House of Bethesda

This past Saturday my good friend Erin came to town and I was able to accompany her and her husband Jermaine down to a women's transition house, the House of Bethesda, that they are sponsoring. Erin and I went to IKEA and purchased bedding, curtains, etc. to donate and headed on down to the house. It is an amazing home that they are fixing up to house women in need. It has 7 bedrooms amd 3 full bathrooms so it can fit quite a few women.

I started talking to the two women who are running the program, April and Beverly and listened to some of the struggles that they are having. It is very trying when you start up a recovery home, between all of the paperwork, trying to get the grants you need and putting your name out there to rehabs, hospitals, and organizations that can refer women in need. Because of my educational background and the work that I have done in multiple rehabs I have offered my services, however they can be used, to facilitate some meetings on recovery and addiction at the house once it is up and running. I am very excited about being able to help. In the meantime, if you know anyone who is trying to recover from an addiction and needs a place to stay please contact the house directly or pass along the information.

Here is the website with the contact information
House of Bethesda


It truly is an amazing thing thing that Jermaine's Aunt April is doing to help these women and I am so glad that our family can offer our help.

*above image copyright of Erin M.

Spring is definitely HERE!

As I am cleaning the house this afternoon I decided to open all of the windows since it has reachedd 65 degrees here today!!! I love being able to open the windows, you get the fresh air, fresh breeze, and it's almost like the outside air is it's own air freshener. I went to the store and came back and the house smelled great!!

Anyways, to the point of my story. A lot of people have asked me and John lately, so, do you want a boy or a girl? I am torn between this, I love boys and most of my experience with rearing children is with boys (for how much time I spend with my nephews!!) and I think they are quite easy. I haven't been around girls too much to compare personalities but my first impression is "WHINY"! (Although they are so absolutely cute & adorable) This has been confirmed today with the kids in the neighborhood. Out of the 50 houses in yelling distance around us, I would say that 30-40 of them are inhabited by little kids, which is great for us! It's nice to know that you are in a neighborhood where there are lots of kids and you don't have to worry about finding friends for your children. I didn't have that when I grew up, my mom or dad had to drive me to a friend's house for a playdate - so you know they didn't happen that often! That's what you get when you live in the sticks! Now, boys on the other hand, they are dirty - not whiny (we hope!), but they are simple. And if our son is anything like his father he will be the easiest little boy anyone can ever have!

But back to my point, there are some little girls right now playing across our yard and I don't think one word that they have said to the boys or their parents so far has been said without a whine!!! Why do they have to whine so much?!?!? I do love hearing the sound of kids playing, it just confirms that summer is almost here! But whhhhyyyyy the whhiinnninng....


When I was growing up I was a bit of a tomboy - minus playing the sports (I danced & cheered), so I am going to vow today that if I have a little girl she is not going to be allowed to whine, she is not going to be a "princess", and she is not going to get something if she whines - did I say whines??? She will also dance and play sports - so she can learn how to lose gracefully!! I don't believe every child should be told that they are a winner. That's just misleading. She can and will wear pink, but we will have to make her tough so she can stand up to the boys!!!

I know I am going to eat my words!!!

Ok, I am finished ranting!

Easter

This year we went to Davey & Annie's for Easter dinner. Of course we got there late, partly due to my still lingering nausea and the turnpike traffic!! It was nice to see everyone, my Pappy was there (and stayed for a little while!), and it was great weather.




The boys as usual were in their rare form and Alysa is getting sooo big!! She has the cutest little chubby legs and you just want to gobble up her little toes. Aiden & Riley didn't have the chub so we are thoroughly enjoying it with Alysa!! She didn't enjoy her bunny ears too much, we were able to get one good pic with them on thanks to my mom.


















We watched "I am Legend" - great movie for anyone who hasn't seen it. John still hates it, we saw it in the theater a couple months ago. We hope everyone had a great Easter this year!!!


















After looking at Erin's pictures, I just realized that we don't have a big "family" picture anywhere (except for back when my brother and I were little teeny boppers)!! :-)
Soooo, we have to remember to do a big family picture at the next gathering!



JONES' DON'T LET ME FORGET!!! - we'll do it when we are down in OC, MD this summer - that way we will be all nice and tan - not pasty looking like we are now :-)(except I will be all fat and stuff!!)

Is Blogging Safe?

Recently it has been brought to my attention that some people who hardly ever read my blog are concerned about the safety of it. Among some of the security features on my blog, one is called a Sitemeter. This allows me to tell who was on my blog, how often they check it and how long they stay on my page. So I know.... (hee hee)!

I would like to hear from my fellow "bloggers" what they think about this. Do you think my blog is safe, and what would you consider not safe to have on a blog?

This seems to be a controversial issue - especially with the commercials on TV with the safety of MySpace pages, personal websites and blogs. I think that I have put a lot of work into my blog and it allows my friends and family who I am unable to speak to as often as I would like a chance to see what is going on with us. Most people I talk to think it is a great thing, and they wish they had the time and talent to be able to put together a blog - in which I ususally respond with how easy it is!! I believe that people overreact to things - for one reason or another. I think that applying for credit cards, your doctor's office using your SS# as a reference number, and online banking can also be dangerous - but who is refraining from participating in those things???

If someone wants to "steal your identity" or "rob your house" they are going to do it if you have a blog or not.

I would love to hear back from everyone about this!!

Easter too soon???

This year I was very curious why Easter was in the same week as St. Patty's Day!! Especially about how guilty one must feel throwing back all those drinks on Monday, then having "Good Friday" a few days later!! So much for being "good"!!! Also, my mom's birthday has never been the same day (or even close) to Good Friday...Pretty weird!

So, this is what I found out through John's Uncle Patrick about the dating of Easter - it was very interesting:

-Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).
-This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around in date on our Roman based calendar.
-Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22)but that is pretty rare. Here's the interesting info. This year (2008)is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see for the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

Here's the facts:
1)The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now)
2)The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).
3)The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now)
4)The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.

So, no one alive today has, or will ever see it any earlier than this year! And, by the way, the latest date that Easter can fall is April 25th. The last time that occurred was 1943 and it will happen again in 2038,so it is more common for a late rather than an early Easter date.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to the most influential woman in my life! John and I can't wait to see you tonight! I hope you enjoy your day mom!

Pregnancy Amnesia

Ok, I do not believe any woman who says they had a "wonderful pregnancy".

I think pregnant people just get this amnesia after they deliver a beautiful baby and they forget every little bad thing that possibly happened to their body.

I am really hoping that happens to me. During these short (but painfully long) 12 weeks I have already had two colds (I am suffering from one right now), a tooth that needed to be pulled (your teeth go to crap when you are pregnant), morning sickness that seems to go away but has come back three times in the last 5 days at 1 am, problems coming from the other end if you know what I mean, a chest that can't be touched or even graced by anything, and my clothes have not fit since I found out I was prego (which by the way was like 7 days after conception!!), not being able to sleep normally, among some other things I would rather not share on my blog :-)

The best thing about pregnancy is that when you crave something so bad and finally get to eat it, it is like you are tasting it for the very first time. John just looks at me like I'm nuts when I'm eating something saying "ohhh, this is sooooo good!!"

Anyways, I am not complaining or anything, just documenting in case I do get that "pregnancy amnesia" after I have the baby!! And I can assume that even though these symptoms may get better there are probably more other ones to come!!! And, I have to say, that being able to grow a life inside of you trumps any discomfort that I could possibly go through!!!

So, I have finally succumbed to the fact that this baby owns my entire body - my body is no longer mine. I have no control over what it does, how it feels and what it is about to do next!!! It really truly is amazing, but to experience this, I am truly indebted to my own mother!!!

Baby Update

Here are some new pics of our little peanut!!

Spring is coming!!!

I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this time of year. Let me start by saying how wonderful it is to live in an area where you have the season change. Even though I would love to live in an area where it is a nice mild 75-80 degrees all year round, I think I would never feel the way I do this time of year! It is good to have the changes, I think it gets you excited because you know what is to come.

John and I have been joking around about just taking one of those last minute vacations you see on Expedia real cheap, just to get away somewhere warm. We have been talking about Hawaii non-stop (where we had our honeymoon) and trying to scheme up a plan for our whole family to go next year - in January!!!!


I guess the reason I love this time of year so much is the excitement of the longer days, the little tease of kind of warm weather days, and just knowing that it is going to be spring/summer soon!! Oh, and Rita's is open!!! I had the worst craving for it last night at about 7:30. I didn't know if they were open or not, since it is still ranging about 40 degrees lately, but sure enough I called and heard the soothing words, "Rita's may I help you?" I did my little dance, grabbed Bailey for the ride and headed on over there! Of course, I had to taste John's lemon ice and it tasted so much better than my cherry (why is that?? it's like everyone else's is better than yours!!)

Our Little Planters Peanut

Well we had our first ultrasound yesterday, it was amazing!!! This is our baby at 10 weeks. Baby Quinn has a heart rate of 163 BPM, which is very strong!!!

Here is our ultrasound photo. John and I think it looks more like a peanut shell than anything else!! The baby is about an inch big. It's crazy how I feel so much more connected to this little human growing inside of me after seeing it on the ultrasound. It truly is an amazing experience!

We will have another ultrasound at 13 weeks (for the neural tube testing) and the baby will be much more developed then. You should actually be able to see arms and legs!



The head is on the right and the body on the left


This is what is actually going on inside...

Susan G. Komen "Race for the Cure"

John and I formed a team this year for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Philadelphia Race for the Cure. We had a great team put together of friends & family and walked for this cause in 2006. Click here for a summary of that event - Race 2006 Unfortunately we missed it last year, but we are very excited to participate this year! We would like to start making this a yearly tradition!

The race will take place on May 11, 2008 (Mother's Day) @ 8:00am down by the Philadelphia Art Museum. I have provided some quick details below, but please visit the website for more details - Race Details

Here are a few details:
-We have formed a team "Pink" please click here to join our team or make a donation
- It is an hour long 5K walk or run, or 1 mile fun walk - whatever you prefer
- The reason I formed a team is because I feel that there is more enthusiasm in a group setting and it is fun for everyone to get together for a cause like this!
- There are various registration fees depending on your status, please refer to the website for more information
- I would like to set the goal at 10 pledges per participant ($10 each pledge) - but whatever you can raise is appreciated!
- If you or someone you know is a breast cancer survivor and would like to be recognized, there is a special hat/shirt that you can wear the day of the race and you will also be invited to a special breakfast before the race. There will also be a march for survivors down the Art Museum steps
- Every race participant will receive a free race day shirt and be provided with refreshments at the conclusion of the race
-For those of you who are interested, John and I have a group of participants meet at our house, eat a quick breakfast then take the train downtown - it beats the congestion and parking down there!! We also get togther back at our house afterwards and feast on a nice Mother's Day meal. If you are interested let us know!

Sorry for the information overload - please let me know if you have any questions. I feel that this is so important, and I am very passionate about raising money for breast cancer awareness. I have seen too many people who are close to me suffer with many types of cancer and if we can help to cure one, it is one step closer to curing them all!!! Please let me know if you would be interested in participating or just donating to our team.

If you are unable to participate, please pass this along to anyone you may know at your church, work, school or community!!! Thanks!!!

Please Vote!

To the right you will see some names that we have brainstormed. It is a "rough draft" I just want to see people's opinions! Please pick a name from the boys and one from the girls. If you have any comments or any other name ideas, please let us know. We would love to name our kids all Irish names, but it is really hard to find some good ones (and ones that haven't been taken by other family members :-)

We Have a Heartbeat!!

Well, I got to hear baby Quinn's heartbeat today!! I was so beside myself going to my first doctor's appt. We are 9 weeks, and this was right around the time we lost our first baby last year, so it just made me very emotional.

I couldn't even finish my sentences with the doctor, I broke out into tears just telling her how much this pregnancy means to John and I and this is all we want in the whole world!!!! After my very uncomfortable internal exam (to those of you who haven't been pregnant yet, it is no different from your annual - OUCH!!) the doctor said my uterus feels right on target with my due date and I think she really felt my uneasy emotions. She asked me if I wanted to have her try to hear the heartbeat. Usually you can't hear it until 10 weeks or so, but she felt confident that my uterus was tilted forward enough that she would be able to hear it. She made me promise that I wouldn't get more upset if she couldn't hear it, it would just mean that I am not far along enough to be able to pick it up with the doppler. We went ahead with it and at first she only picked up mine - then all of a sudden I heard this superfast beat - the doctor started smiling and was like "you hear that"!?! There it is, she was so excited! I started crying and laughing - which made her have to find it a second time. It was the most wonderful sound I have ever heard!!!!

So, the reason we didn't get the ultrasound today is because the u/s people are only there on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. We are scheduled for 10:30 am on Friday. I cannot wait!!! I do feel so much better that we heard the heartbeat today, it is a very good sign that the pregnancy is progressing well!

I cannot wait to post a picture of our little Quinn on Friday!! Stay tuned...