Another Trip To the Zoo

We took advantage of a nice day last week and wen to the zoo. We ended up not staying too long because it was really busy. That is the nice thing about having a zoo pass. We saw the monkeys outside. There was evidence that it is truly Spring. Here is James relaxing in his stroller. We are really going to miss the Toledo Zoo.

Buddies

Robby and Jenni stopped by to visit on their way to the store. James and Robby had a lot of fun playing. I went to check on them in James's room, and found this. They climbed into the crib and were laying there "reading" a book. It was really cute!

7 Years

We celebrated our 7 year anniversary this week! Cannot believe how fast those years have gone by! Yet, lots has happened.

We celebrated by first taking a walk in the rain. It was really only sprinkling a little. We then went grocery shopping and spent way more than we should have. Then, we went to dinner at El Tipico with our friends, the Tollers and the Carters. We also played games afterwards while James and Robby played. It was a really relaxing, and fun day.

So What Is It?

Some of you are probably wondering about the gender of child number two.  It has been a few days and I have not posted anything (even though it will look like this post was up the next day).  Things just got really busy, but hopefully I will get some pictures of what we have been doing up over the next few days.  First some other good news we found out after my ultrasound.  The antibody levels in my blood are still staying the same.  This is really good news, and I pray this will always be the case!  I will find out in another four weeks.

For those who did not get an email from me, or have not heard yet, is the suspense killing you yet?  We are having another boy!  James will have a little brother.  We have been telling James that and even showed him the ultrasound pictures, but I doubt he really understands what it all means.  He will before too much longer.  Now, Jon and I have the hard part of coming up with a name.  For some reason boy names are harder for us then thinking of girl names.  I am sure we will have a name when this little boy is born.  We did not really know James's name until the day he was born.  Any suggestions will be considered, but probably not chosen.

James wants to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNT KAREN!

18 Weeks

Friday, I was 18 weeks pregnant, about 4 months. At my doctor's appointment my weight was still down about 5 pounds below where I was when I started this pregnancy, which Jon tells me is not too unusual at least for those who are sick at the beginning of pregnancy. I have not been sick, but just before I got pregnant I did start working out more regularly. Dr. Rhee let Jon find the heart beat. Most of my visit was spent chatting with Dr. Rhee about all the people we both know. There are a lot of women in my ward who see her. She wondered what I knew about those who had moved away. She told me she was sad for those of us who are moving this year, because we are all going in different directions and we were like family away from home for each other. Our blog came up and I told her I have links to her former and current patient that I know, so she can "blog stock" if she wants to see how they are doing. She seemed excited by this.

Then, I got my blood drawn to teat the antibody levels again. I am still waiting for those results. Also as I said previously, I am going to have my second trimester ultrasound on Thursday, where we will find out the gender, hopefully. Here is a picture. Left is the current 18 weeks, and right is 18 weeks with James.

I think there is more a difference between these two pictures than there was at 14 weeks, but maybe it is not as much of a difference as I think.

Seven Months Later

The beginning of October, I met with my bishop after finishing my Personal Progress Leader Requirements. At the time, I was serving as the Stake Young Women's Secretary. I was beginning to wonder if I would receive my medallion before I moved. Yesterday, when the bishop said he had some business that was long overdue, I knew what he was talking about. I went up on the stand. Since Jon was helping pass the sacrament, James had no parent there to keep him in the bench, and he bolted after me. Thankfully, a friend grabbed him before he made it all the way, but he really wanted to go play on the stand. I am grateful to finally have received something that I work so hard to accomplish even if it has been seven months.

I did complete my Personal Progress as a young woman. It was about 15 years ago, and the program has changed a great deal since then. To the left is what the medallion looks like now, and you can choose gold or silver. To the right is what it looked like when I received it before. Then it only can in gold. Thanks to everyone who helped me complete this program then and now. Looking back I can see how much it has helped me through the trials of life. I hope in doing this I can be an example to all those Young Women out there, those who I served recently and any others who need to know that this is truly an inspired program.

James wants to say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE!

Boy or Girl?

We just found out that we will be having another ultrasound next week. My second trimester ultrasound with MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) is not scheduled until May 31st, and we thought we would have to wait until then to find out if we are having a boy or girl. Dr. Rhee, my OB, decided to do one earlier since that is a little on the later side. Now I will be having another ultrasound in May, next Thursday to be exact. Now is your chance to vote whether you think we are having a boy or a girl. Notice the poll on the left side of the blog. By the way, the pictures in thins post are of baby number 2. I have already had two ultrasounds. they were too early to tell the gender, but I will tell you there is only one baby in there. Of that, I am 99.9% sure.

Favorite Toy

Woody is James's favorite toy most of the time. One morning when I went to get him out of his crib, he was hugging Woody while he laid there. Here is a picture. When he saw the camera, he stopped hugging Woody.

New Bed

We were going to wait until we moved to get James a "big boy" bed, but James started climbing in his crib. We borrowed a friend's mini van (Thanks, Julie!) and drove to IKEA. James loves his new bed! He has only slept in it once, but we are working on it. Right now, it is where prayers are said before he gets into his crib to sleep. Here are some pictures. Jumping. Laying on the mattress while it is in the living room. Laying in his bed in his room.

Easter

We had a good Easter. The Easter Bunny visited us on Saturday morning. Here are some pictures after the Easter Bunny came, but before James woke up. I think James could feel the excitement, because he woke up a little earlier than normal (at about 8:30 a.m.). Here is James running down the hall to find eggs. He was really excited. The first egg he found he opened and ate all the M&Ms inside. Then, he searched for more eggs. Yes, those are packed boxes, but most are in the bedrooms. After most of the eggs he found, he would stop and eat the candy that was inside. Then, he would find more. The Easter Bunny also brought a stuffed animal seen in this picture. It is a dog dressed in a green bunny outfit, complete with bunny slippers. After all the eggs were found, I tried to feed him breakfast before he ate more candy. As you can see, it went really well. After breakfast, we went to the park. We walked and played while we enjoyed being outside. We even blew some bubbles, but it was really windy so they just blew away.

On Sunday, we had a yummy ham dinner with our friends, the Tollers and Carters. James would not eat dinner. He was having too much fun playing. He also distracted Robby from his dinner most of the time. Over all it was a good Easter!

Easter Movie

I am going to try and get caught up on blogging again in the next few days. Since it takes the longest to load to start, here is a video from our Easter morning, which we did on Saturday morning so we could focus more on the purpose of Easter on Sunday.

Parents, Don't Dress Your Girls Like Tramps

Jon read this article earlier this week.  We both thought it was great and wanted to share it.

Parents, Don't Dress Your Girls Like Tramps
By:  LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor
April 19, 2011

Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) -- I saw someone at the airport the other day who really caught my eye.
Her beautiful, long blond hair was braided back a la Bo Derek in the movie "10" (or for the younger set, Christina Aguilera during her "Xtina" phase). Her lips were pink and shiny from the gloss, and her earrings dangled playfully from her lobes.

You can tell she had been vacationing somewhere warm, because you could see her deep tan around her midriff thanks to the halter top and the tight sweatpants that rested just a little low on her waist. The icing on the cake? The word "Juicy" was written on her backside.

Yeah, that 8-year-old girl was something to see alright. ... I hope her parents are proud. Their daughter was the sexiest girl in the terminal, and she's not even in middle school yet.

Abercrombie & Fitch came under fire this spring for introducing the "Ashley," a push-up bra for girls who normally are too young to have anything to push up. Originally it was marketed for girls as young as 7, but after public outcry, it raised its intended audience to the wise old age of 12. I wonder how do people initiate a conversation in the office about the undeveloped chest of elementary school girls without someone nearby thinking they're pedophiles?

Push-up bikini controversy

What kind of PowerPoint presentation was shown to the Abercrombie executives that persuaded them to green light such a product?

That there was a demand to make little girls hot?

I mean, that is the purpose of a push-up bra, right? To enhance sex appeal by lifting up, pushing together and basically showcasing the wearer's breasts. Now, thanks to AF Kids, girls don't have to wait until high school to feel self-conscious about their, uhm, girls. They can start almost as soon as they're potty trained. Maybe this fall the retailer should consider keeping a plastic surgeon on site for free consultations.

We've been here with Abercrombie before -- if you recall, about 10 years ago they sold thongs for 10-year-olds -- but they're hardly alone in pitching inappropriate clothing to young girls. Four years ago the popular "Bratz" franchise introduced padded bras called "bralettes" for girls as young as six. That was also around the time the good folks at Wal-Mart rolled out a pair of pink panties in its junior department with the phrase "Who Needs Credit Cards" printed on the front.

I guess I've been out-of-the-loop and didn't realize there's been an ongoing stampede of 10-year-old girls driving to the mall with their tiny fists full of cash demanding sexier apparel.

What's that you say? Ten-year-olds can't drive? They don't have money, either? Well, how else are they getting ahold of these push-up bras and whore-friendly panties?

Their parents?

Noooo, couldn't be.

What adult who wants a daughter to grow up with high self-esteem would even consider purchasing such items? What parent is looking at their sweet, little girl thinking, "She would be perfect if she just had a little bit more up top."

And then I remember the little girl at the airport. And the girls we've all seen at the mall. And the kiddie beauty pageants.

And then I realize as creepy as it is to think a store like Abercrombie is offering something like the "Ashley", the fact remains that sex only sells because people are buying it. No successful retailer would consider introducing an item like a padded bikini top for kindergarteners if they didn't think people would buy it.

If they didn't think parents would buy it, which begs the question: What in the hell is wrong with us?

It's easy to blast companies for introducing the sexy wear, but our ire really should be directed at the parents who think low rise jeans for a second grader is cute. They are the ones who are spending the money to fuel this budding trend. They are the ones who are suppose to decide what's appropriate for their young children to wear, not executives looking to brew up controversy or turn a profit.

I get it, Rihanna's really popular. But that's a pretty weak reason for someone to dress their little girl like her.
I don't care how popular Lil' Wayne is, my son knows I would break both of his legs long before I would allow him to walk out of the house with his pants falling off his butt. Such a stance doesn't always makes me popular -- and the house does get tense from time to time -- but I'm his father, not his friend.

Friends bow to peer pressure. Parents say, "No, and that's the end of it."

The way I see it, my son can go to therapy later if my strict rules have scarred him. But I have peace knowing he'll be able to afford therapy as an adult because I didn't allow him to wear or do whatever he wanted as a kid.

Maybe I'm a Tiger Dad.

Maybe I should mind my own business.

Or maybe I'm just a concerned parent worried about little girls like the one I saw at the airport.
In 2007, the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls issued a report linking early sexualization with three of the most common mental-health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression. There's nothing inherently wrong with parents wanting to appease their daughters by buying them the latest fashions. But is getting cool points today worth the harm dressing little girls like prostitutes could cause tomorrow?

A line needs to be drawn, but not by Abercrombie. Not by Britney Spears. And not by these little girls who don't know better and desperately need their parents to be parents and not 40-year-old BFFs.