruptures and, 40 per cent of patients die without emergency surgery, MacArthur added.

The tear was discovered in Edmonton after Follett started struggling to breathe and doctors in Grande Prairie decided she needed to be seen by specialists here.

Doctors faced a Catch-22 situation: Follett likely wouldn't have survived delivery without the heart surgery, but her fetus likely wouldn't have survived the heart surgery, in which Follett's body temperature needed to be cooled to 17 C and the blood drained from her body. Doctors decided to do the caesarian first then the heart surgery, but opened Follett's chest first in case the aorta ruptured while the baby was being delivered. Approximately 12 doctors and nurses were involved in the operation which lasted approximately nine hours.

Follett, a nurse who works in the medical rehabilitation unit of the hospital in Grande Prairie, said she owes her life to her 10-day-old daughter.

"Astra means 'a star,' and that's what she is. She's my star, because if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here."

The baby was conceived in vitro last year and was the only one of four embryos to survive "so there was a reason," Follett said. "She saved my life and I saved her life.

"I can't even express (what I feel) everytime I look at her. She deserves a million bucks every day for the rest of her life," Follett said, laughing.

Astra's dad, Doug said he feels like he's won a million dollars, "but I didn't get a million dollars. I got two lives."

Doug, who drives a cement truck, spent an emotional 12 hours in a waiting room alternately praying and crying during the operation. "The last time I cried so much, was when I was a baby looking for milk," he joked.

Roxanne said the couple, who are originally from Newfoundland, plan to donate a dollar for every day of Astra's life to the Heart and Stroke Foundation to give back for the miracle they were given.

Astra was scheduled to be airlifted to Grande Prairie hospital where she will spend up to a couple of weeks in that hospital's neonatal intensive care unit growing bigger and stronger. The baby currently weighs just over four pounds but must weigh 5.5 pounds for insurance purposes, before she can travel home in a car seat.

Astra's parents, and her maternal grandmother Alfreda Cunard, who came out from Newfoundland for six weeks to help Roxanne with the baby, were driving back home.

I found this more interesting than usual because Dr Wong is who did my c-section with the Princess. I guess I never really thought about how "high risk" a doctor he really was, holy crap, that's a crazy tandem operation.

Carseat Recall

Evenflo Co. issued a voluntary safety recall Friday of 1 million Discovery infant car seats after tests showed that the seat could potentially become separated from its base in high-impact side collisions.

VANDALIA, Ohio (AP) - Evenflo Co. issued a voluntary safety recall Friday of 1 million Discovery infant car seats after tests showed that the seat could potentially become separated from its base in high-impact side collisions.

The recall affects Discovery Infant Car Seat Models 390, 391, 534 and 552, made between April 2005 and Jan. 29, 2008.

"Evenflo has taken the appropriate action today in recalling the Discovery child safety seat," said Nicole Nason, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Testing conducted by NHTSA and Evenflo has confirmed that these seats represent a potential safety risk to children in high-impact side collisions."

Rob Matteucci, Evenflo's chief executive officer, said the Discovery seat models have performed well to protect infants in side collisions, with no reports of any serious injuries or deaths since they were introduced. However, he said the company wants to take further steps to protect the safety of children.

Evenflo is providing owners of the seat models with a free supplemental dual-hook fastener to ensure that the seat remains attached in such collisions. Evenflo said consumers should continue to use their Discovery infant car seat and that it is not necessary to return the seats to retailers.

The privately held company, based in suburban Dayton, said it is also taking steps to improve future Discovery seat models. The updated seats will be available in the second quarter of 2008.

To order the fastener, owners of Discovery 390, 391, 534, 552 models should call Evenflo at 1-800-356-2229 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST or visit www.evenflo.com/Discovery. No shipping costs will be incurred, and orders will arrive in about three to four weeks, the company said.

Now the real pisser to this one, is that Consumer Reports FAILED these seats last year, then later had to recant, because they tested at too high of speeds, and came under fire for errors that they may or may not have committed. And now, gee, whoops, I guess they were right. What really chaps my ass, is that over one million of these units were in use for a WHOLE YEAR, possibly putting children at risk in accidents.

Moral of the story: Listen to Consumer Reports.