this day rocks February 14, 2008

Days like these wake up to the sound of children playing Juders snuggling in the morning I reach over and D is gone, Anna is sick in bed, Mance calls to tell me I have a new nephew baby Jace Rowley, Symeon makes his first pasta with marinara sauce he is so proud, lives of the saints in the morning, prayer was written for me, yummy pasta, we do kids yoga and stretching, load up the bikes in the big van Symeon and Basils first bike ride of the year it was Basils first real bike ride ever we rode about 4 miles, Basil and Jude and I read on the couch and do our alphabet sounds Basil starts to read…some!
yummy soup for dinner, Jude and Basil help me make a ganache cake they loved breaking the eggs. D and I do more yoga,and the house is silent.

On a sad side note we found out or court date in Ethiopia is delayed due to a missing stamp and Document..

I Am Because We Are February 10, 2008

D just launched this site for Madonna its really relevant to our lives now, its amazing that he got this project right in the middle of our adoption check it out!
http://www.iambecauseweare.com/

A Walk to Beautiful February 10, 2008

I want to see this
“The award winning feature-length documentary A Walk to Beautiful tells the stories of five Ethiopian women who suffer from devastating childbirth injuries and embark on a journey to reclaim their lost dignity. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. They make the choice to take the long and arduous journey to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in search of a cure and a new life.

Through the intimate experiences all five share, we are no longer in the heart of Africa - we are in the hearts of these women. And through their eyes we also reveal a larger story, that of the seemingly intractable problems facing women in the developing world, including malnutrition, child marriage, and lack of obstetric care.

The trials they endure — and their attempts to rebuild their lives – tell a universal story of hope, courage, and transformation.”

http://www.walktobeautiful.com/

“Patriotism can be laudable but when taken to extreme” February 7, 2008

I found this article I took the key points I thought he communicated.

“Reducing people of other races to racial stereotypes. This can often be done in very subtle ways. For example, confusing race with culture, a belief that certain races are more adept in particular jobs or functions, a belief in differences in intelligence between the races, etc.(this one really gets me when I hear this from “people”)
 Extreme pride in one’s own country or race. Patriotism can be laudable but when taken to extremes, this sentiment becomes the basis of all fascist regimes.( Amen)
Belittlement of members of other races.  Racist will constantly criticize the opinions of other races or even ridicule them.  Often they will do it without explicitly making mention of the race of the person or persons.
 
Constant references to race. A mere mention of someone’s race on a first encounter could be benign but when these references continue after a long period of knowing that person, no matter how innocent the references may appear, they establish an unmistakable pattern.
Antagonistic sentiments.   When a person has anatognistic towards someone at first sight it is often related to skin color. The only information that one normally has about someone on seeing them for the first time is their skin color. 
Invisibility.  An indifference to the plight of members of society who are of other races when they suffer injustices. It is typical of the racist to claim that he is under no obligation to help or that the situation in question is somehow an “inevitable” by-product of some greater good. When the great majority of members of the disadvantaged group are not of his race a pattern emerges.
Presumption of racism in members of own race. Racists typically expect members of their own race to be similarly racist. This often results in expectations of preferential treatment and they expect, for example, members of their race to see the humor in racist jokes or join with them in what but for the race of the victim would be seen as morally reprehensible behavior.
Condescending attitude or behavior. Racists show condescending attitudes towards members of other races. For this reason they often try to use even members of the race which they despise to attack members of that race which cause them most offense. They believe that these other members of the victimized race will collaborate because of the magnanimity which the racist is showing in momentarily treating them as members of the “superior” race. 
Acceptance of racist behavior or conduct.  To view “mildly” racist acts as either reasonable or, at least, not racist and to feel that more severely racist acts are wrong but “understandable”. 
Failure to recognize impact of racism on the victim. To believe that a victim of racism can be unaltered by racism. For example, when racists examine apparent differences between members of different races or ethnic groups they completely ignore all differences in circumstances and history which could have affected the “inferior” race.”

Yes We Can February 7, 2008

This is what we live for in America free speech and Barack Obama!

Fifty Five Seconds February 6, 2008

I felt like I was only allowed to be thin for 5 seconds I walked my booty all over Europe for 9 weeks straight never stopping for a second, came back home and got pregnant for the third time in four years, if I would have just stayed fat I would never have gotten pregnant in the first place, but then I would not have little Hope!
Every baby has been different, Anna I gained 38 lbs and lost it in three months I started at 115 lbs, Symeon I weighed 110 and was a size 0 and went up to 155 at the end I was HUGE, I lost the weight with him by about 6 months that was from swimming in the pool at our apartments and walking a lot on the beach, I was in a size 2 then, Basil I had a really hard time gaining the entire pregnancy and ended up weighting 143 at the end, Jude I weighed 140 almost 150 and didn’t lose till he was over a year old..then I got pregnant with Hope didn’t gain any weight for three months I lost some then gained 10 pounds in a month I went all the way up to 160!
So now I am needing and wanting to lose 23 lbs, I hope when I stop nursing the pounds will come off more.

In a funk February 3, 2008

This week was hell, I am just going through incredible hormonal upheaval since Hope slowed down her nursing( no it couldn’t have anything to do with our adoption and the crazy roller coaster ride thats taken us on it been amazing and stressful but amazing)
yes she is almost two but Its either nurse or hear her scream and I can’t take that, Depressingly I’ve been nursing pretty much non stop for almost four years, after watching on net-flix project runway I thought my decolage looks better when I’m nursing, but I feel better when I’m not I’m less hungry and my body feels lighter it is.. but in a bad way.
D had his 40th B day, he honestly looks mid 30’s and acts well mid 20’s sometimes, I got him Lagavoulin scotch, a Jamie Oliver cookbook his newest one and a Whiskey decanter type thing, I made Steak, roasted tomatoes, eggplant, onions, and roasted garlic potatoes with of course salad and amarone vino with key lime cheesecake for dessert, the best cheesecake recipe ever, my parents came and my sister and littlest brother. who is the biggest of all five bro’s, thursday I was so depressed I could barely get out of bed and I cried all morning (thats not like me at all I have to pull eyelashes to cry normally)by the night my hormones had leveled, or I had leveled.. something leveled!
My mom dad watched the kids and D and I celebrated his b-day with a good dinner, the chef made Ahi special for D and even put it on the menu per his request they almost ran out of it and believe it or not they had my favorite thing special on the menu Cioppino hands down I was ordering that, it was really good it could have been spicier they brought me out two deathly spicy hot peppers, I was like I want to live so I’ll pass, hot chili peppers are a little better, what the heck am I going to do with two hot peppers??
Anna started knitting a couple of weeks ago she is taking a knitting class and now she’s a knitting fool I am so proud!
Basil spent a couple of days a grandmas, it felt like we had no kids, he causes alot of ruckus around here.
Probably the biggest thing happened today, I made 22 meals to freeze with my mom she helped tons, it took more work shopping for the food and planning the menu, I made Enchiladas,Lasagna of course, baked Ziti, Shepherds Pie, Mexican Corn Chowder, Chicken Pot Pie, Mushroom stroganoff, Martha’s Mac n Cheese(yum yum!) Italian bread veggie casserole, Greek Chicken, broccoli casserole, normally I don’t make very many casseroles but the idea of having three kids under three put me in a panic.
Have fun watching basketball tomorrow as my husband says..Ha!
We are leaving for LA again in a couple of weeks after we pass court..God willing, we want to go to Mexico and spend our left over Pesos at this awesome Argentinean fancy restaurant in Tijuana, shop, see friends and reconnect do business, crash dinner at all our friends and see everyones babies, see my little bro who is a crazy koo koo LA stud, and of course go to the beach, and go to the indian district and shop.