Illegal immigration

My husband found this online and I thought it was interesting, so I figured I'd share. It's not very politically correct, but it kinda makes you think...


IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM
AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER LEGALLY, YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY
AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO
POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS THE UNITED STATES BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET:

~ A JOB,
~ A DRIVERS LICENSE,
~ SOCIAL SECURITY CARD,
~ WELFARE,
~ FOOD STAMPS,
~ CREDIT CARDS,
~ SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
~ FREE EDUCATION,
~ FREE HEALTH CARE,
~ A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON,
~ BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE,
~ AND THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU PROTEST THAT YOU
DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT.

Crochet Newbie

About 12 years ago, a friend of mine taught me how to crochet. Like every new craft venture I start, I was interested in crocheting for about a week. I started making an adorable baby blanket for my boss, who was pregnant at the time. Her kid is now in junior high, and the half-made baby blanket is still in my closet. I am promising myself that I will finish it while I'm pregnant so that I can use it for my baby. Today I stumbled upon this great idea on Prudentbaby.com: a wine rack used for yarn storage!

Now, I don't have a wine rack, nor do I have much yarn, but I thought I should share this gem of an idea. I WOULD like to try my hand at crocheting again, though. I've never crocheted anything that wasn't flat like a blanket, but I'd love to learn how to make baby booties or a baby hat. If you have a favorite crochet pattern for babies, I'd love to hear about it!

Cart-Before-Horse Confession: Nursery Dresser

My first project of the summer is completed. I repaired and repainted my childhood dresser to use in my future nursery! We are also going to use MH's crib that his mom and grandfather made for him before he was born. I'm going to start unpacking my closet and storing all the random baby clothes and books I've collected in the dresser. I'm planning to use the dresser as a changing table. I also painted the mirror behind it to match.

MH strongly believes in "the power of positive thinking" and he thinks if we start preparing for a baby it will happen for us. I'm not as optimistic as he is with the "if you build it, they will come" philosophy, but I'm happy to have this project done at least.



Ok, so it's not completely done. The insides of the drawers currently look like this:



Apparently when I was a teenage I thought this would make them look "cool." Clearly I was not meant to have a career in design. I plan to line the drawers with cute contact paper once I have a theme for the nursery.

Post-It Note Tuesday 6/29/10

Now that I'm on summer vacation, I've been very productive. My cats are making sure I have plenty to do and clean, as they have been finding new and exciting ways to do their business.

Twilight and Other Summer Stuff

My summer has officially started! Today was the last day of school for my students, and tomorrow I will load up my car and turn in my key. It has been a stressful few weeks, but I am finally packed and ready to start at a new school in the fall. I keep thinking that maybe once school is out I will be more relaxed and I will be able to get pregnant...

This weekend my husband and I will be celebrating our 2-year anniversary with a much-anticipated camping trip near the beach in Santa Barbara. I think it will be a great way to start out my summer vacation.

Summer also means that Eclipse will be out in theaters soon! I am more excited about this than I should be, but I can't help it. I have read the books twice, and Eclipse is my favorite book of the Twilight series. I feel like a giddy teenager just thinking about it! And Jacob finally kisses Bella! Lol, is anyone else super excited to see Eclipse? Check out these adorable Twilight baby bibs I found on CafePress:

Sugar and Spice Saturday 6/12/10

This recipe was sent to me courtesy of SparkPeople.com (a great site!). Don't be fooled by the title! This "banana split" has no ice cream and it's completely healthy. It's also a creative way to get your kids to eat more fruit! I'm always on the lookout for kid-friendly recipes that I can use when I have kids. Here it is:

Watermelon Blueberry Banana Split

Ingredients:
* 2 large bananas
* 8 "scoops" watermelon and/or cantaloupe
* 1 cup blueberries (or raspberries or strawberries)
* 1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
* 1/4 cup granola

Directions:
1. Peel bananas and cut in half crosswise, then cut each piece in half lengthwise. For each serving, lay 2 banana pieces against the sides of a shallow dish.

2. To make watermelon "scoops" use an ice cream scoop to create balls of watermelon. Remove seeds, if needed. Place a watermelon "scoop" at each end of the dish.

3. Fill the center space with berries.

4. Stir yogurt until smooth, spoon over the watermelon "scoops".

5. Sprinkle with granola.

Serves 4.

Share your recipe and link up:

Best Way to Get Pregnant?

Hubby and I are now in Cycle #5 of TTC. I most likely ovulated today, and we have tried a lot of new tactics this month. Here's a list of what we did this month to try to get pregnant. One of these has to work, right?

1. I charted my basal body temperature. As of this morning, my temp had not spiked. That means I did not ovulate yet, but it likely happened today.

2. I used PreSeed the last 3 times we dtd (did the deed). It's messy and a little invasive, but gets things moving along nicely, and I can see how it would help.

3. I listened a few times to a meditation cd I bought that is specifically for couples trying to conceive. It basically relaxes you and de-stresses you to increase your chances of conception. I am stressed out a lot, so I figured it couldn't hurt. It's actually a really good cd...The first half is a sort of hypnosis where the female doctor/therapist guides you to relax each part of your body. After this, I was so relaxed, I couldn't move if I tried. I even fell asleep the last time I listened to it. The second half of the cd is soothing nature sounds like quiet ocean sounds and such, and it claims to have subliminal "affirmations" embedded in it. I bought the cd here.

4. I used ovulation tests and we dtd two days before, the day of, and the day after the ovulation test was positive.

5. We propped my hips up after we dtd each of those 3 times. Not sure if this helps, but it couldn't hurt, right?

6. On the day of my positive O test, there was simultaneous O action...again, I figure this could only help.

On a side note, my husband bought a tent for a camping trip we are planning for our anniversary. He set it up yesterday in our living room. It ended up being a mini procreation vacation, as we camped out in our living room last night and dtd in the tent! It was a nice change from the regular bed routine--I highly recommend it! lol (My husband can't believe I'm divulging this much info, and he's laughing as I type!)

Trying to Be Patient

Another month has passed and still no luck with the babymaking. I only really had two days of symptoms this month: one day of extreme nausea and one day of extreme cramping & pinching. Both of these were in the week after I ovulated and they didn't seem to be related to anything else, so I thought maybe...

I haven't really been motivated to blog lately, but I have been keeping busy and I figure the stress I've been under this month means it wasn't good timing anyways. I've been hard at work on my website (http://www.mybabydust.com--check it out!) and have been putting off doctor and dentist visits that I should probably get taken care of before a baby comes along. And my husband and I really need to get into shape.

Next month I'm going to try BBT charting and PreSeed, in addition to my regular ovulation kit. I even bought a relaxation cd on BabyHopes.com that's especially made for conception! They really have everything on that site to help you conceive, and I could have spent so much more. I love that they even send you a free packet of baby dust with every order! Lol, can't wait to see what baby dust looks like...

Wordless Wednesday: Hilarious Parallel Parking Videos

Why does it always have to be women? lol

Wordless Wednesday

(a billboard posted by a Nebraska school district)

SALE: Baby Gap Toddler Pants for $4.99!

Check out these adorable track pants from Baby Gap. As much as I want a girl, I have to say that I'm starting to fall in love with little boy clothes, and I kind of have a feeling I'm going to have a boy first. These are so cute and they're only $4.99 now (they were $14.50). These will sell out fast!

Sugar and Spice Saturday 5/8/10

Here is my recipe for this week:

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread Pudding
(from Sparkpeople.com)

INGREDIENTS

* 5 slices whole-wheat or white bread, torn into small pieces

* 2 large eggs

* 12 ounces evaporated skim milk

* 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

* 1/4 cup coco powder

* 2 teaspoons vanilla

* 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

* 2 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips

* 3 cups nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt


DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil an 8-inch square baking dish. Spread the bread in the dish in an even layer. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the evaporated skim milk, brown sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and cinnamon. Whisk until the sugar and cocoa dissolve. Pour the cocoa mixture over the bread. With a fork, mix in any unsoaked bread pieces. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top and let stand for 10 minutes. Bake for 35 minutes, or until puffed and set in the center. Serve warm, with a scoop of the frozen yogurt on top.

Makes 6 servings.

Round 4 of TTC - Ovulation Day

I'm not feeling too good about my chances this month. Hubby and I BD'd (babydanced) on my first fertile day, but I've been in a slump for the last few days and there has been no romance and some tension between us. We finally talked things over today--mostly about my lack of motivation and his lack of effort in the lovemaking department. (Note to guys: Telling your wife "I'm going to play Call of Duty. Come get me when you're ready for bed" does NOT constitute foreplay!!)

The ovulation test I took yesterday looked almost positive, but not quite. So I thought I would ovulate on Saturday as expected, but today's ovulation test was a definite negative, so I'm thinking yesterday's was positive after all. Which means I probably ovulated today (a day earlier than expected). Luckily, after our talk tonight we determined that neither of us was "over it" for this month, so we DTD (did the deed) tonight. Hopefully it will be enough, but we're going to order Pre-Seed for next month if it doesn't happen. How cool would that be, though, to conceive on Mother's Day weekend?

Dancing Through Labor

I have heard of water birthing as an option for women who want to deliver their babies naturally, but I've never heard of this method until today. Apparently dancing through labor is becoming more popular, and the pelvic movements and breathing techniques taught in most childbirth classes are actually very similar to those used in belly dancing.

Check out this pregnant mama in labor! She's 9cm dilated...incredible!

A Day Late and a Baby Short

So AF arrived today, fashionably late by 1 day (which is not her style, and incredibly RUDE if you ask me). I had pretty much accepted the fact days ago that I was not pregnant due to my lack of symptoms. But my husband was convinced (just as he has been in previous months) that I was pregnant, so he continued to badger me to "pee on a stick." His enthusiasm made me keep hope alive, to no avail.

So today starts day 1 of cycle 4...and I'm not motivated to do anything today but sleep. I got home from work and was in my pjs in bed by 3pm today. Next month I might look into PreSeed or charting my temp, but I can't begin to think about any of that right now.