Octuplets

I read an article on MSN about the new octuplets in CA the other day and watched some video clips from the Today Show. One thing that has, of course, come up is the talk of the risks of having that many babies at once. Apparently the whole thing has raised eyebrows in the fertility community. One woman was even quoted at saying that it gave her the heebie jeebies and that "there's some degree of inappropriate medical therapy there,".

When they first found out how many babies had taken hold they talked with the mother (somehow there doesn't seem to be any mention of the father) about selectively aborting some of them so there wouldn't be as many. The mother chose not to do that. As the grandmother pointed out, that would have been a very painful thing. It also came out that she has 6 older children, including another set of twins. Which raised more eyebrows.

One thing I liked about the article I read is while it talked about the risks of having so many babies at once, it did point out that how many babies a woman has is her choice. Some of my favorite parts:

Dr. James Grifo, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the NYU School of Medicine, added: "I don't think it's our job to tell them how many babies they're allowed to have. I am not a policeman for reproduction in the United States. My role is to educate patients." Asked by a reporter whether medical ethics may have been breached and whether fertility assistance was provided to a mother who already had multiple children, Henry replied: "That's still a private, personal question."

"Our patient was counseled regarding her options for pregnancy. The options were to continue the pregnancy or selectively abort. The patient chose to continue the pregnancy," Henry said. "Our goal is to provide the best possible care for our patients, no matter what the situation or circumstances."

Doctors say they advise against higher-order births, but acknowledge the decision is not theirs to make.

"Who am I to say that six is the limit?" said Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, medical director of Fertility Institutes, which has clinics in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York City. "There are people who like to have big families."

So many times in our society, people talk about a woman's right to choose but somehow it seems to only apply to her choice not to have children. I was surprised and pleased that this article pointed out that women can also choose to have children.

Unexpected Gift

So a little while ago, Jason mentioned that he bought me a present and that it would come in the mail at some point. He said it wasn't for anything, just because. Of course he wouldn't tell me what it was (which I hate) so I promptly put it out of my mind. It came today. He got me one of my favorite baby board books - Urban Babies Wear Black.

Now that's a chic baby.

I had forgotten just how funny it is. Each page has something about urban babies and a really funny picture. Possibly the funniest thing about it is how true they all are. It includes things like urban babies visit galleries and enjoy architecture. Plus just about all the babies in the pictures are wearing at least some black. Plus, it's part of a series that included such gems as Beach Babies Wear Shade, Country Babies Wear Plaid, Eco Babies Wear Green, Foodie Babies Wear Bibs and Winter Babies Wear Layers. I haven't read any of the other ones but I bet they are just as fun.


It was because of this book that I had to buy Anna's black shirt in London and was sorely tempted to get a black onesie with a Sex Pistols thing on it. Unfortunately, I just couldn't justify the exorbitant cost at the Portabello Road stall. I've heard that there is a store there that has black onesies somewhere in London but didn't get a chance to get there before we left. I'll have to look for something here. Hopefully I won't have to go to New York to get Anna's next size up black clothes.

Back in the Saddle Again

We have internet at home! The guy came this morning and got us all hooked up. It was funny because he was scheduled to come in the afternoon but called around 11:30 and asked if he could come then. Fortunately he didn't call any earlier because I had just gotten out of the shower. It reminded me of the movie The Italian Job and I suddenly got all nervous about being home with just Anna and having a guy come over (darn the overactive imagination). Of course everything was fine. He even showed me pictures of his daughter.

So as a bit of a catch up with what we have been doing, not much. We are pretty much all unpacked. It's at that annoying stage where there are only a few scattered boxes around but for the most part the place is functional and maneuverable so there isn't too much incentive to finish. I have noticed that when we either have people over or think we are going to have people over, Jason goes into get rid of boxes mode and a lot gets done. Maybe we should have a party and then it will get all finished.

Still Alive

We have been in our new apartment for a little over a week now with only a handful of boxes left to unpack. It's amazing how big the place becomes as we put things away and get rid of the boxes. Unfortunately, we don't have the internet up and running yet. There aren't any unprotected wireless options within range so it looks like we will have to actually pay for it. So we are looking at the options available to us. Hopefully, it will be soon and I can start blogging regularly again. Another hurdle to my blogs is that I can't seem to find our camera. I'm sure it made it to Philadelphia and mostly think it made it to our new house but I haven't seen it in a long time. I have high hopes that we will find it as we keep getting things in order and once I do, there will be pictures.

Our apartment is quite a bit smaller than our last place. I was thinking about it and realized that from the time we left Utah a few years ago, we have been moving into smaller and smaller places. In Utah, we lived in a three bedroom duplex. Then our last place here in Philadelphia was a two bedroom house complete with basement storage. Now we are in a two bedroom apartment with just a small storage closet in the basement. Amazingly, we seem to be able to fit everything, it has pretty good closets.

Anna is starting to adjust to our new place. We got our crib in the mail (it was cheaper to mail it to ourselves then it would have been to take it on the airplane) about a week ago and I think Anna is liking having it back. She has found that Daddy has the best toys, much to his chagrin. It's been tough keeping her away from the video game controllers and for some reason, she has been oddly drawn to the Game Cube. At one point, she even pulled it off of the shelf. We put our big black trunk in front of the tv stand to help shield all of the game stuff. It's mostly effective.

We are adjusting to life without a car. We live about a block away from the train station that takes Jason into town for school. There are a number of buses but I haven't had a chance to find out where they go yet. We are also in the neighborhood with a number of friends and they have ever so kindly given us rides to places like the grocery store. We have high hopes that we should be able to live without it for a little while at least.

Out of the Loop

So last night was the Golden Globes. While I didn't watch it, I do love to look at who's nominated, who won and what people wore. I'm kind of funny like that. I was a little surprised when I looked at the list of nominees and hadn't heard of most of them. Like the list of Drama TV shows. I had only even heard of two of them and even then haven't seen any of them. The Comedies were better. The movies not so much (I don't think I've ever even heard of Slumdog Millionaire). This makes it a bit tricky to have any opinion on the winners. That being said, I'm glad 30 Rock did so well and I do like Kate Winslet even if I have no interest in either of her movies. Heath Ledger's win is no surprise. Not to be rude but it almost feels like even if his performance had been so-so, he may have still won the award just because he is dead. Awards can ben sentimental like that. Fortunately, his performance was great (or so I hear) so it is deserved.

Then there are the clothes. One of my guilty pleasures is to go to eonline.com and read their fashion police. I don't always agree with what they have to say but I do like to get the commentary on the outfits rather than just the pictures. For the Golden Globes, I thought that most people looked ok. I especially liked Miley Cyrus, Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet and Hayden Panettiere. Drew Barrymore scared me as did Renee Zellweger and Eva Mendes. And while I liked Anne Hathaway's dress, it really made her look kind of vampirey. I guess, should I ever be on the red carpet (like with Ben although he would probably take Mom or his wife as he will probably be married by then), it can be a lesson to me to not do the same.

Home Again Home Again

We are now safely in Philadelphia. Apparently being on vacation kills my desire to blog. While I do still have some things to talk about about our time in CA, I'll take a minute to write about our getting here.

We flew out of San Jose and rented a car to get up there (about a 2 1/2 hr drive). While we are usually Enterprise people, they didn't have any cars for us so we had to go with Hertz. To sing their praises, when we got to the airport, I started thinking about how we were going to get all of our big, heavy bags on the little bus to the terminal. Fortunately, the woman checking our car back in had someone who worked there drive us over to the terminal instead! I was so glad because I couldn't see a way to do it. Then once we got to the terminal, after beating back the skycaps, we did get a hand in with our bags. The airport was pretty empty which was good because we didn't move too fast through security. Apparently, 10 am flights aren't that popular.

The first little flight to Las Vegas had a really bumpy take off. Poor Jason was really pale by the time we got in the air. After that, we all slept for a while. We had the shortest possible layover in Vegas, all of about 20 minutes. The gates were close together so we didn't have any problem going from one to the next. Unfortunately, we didn't have time (at least I didn't feel like we had time) to get food. This was a bad call. I had grabbed a few snacky things from my sister's house before we left but it wasn't very much. Again, we all did a bunch of sleeping on the next flight.

I had heard that flights were getting bare bones but didn't realize the extent. I was expecting the charge for food but paying for drinks took me by surprise. I was also not expecting not having music or movies anymore. That made me sad. I'm thinking from now on, we should only take international flights.

Online Quizes

Look how fun. Other than the Jane Austen heroine quiz, I found a site with lots of different quizzes. I thought I would keep to the food ones and just did a couple. There are tons more and they are kind of fun/silly. 

Take the Quiz here!

You Are a Boston Creme Donut

You have a tough exterior. No one wants to mess with you. But on the inside, you're a total pushover and completely soft. You're a traditionalist, and you don't change easily. You're likely to eat the same doughnut every morning, and pout if it's sold out.

What Donut Are You?

Your PB and J Says You're Demure and Dainty

Your eating style is reserved. You are a bit of a fussy eater, and you have very specific ways you like your food prepared. You have an average sweet tooth. While you enjoy desserts, they aren't exactly your downfall. Your taste in food tends to be quite eclectic and wide. You are an adventurous eater, and you like many types of cuisines. You are probably a fairly normal, upper middle class person. You don't rock the boat too often. You are a tough person who isn't afraid to live life fully. There isn't a lot that scares you. Precise and controlled, you can be a bit anal retentive when it comes to how you like things. You're definitely a perfectionist.

What Does Your Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Say About You?

You Are Toast

Old fashioned and a bit of a homebody, you totally go for comfort food. You're the type who loves to cook for friends, and they love you for it. You truly know what tastes good, and you can often pick out the best dish at a restaurant. You don't fall for food trends. You stick with what's been food for a long time!

What Kind of Breakfast Are You?

Gone too Long

The funniest thing happened at church today. We were in Sunday School and Anna was crawling around on the floor. There was a brown paper bag in the corner of the room near us but not really next to anybody. I noticed it when Anna was crawling towards it. My first thought was, "I hope that's not a bomb." Naturally, I told myself that it probably wasn't and just let her go to it. As she was playing with it, I thought about what it more likely was and realized it was probably a bag of lemons from the big bucket outside the door to the class room. Not long after I realized this, Jason looked over at her and said, "I hope that's not a bomb." I told him what I had figured it was and we both chuckled. 

This is probably a tragic commentary on the places where we have been living: when we see an unaccompanied package we immediatly suspect bomb. I hadn't realized my thought processes had been so skewed.

A Day at the Beach

Last Monday we went to the beach with Jason's parents and sister. We went to one called Avila which is not far from us. Between the freeway and the beach, there is a walking/bike path that winds along a little stream and next to a gated community and its golf course. We started we started with walking along that path. The weather was beautiful; sunny, warm but cool in the shade and not too breezy. Once we got to the beach, we had lunch at a restaurant and Anna learned how to drink out of a straw.

She took a few steps before realizing she was walking on something different.

After lunch, we went to the sand and water part. Apparently it's pretty common for babies to not like the sand. Anna had no such problems. I guess it's for the best that she gets that from Jason and not from me (I really hate the sand). Jason even walked her out to see what the water was like. Since we are relatively far north, the water is really cold so we stay out of it this time of year. Anna didn't mind getting her feet wet though.

Playing in the sand with Dad and Grandpa.

What's a trip to the beach without getting a body part buried?

After a little more time on the sand, it was time to walk back. I don't know just how far the walk was but it was a few miles. I had just started coming down with a cold (which I hope is almost over by now) and was pretty tired. Fortunately, Ann and Jason's dad went ahead to get the cars while we walked part of the way and waited outside of a deli. When we got home, we must have looked pretty tired because my dad shooed us into his bedroom (which is at the back of the house and well insulated from sound in the rest of the house) to take a nap. My sister with her 5 kids would be there soon. I didn't wake up for 2 1/2 hours even though Jason came to get me after only one. I felt better and was glad they had saved dinner and See's candy for me (I just had to wrestle it away from the kids).