The Outspoken Mom Blog

Thanksgiving and just plain, Thanks.

Good Morning Everyone!

As I sit at my computer this morning listening to my baby scream at me, because I won't hold her 24 hours a day without a break, I am reflecting on things I am thankful for in my life.  So, in honor of tomorrow being Thanksgiving I thought I would write a thankful blog!

I have so much to be thankful for in my life it is hard to know where to even begin.  First of all, I am thankful that I have my faith in God to guide me through this life.  It isn't always easy to live in this world but, with God's guidance and constant love I feel like everything will always be OK even if it doesn't seem like it at the time.

I am thankful for all of my childhood dreams coming true, even if they weren't exactly how I pictured it, they really did all come true.  I am thankful for my crazy, messy, teeny home filled with 4 beautiful children and a husband who truly was created just for me.  I am thankful for all of my parents and I have a lot of them!  I am thankful for my mother who did the best she could under our circumstances, I am thankful for my father who never really grew up but, at the same time hasn't grown old because of it and I love that about him! 

Let me tell you all, something, I am thankful for all I have no matter what!  I would much rather have my baby pulling at my leg and crying than not have her.  I would much rather have a mother that I don't really see eye to eye with than not have a mother at all.  I know many people that are going through some rather difficult things right now and I pray that in writing a blog like this, everyone can find something to be thankful for in their lives.  No matter how difficult life seems to be right now, or how sad or how wrong everything seems to be, there is always something to be thankful for. 

I have always been a very positive person.  Yes, in reading some of my blogs you might not always see that positivity but, if you knew me in person, you would see a lot of it.  Remember my blogs are just a window into my life, they are not my entire life.  Life is good, it is hard but, it is good.  Unfortunately with the good comes the bad and sometimes life seems overly unfair and difficult but, I know from my experiences it always gets better somehow, someway. 

Looking back at my life, at all of those boyfriends I cried over because I thought my life would end because they weren't 'the one'.  Thank GOD those relationships ended!  Otherwise, I wouldn't have my husband, my 4 children, my cat, my dog, my home, my LIFE!  I am thankful for those relationships and everything I went through with them, they helped form who I am now and I learned how to deal with certain things.  I am thankful for my husband losing his job not once but, twice and then three times in 4 years.  Yes, I am very thankful for that time in our lives.  Not only did it help us to grow as a couple and a family but, it also led us to people that we would have never met.  It led us to grow in our faith, it taught us how to lean on friends and on God.  It also showed us what it is truly like to be on the verge of losing everything you own.  I am so thankful for that time in my life.  It has taught me that people with less than myself deserve the same things as I do if not more!  I got over myself and my thinking that people should just be thankful they are getting food when I gave food to the food shelves.  No longer, now I give them what I would want and what I wanted when my family had to 'shop' at the food shelf each month.

I am thankful for good friends that have stood by my family and I through our ups and downs.  I am thankful for friends that we have stood by and continue to stand by through their ups and downs.    Life is so much more than things.  Life is so much more than stuff.  Life is so much more than money.  I have seen too many people gain and then lose it all, I have seen so many people lose so much yet, they continue to live, they continue to grow and they hopefully continue to learn from past mistakes.

Life is a hard thing to do sometimes but, there is always something to be thankful for if you really look around.  Life is full of lessons to learn and grow from.  You can hold on to the past and live a life of regret.  You can hold on to the future of someday and miss the present.  I am learning to live in the now.  I am learning that right now is what matters and right now is where I need to focus.  Yes, you need to look at your past and be thankful for the lessons learned and be thankful for the memories.  Yes, you need to look to your future and be thankful for what you might be like then.  Yes, you need to plan for the future however, you also need to live for today and be thankful for each day you have. 

Use your head, use your heart, and most importantly, lean on your friends and your God for guidance.  I am thankful everyday for so much including you!  I am thankful I have a voice that can reach out to others and to hopefully touch people.

Thank you all for walking through a small window of my life with me and to those dear friends of mine who read this blog, thank you so much for walking through a rather large door of my life with me.  Thank you to my husband for walking through the largest cave of my life with me and not only still staying with me but, loving me even more to spite myself.  Thank you to my children for loving me even when you 'hate' me and for giving me the greatest joy I have ever experienced in life.  I pray that I won't mess you all up too bad and that your therapy bills won't be too high when you are adults :-)
Thank you to my parents for rushing into marriage and having me.  Even though things didn't work out for your marriage, you taught me so much about what kind of a mom, wife, friend I want to be. Thank you to my step-father who has always treated me like his own daughter and who often played 2nd fiddle to my 'real' dad for much of the fun but, stood by me through the icky stuff.
Thank you to my extended family of step-people, Aunts, Uncles, a Grandfather, cousins, 'brother', mother in law, sisters and other in-laws and who ever else is part of my rather LARGE extended family!  All of you have guided me and watched over me in some special way and all of you have helped me to be who I am.  Many of you are still walking with me in life on a regular basis and I am so thankful to you all for being here.  Not just because you are family and you have to but, because you want to. 

Thank you dearly to my friends.  My current group of friends is the closest and most loving group of friends I have had in my life.  Some have been friends for a long time, most are newer friends that have only in recent years become a part of my 'family'.  I have friends that I can truly lean on, rely on, and trust.  My friends not only love me but, they love my husband and my children and it is fun to walk through life with these people!

Lastly and most importantly, thank you to God!  Lord, I would have nothing without you.  Thank you for constantly pursuing me and relentlessly pursuing me!  Thank you for loving me when I probably didn't deserve it and holding me when I needed it.  Thank you for never letting me go and thank you for guiding me even when I fought you every step of the way.  Thank you for allowing me your forgiveness over and over and over again!  Thank you for hitting me over the head with your 'love' mallet and for FINALLY letting me see, feel, and trust your love!  October 15, 2000 truly was the best day of my life and I am thankful that I now am able to live a life devoted to you.

This Thanksgiving what are you all thankful for?  No matter what is going on in your life right now, stop, sit down, and think about all the things you are thankful for.  Be sure to thank someone today, you never know if that will become their thankful part of the day.  God is good all the time and all the time, God is good!

Blessings to you all this Thanksgiving Holiday!

-Liza

Double Standards

Good Afternoon Everyone!

The countdown has begun to setting up Christmas at the Schwab house!  Yahoo!!!!!  Anyway, little bit of excitement there, can you feel it? 

Today I am finding myself sticking up for someone that I truly don't feel like a give a rats behind about but, I feel like people are over-reacting all over the place and I feel like the guy needs someone in his corner.

Yep, talking about Adam Lambert, who?!  Exactly but, if you must know, he is the runner up from this past season of American Idol.  He was the last entertainer on the AMA's this past weekend and had a rather interesting performance.  I sat there and watched the whole thing and frankly, I wasn't quite stunned, actually not really sure what I thought of the performance.  But, I will say the backlash he is getting is very unfair and I think people need to relax!

First of all, it wasn't like he was the opening act or anything!  He was the last act of the show, he closed the show and so most viewers had probably already gone to bed or started watching something else by then.  Also, if children did watch the beginning of the AMA's most were again, probably sleeping by then and if they weren't, well anything on after 9pm at night is sort of 'free game' and take your chances!  Hello?!  Anyone remember David Caruso's butt shot on NYPD Blue's?  That was a HUGE controversy!

Yet, let me remind you of a few other performances that have been on award shows including the AMA's and yet, no one banned that singer or canceled their performances on GMA the next morning nor were they talked about all over the internet.  Ok, so the internet wasn't around but, really, get over yourselves people!  He is a performer!  He performs!  He is over the age of 18 (NOT like pole-dancing Miley Cyrus), he told you he is gay and he loves over the top glitz and glamour and Broadway type performances.  He was compared to Freddy Mercury of Queen during the American Idol show and frankly, I think he is a cross between Madonna, Meat Loaf and Freddy Mercury with a little bit of a drag queen thrown in for good measure.

So, oh yes, other performances...how about Madonna's 1984 performance of Like a Virgin on the MTV awards?  Yes, it was cable however, I didn't have cable and I saw the performance!  I was only 12 years old at the time and it was just chalked up to the time and everyone's daughter's were going to her concerts wearing BoyToy belt buckles and lace.  Or what about Prince and any one of his performances!?  Hello, he wore pants without a butt one year!  Not to mention all the girls writhing and crawling and such all over.  Then how can we not mention Michael Jackson and his never ending crotch grabbing.  Yet, for a grown man to constantly grab his crotch it is OK and in fact, we think it is OK to let our little children emulate him and hang with him.

OH, however, when Madonna grabbed her crotch in a video during her Blonde Ambition time it was horrible!  Then, when she rubs her cone shaped bra oh watch out people!  She was slammed for that yet, Michael Jackson grabbed his constantly.   Double Standards, they are all over the place in the world, especially in the entertainment industry.

Yes, Adam Lambert's performance was a bit over the top, a bit 'showy' but, isn't that who he is?  Again, if Madonna would have had women on leashes (which I know she has had men), and would have kissed a girl, OH WAIT!  Hello, do you NOT remember Brittany Spears, Madonna, and Christina Aguilera's kiss? 

Listen, all I am saying is I can't believe how many people are beating this guy up about something that really a lot of the bigger names have already done.  Crotch grabbing, grinding, same sex kissing, and simulated bj's have all been done before.  If anything you should be mad that he wasn't more original.

Blessings to you all,

-Liza

'Tis the season for light.

Good Morning Everyone!!!

I LOVE this time of year!  It is the anticipation of the season to come and the excitement of it all.

Last night we put up the Christmas lights on our house.  Our little house looks so cute!  We live in an older community and many of our older neighbors came over yesterday to comment on our house.  Many of them don't decorate the outside of their homes anymore so, they enjoy looking at our home each year.

I love decorating!  I think it is so much fun to start the process of decorating the house for the season.  It is exciting to see how it will look this year, what things will work, what won't.  I am often heartbroken each year by the things that broke over the year or things that have mysteriously disappeared since last year.  But, each year I purchase a couple new things that add to our display and sigh, our house just looks so sweet.

I think we have the perfect house for decorating!  We live in a WWII cape cod/story and a half home and when I see it all decorated for Christmas it really does look like a little house in a movie.  It isn't anything fancy but, it just becomes a little bit 'magical'. 
The really nice thing about this years decorations though have to be that we were able to put everything together and up in 50 degree weather!  Yahoo!!!!  The weather has been so nice this November it is unbelievable!  It is due to change soon, maybe even this week but, wow to be able to put up Christmas lights in 50 degrees, that is a treat.  Although, we did stop, back up and look at our house and even though we love how it looks, we all agreed it needs snow to really look good.  Snow always completes the look to make it all perfect.

So why have I written an entire blog about us decorating our home?  Well, because Christmas is such a magical and miracle part of the year!  But, also I am frankly over-whelmed with what is happening in my country right now and my community and with my ADD when I am over-whelmed I shut down.  I often don't even know where to begin so, I just stop and quit.  I have no clue where to begin, what to think and how to act so, I don't do anything.  I am just plain in shock and scared.  Sort of like a deer in headlights.

So my blog is happy, happy, joy, joy instead!  Plus, when things are bad (as well as good) around me, I turn to God who gives me peace and comfort through all times.  So this year we choose to be the 'light' of the neighborhood and show our light for Jesus.  I did this last year but, I am going to do it again this year because I believe it is so important and truly neat. 
I will be posting information in my blog about the true meanings of Christmas and also some family traditions or ways you can start some family traditions. 

I would love to hear anything you have to add to my stories and any Christmas traditions you and your family do each year.  I love this season but, I think it is often over done, over commercialized and under done about the true meaning of Christmas which is the birth of Jesus.  It is ALL about Jesus people!

Here is the true meaning/story behind Outdoor Lights from Lisa Whelchel's book The Adventure of Christmas:

In 1882, only 3 years after Thomas Edison patented his invention for the light bulb a friend of his was already hanging strings of lights on a Christmas tree....OK, just a quick excerpt from my mind here, anyone else thinking back to 1882 and thinking how scary those lights must have been?!  Hahahaha, every time I read that all I can think about is 'fire, fire, fire'!!  back to the story now...that man's name was Edward Johnson.  He had a simple electric motor hidden under the floor, his Christmas tree rotated 6 times a minute.  The tree had 80 lights in all, red, white and blue.

Thirteen years later, President Grover Cleveland flipped a switch to light up a huge tree at the White House. (I bet THAT one wasn't called a "Holiday tree".)  After WWII, American families could also afford to decorate their homes with lights.  Entire neighborhoods started to illuminate the night with color. 

Decorating your home is a symbolic of what we, as Christians, need to do all year round.  Jesus said, "You are the light of the world - like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father" (Matthew 5:14, 16)

Just like our lights on our homes, we have the ability to pierce the darkness of the world.  Jesus instructed us to let His light shine, not through electric lights and flashy displays but, in the window of our lives. 

Be the light in someone's life this Christmas season and all year round.

I am truly blessed to be able to have a voice in a country of freedom, I pray my freedom's don't go away.

Blessings to you all,

-Liza

New guidelines

Good Afternoon Everyone!

I am in such a great mood today I can hardly stand it!  I got a 3 hour break from the baby today and was able to get the convertible out of the garage!  It is so nice and sunny out there with no wind that I even got warm and had to take my jacket off!!!!  LOVE the convertible, love, love, love.  Yes, there is nothing better than feeling the wind in your hair and the sun on your face while driving around the city.  Fall is truly becoming my new favorite season.  Who knew having a convertible would actually be MORE enjoyable in the fall than the summer!

So, yes sorry to those who do not have a convertible, I am totally rubbing it in and I am apologizing only for that but, not for how terrific I feel now.  I have been in such a slump lately and that was the perfect medicine for my weary mind, body and soul.  I also think the 3 hours away from the baby during the day was a much needed break too.  I want a nanny!!!!  Oh just once or twice a week for 2-3 hours would be delightful.

Ok, now here comes my bummer part of my blog.  I am not going to let it get me down but, I am so upset by it all and I not only fear for myself but, I also fear terribly for my 3 daughters and their friends.  What has got me so upset?  Our new health care guidelines that are coming out of the woodwork.  It is terrifying and if you don't think there is any correlation between these new guidelines and our new health care bill trying to get passed right now you are naive.

I haven't had a family member or a friend with breast cancer and it really hasn't touched my life directly.  However, it has touched me indirectly.  My best friends mom died from it when we were in 10th grade and every Mother's Day I used to walk in the Susan G. Koman breast cancer walk with my family.  It was something I wanted to do for those women and it was a fun easy thing for my family to do with me for my gift on Mother's Day.  The only reason we quit doing it was because it used to be at the mall right behind my house and we could walk from our house to the event.  Now the event has moved to another mall and with 4 little people, it just isn't convenient anymore.  But, it was our favorite thing to do for 5 years on Mother's Day.

I worry about this new announcement that women don't need mammograms until age 50.  Even though the American Cancer Society doesn't believe that and it has been proven to save many women's lives.  What I don't understand is, isn't it cheaper to catch the cancer early than to pay for all those long radiation/chemotherapy sessions just to have someone die anyway in some cases?  Isn't preventive care cheaper?

Then, when I really got enraged was today when they announced that women in their 20's don't need to have a pap smear every year, they can skip a year because cervical cancer is really a slow growing cancer.  Um, HELLO?!!!  If I have cervical cancer, I want it found sooner than later!  Especially when I was in my 20's and I still wasn't married and wanted children some day!!!  Many times if you get cervical cancer and you don't catch it early enough, not only are you risking your life but, you are risking your reproductive life too!

It CAN be a slow growing cancer but, it also can grow rapidly especially in younger women that aren't in monogamous relationships.  Also, for women in their 20's that more than likely aren't married and having more than one partner in their 20's (which is 10 years people) they are putting themselves and their bodies in peril if they aren't getting regular pap smears.  I predict if people start following those recommendations, not only will cervical cancer rates go up but, so will infertility rates, STD rates (which are already increasing!) and unfortunately abortion rates too.  Because you need to have a yearly pap smear when you are on birth control right now, however, if that changes too, many young women will not see their doctor for up to 2 years.  Will they still be allowed to be on birth control for 2 years without being monitored? 

I guess the good news is, the government is cutting back on preventative care(to 'save' money) but, here is the good news people, we will cover abortions so, hey who cares if the woman gets cervical cancer or breast cancer as long as she doesn't have to pay for the abortion all is good.  What is wrong with this picture?!!

Listen, I am all for women's choice, I am all for the right to choose but, you are taking away the right to choose when you take away the woman in her 20's (usually the highest amount of abortions) from a doctor yearly and really maybe her ONLY person she can freely talk with about birth control, STD's, pregnancy and prevention of it, and more.   Planned Parenthood truly will become just an abortion center then.  You will take away any chance they have and any other clinic has of preventing the pregnancy or cervical cancer in the first place!  OH wait, we have that really neat cervical cancer vaccine....that's right, go for it girls!  Have all the free sex you want!  The government will pay for your vaccine to keep you 'safe' from cancer and well if you happen to get pregnant, don't worry about it because your government will then help you out and pay for your abortion too.

We aren't going to teach you anything about taking care of yourself but, hey, you don't need to take care of yourself, the government will take care of you.  hahahahahaha...BS!!!

Now back to mammograms.  I am 37 right now.  I have only 2 1/2 years until I should be starting to get my mammograms but, now the new government guidelines are telling me to wait another 12 1/2 years.  I have 4 children I am a stay at home mother, my oldest is 8 and my youngest is almost 18 months.  It is MY job to be here for my children.  It is MY job to take care of them, it is MY job to keep myself healthy any way possible.  It is MY job to exercise, eat right and watch my weight (of which I am currently NOT doing my job well.) and it is MY job to raise my children until they are old enough to take care of themselves.  It is MY job to be here for them and to nurture them.  I CAN NOT do my job if I get breast cancer in the next 12 1/2 years while I am waiting to be old enough to have a mammogram.  I CAN NOT  do my job if I get cervical cancer in the 2 years between my pap smears.  The government is taking away my ability to do MY job by taking away MY choices and my health care.

If you don't think you will see more of this happening people I am sorry to say you are in denial and frankly delusional.  This is just the beginning and it will fundamentally change our country for the worse.  I truly believe that. 

For those of you that are for the new government health care a few questions:  Did you know you will be paying for it for 4 years in higher taxes before you even see one health plan?  Hopefully you, your wife, your mother, your daughter won't get cervical or breast cancer in that time. 

Did you know that really all of us HAVE health care right now?  We all have access to health care right now and after the government care we won't ALL have access?  Yes people, everyone currently can go see any doctor or visit any hospital and BY LAW you can not be turned away just because you don't have insurance but, after the government plan goes into place you CAN be turned away because you have the government policy?

Did you know that really if you just open up the borders of health care companies we all could have cheaper, better, more effective and more options of health care?  Why?  Because if the companies actually could cross borders of states and you could truly shop around for a health care plan that not only has the options you want but, also the price you can afford that companies would be forced to charge less for their insurance.  Plus, it would force them to offer more options and to allow more people to be covered by their plans.  Yes, if we just allowed health care companies to offer health care in every state  we would have all the options we wanted and they would be forced to compete for their customers much like Target, Wal Mart and KMart do right now for their customers. 

For all of you who voted for change well, congratulations, you certainly are getting it.  Are you just sure this is the kind of 'change' you really wanted.  I have to say, I saw the best bumper sticker today at my daughter's school and I want one on my truck.  It said, "For you that voted for change, I want mine back."  Now THAT is funny!  Sad but, funny.
 If you look back through out history, everything the government has touched does not turn to gold, it usually turns green.  We are currently more concerned about making everything fair for everyone while destroying everything our country stands for and we are worried more about giving terrorists civil rights and we are more concerned about the rest of the world while we have abandoned our troops in Afghanistan and now, we are taking even more of our beloved freedoms away with government health care.

I didn't know until recently were I stood on this health care initiative.  I was leaning against it but, at the same time since even our family finds it hard to find good and affordable health care I thought, hmmm might be a good idea.  But, as they are changing things before anything happens and people, this really is only the beginning and it scares me terribly.

I can't imagine where this is heading and I am afraid to know.

Here are some links to more information about stats with breast cancer and cervical cancer.  Fight for yourselves ladies, fight for your daughters, your mothers, your friends!  Fight!  Stand up and fight!  Women have changed the world through out history, it is time to change it again and change it quickly before our government changes it for us.

http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/cervical/statistics/

http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/STT_0.asp

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/cervical

I love my country, I love my freedom but, I love myself and my family more.  I will die to protect my children, I just hope I don't have to.

Blessings to you all,

-Liza

Just a sip to make it through the day.

Good Morning Everyone.

Today is my 3rd child's birthday!  She is 6 years old and she feels like such a big girl today.  I can't believe she is 6 already.  Truly life is flying by at such a fast rate the past few years I feel like I can't keep up. 

I just ordered our Christmas photos yesterday yet I haven't put last years photos in our Christmas album yet and I didn't put those in the album yet because the year before's aren't completely done yet!  (Insert scream here.)

I just put away the Halloween stuff and now I have to dig through the attic and get the Christmas stuff out next week.  I haven't done any shopping yet and even though Christmas is still over a month away, I am already behind it seems!  I am looking down at my calendar as I type and there is not ONE day for the rest of November that we don't have something scheduled.  Then I flip to December and wow, it isn't much better! 

I am overwhelmed!  I am behind the game and the game hasn't even started yet.  Yesterday I was so frazzled I wanted a glass of wine SO bad.  Usually I don't drink because we have nothing in the house but, we have this glorious bottle of white wine just sitting waiting to be opened in our fridge.  Yet, the only time I was free to be able to have a glass was at 10am yesterday morning.  Hey, I can make an excuse for an 11am cocktail/glass of wine but, I can't find any excuse for a 10am glass!  So, I just sat, stressed and wanting just something adult and something to relax with and forget about life for just a few minutes with! 

It sucks, I am discovering my only time to relax with a glass of wine or cocktail is 9 or 10 in the morning.  Hello?!!!!  I may be desperate but, I am not that desperate!  I finally have some alcohol in the house, in fact I have my choice of alcohol in the house (which NEVER happens) and I can't drink any of it because I am too busy driving my people around.  Bad enough to be drinking at home to take the 'edge' off of the stay at home mom freak outs but, whole different ball game if you become the mom that takes a 'roadie' with you while driving your children around!

All jokes aside, I get it, it is serious and for those of you with alcohol issues, sorry, get it, not a joking matter!  But, for you stay at home moms that don't have alcohol issues, you totally get where I am coming from!  Really, drinking is not a part of my life very often but, wow there are some days that a good, stiff drink is the only way you feel like you will ever make it through.  Sometimes it is one of those days you are thinking, "it is either me or the kids"....then you see that lonely wine glass just sitting in your cupboard with dust all over it.  You grab that bottle of wine that has been opened in your fridge for the past 6 months just waiting for this day.  You don't care if the wine is skunked or not, you know it is truly the only thing that will get you through this day without packing up and leaving it all behind. Which for all of you, is NOT an option either.  But man, there are those days when you get why people do it!

So, here is to you ladies, raise your glasses and lets toast to motherhood and all the pleasure and pain it has to offer!  Oh, darn off to drive more people around, raising my water glass up to you all and my glass of wine will have to wait another day.....

Blessings to you all!

-Liza

To vaccinate or to not

Good Evening everyone!

I really should be in bed but, after watching our local news program about vaccines and how they used the 'scary' voice to advertise it, I felt led to write about it in a blog.

I am that parent that has done both.  I have given some of my children ALL the shots and one has received only 2 shots so far.  Why?  Well, my biggest reason is because I don't think we know the answers!  I am choosing to do something because of MY research and MY experiences with MY children and what has happened to them after vaccinations. 

I truly believe there is no right answer when it comes to vaccinations.  I think they are truly good for most people.  However, there is a small percentage of people that a vaccine will kill, mame or utterly change that person for the rest of their life.  It is a small risk however, I am not willing to risk my children without doing everything possible to understand and know WHY and WHAT shots they are getting.  What is DtaP?  What is Pertussis?  What is MMR?  What is Varcella?  They sound like very serious vaccinations and when you read about what the diseases/sicknesses are that they protect you from and read all the side effects of those diseases and what could happen, well of course you are going to vaccinate your child!
However, when you also read and compare what the vaccine is, what is in it, the side effects of those vaccines and what diseases/sicknesses and deaths those have caused well.....what is a parent to do?

The only thing a parent really can do in my mind.  Research, research, research, and then more research!  You will never figure it all out, you will never find what is right and what is wrong and frankly, you will never know the right answer.  But, at least you will be informed and you will be aware.  Until our medical society and doctors start doing a simple test when a baby is born to see if they have a pre-disposition for Autism, sickle-cell, or seizures....well we are all gambling with our children's health whether we choose to or not to vaccinate.

All I know for my family is my son is on the Autism Spectrum.  I DO NOT believe vaccinations caused his Asperger's Syndrome however, I do believe they acerbated it.  I believe he was pre-dis positioned to have it and after seeing how simple foods can affect his behavior and his moods and how he feels, not to mention medicines well, how could I choose to vaccinate him anymore.  His body CAN NOT handle chemicals or certain foods.  Most, if not all vaccines are made in eggs or gelatin, both of which have adverse reactions for my son.  No he is NOT allergic to these foods, in fact they show up on no allergy tests of his as being an issue.  However, as with many children on the Autism Spectrum, after years of working with his diet and watching his behavior change over the years, he body just simply can't handle some foods, chemicals, and environmental hazards, of those, most vaccines fall into those categories.

When my 4th child was born we already had chosen to not vaccinate that baby if it was a boy.  For some reason Autism hits more boys than girls.  But, when she came out a little girl, I truly didn't have any answers.  I read and read and read then, yep I read some more.  I still don't have the right answers but, I feel like I am able to make some educated choices about her and we have decided to vaccinate her however, we have done it on a schedule that we have created with our doctor.  She is almost 18 months old, she has had only 2 vaccinations and is set to get her 3rd soon.  Am I making the right decision, I have no idea.  All I can do is educate myself, ask questions and pray.  I pay attention to who my children are and I keep a very close eye on them before, during, and after receiving vaccines so that if they every do have an issue with a vaccine, I can recognize it quickly so, hopefully we can fix it fast.

So, as our local news station did a story about statewide conscientious objectors in the state of Minnesota by looking at the school districts medical records here come all the questions and frankly very few of the answers. 

I watched the story and even teared up hearing the two mothers stories they interviewed.  After the story was done I quickly ran to my computer to look up my children's school district to see how many children in their districts aren't getting vaccinations.  I knew the numbers would be pretty low.  Frankly, we live in a lower income area and historically, lower income means higher vaccination rates.  It is usually the higher income areas that have lower vaccination rates.  Why?  Usually because of education levels and frankly many who choose not to vaccinate are the ones who do the research and know to ask questions. 

I will say, I giggled when I looked at our school district and realized that we are the ONLY people in the district to not object to one of the vaccines.  I actually was quite surprised that for the varcella vaccination only 2 children didn't have it and they were both mine.  Which, actually is now only 1 of my children because again, after doing research and knowing my child realized that it would actually be much worse for my son to get Chicken Pox than the vaccine (hopefully, I am right.).  Why?  Because there is no way with his texture issues he could handle things all over his body and itching and with his chemical issues and medicine problems, he could handle the anti-itch stuff or Tylenol or Motrin to keep his fever down.  So, we made a decision to give him the vaccination. 
I will say after seeing the stats though, I now totally understand why my children never got Chicken Pox!  Everyone has been vaccinated! 

Anyway, I don't have any right answers, I don't know what is right/wrong.  All I know is I am trying to make the best decisions I can for my children and to give them all the health advantages I can.  I just ask you do some research and think about and ask questions and know what you are putting in your child's body and why.

Here is the link:

http://kstp.com/article/11754/

For those of you in Minnesota you can read the article and find your school districts rates of objectors and what vaccines they are objecting too.  Just so you know, this is ONLY for the vaccinations that are required to start school and to have while in school.

Blessings to you all and those beautiful babies of yours!

-Liza

Stop making excuses.

Good Morning Everyone!

I don't have a lot of time this morning, ha!, when do I ever have a lot of time?!  Anyway, I do need to start waking up children pretty soon.

I think today I am going to talk about something I have been hearing a lot on the radio talk shows and I think it needs to be addressed.
Why do we feel like we need to apologize as a country to so many people?  What changed in our country that we have decided no one is to blame for crimes they commit, no one is to blame when they bomb our country, we must have done something to make them upset, and when an Army Major shoots his fellow Army men and women it isn't his fault and we should understand because those people were getting ready to go and fight against Islam.

Really, I just heard a snip of an interview from the BBC of an American that actually BLAMED the shot and dead soldiers because they were getting ready to fight Islam and it was their fault they got shot.  Hold on here bucko!!!  What?!!!!

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/199501.php

Then yesterday when I was listening to another show I heard that after 9/11 we actually had a committee that investigated, not who did this to us but, why they did it to us and what we did wrong to them to make them want to hurt us.  Plain and simple people...they HATE our freedom, they hate our religions, they hate us!  However, they hate us yet, many of them leave their oppressive countries to come to America, a country they supposedly 'hate' and raise their children here, attend our schools for terrific educations, take advantage of our great health care system(Oh sorry people, really looking around the world, we have a GREAT health care system) and they work great American jobs for great American wages.  I can see why they hate America so much.

Ok now, calm down!!  I don't think ALL Muslims or people of Islam hate us, I believe most actually like us and our troops.  It is the extremists.  But my question is why do they come here then and why do they raise their children in America but, raise their children to hate America?  And WHY as Americans are we allowing this to happen and we are for some reason taking the blame?
It almost sounds to me we are one of two things as a country, we are either bleeding hearts and believe we can create a Utopia in our world and everyone can live in peace and harmony.  Hey...if we can't get it to work in our own country, what makes us arrogantly believe we can do it around the world?!!!!  My second deal is we sound like we are an abuse victim making excuses for our abuser.  It is the ole, "Oh, you don't know what they are like when we are alone, they really are nice to me..." act!!!

So, are we the Utopia country or the abuse victim country?  Either way, we need therapy and counseling immediately!

It is never ok to shoot our people at our Army bases, it is never ok to fly planes into buildings, it is never ok to gun down innocent people anywhere!  People that do that have issues, don't make excuses for them!  I remember when the Oklahoma City bombings happened, we were angry as a nation, we were upset, we cried together and we didn't make excuses for those losers!  We put them in jail and we threw the book at them!  Was it because they were 'one of us' and that made it worse?  Are we now to a point where if you are white and American you are going to get the book thrown at you for Terrorism (which yes, I believe the Ft. Hood tragedy is) but, if you are an immigrant or you aren't 'white' or you aren't a Christian you can get away with terrorism on our soil?  It feels like it to me.

It seems like we have become so overly politically correct that we are now becoming a joke of a society where hate to say it but, it is the cause of us starting to lose our freedom, lose our sense of safety and we are becoming the butt of jokes around the world.  We are causing this to ourselves. 

I wish life could be fair, I really do!  I wish everyone could all have the same opportunities...hey WAIT, we live in America we all do have the same opportunities!  We all have free public education, we have the freedom to go anywhere in the country we please and you can get any type of job you like, here is the kicker...as long as you are willing to work hard to get it!  OH>....now it makes sense to me, we have created a politically correct country that doesn't feel people should have to 'work' for their opportunities anymore.

I have been the red-headed step/child my whole life(literally) and now, I feel like I am again only because I am a Christian woman, married to a Christian man, we are both ugh, gasp Caucasian, we are both college educated, my husband is a business owner and we are upper middle class.  We are the people that suck in this country all of a sudden because we have worked hard, our parents worked hard, our grandparents worked hard and now...we are being punished by our own government for that.  We need to stop giving to the people in our country that aren't willing to work hard including the people that HATE our country. 

I have a love for my country that brings me to tears every time I sing the National Anthem at a ball game, I stand with my hand on my heart, I sing the song by heart, and I tear up thinking of all the sacrifices our founding fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and children made for MY freedom. 

Now, I feel like that freedom they all shed blood for is slowly going away and as a mother, it scares me.  What sort of country am I leaving for my children?

Stop making excuses for people, stop making excuses for criminals, stop making excuses for terrorists, stop making excuses.....period!

It is Veteran's Day today, take the time to thank, really thank a veteran and take the time to think about what your life would be if you didn't have your freedom that they so gallantly fought for!!! 

If you don't like America good news, you can always leave America...if America sucks so bad...there are plenty of other countries in the world that you might find a lot more enjoyable, more like the Utopia you so crave.  Hey....if you have a wife, or a daughter, why don't you head over to Afghanistan or Iraq...I have heard women are treated very fairly over there.

I am sorry this is so negative today but, come on people!  It needs to be said, that is why I call this blog the "Outspoken Mom Blog" not the "I bury my head in the sand blog".

Blessings to all of you ESPECIALLY our troops both here and elsewhere!  Blessings to all of you veterans!

-Liza

Be the best you can be.

(Our 5 year old off to her warm-ups for her first meet)

 Good Morning Everyone!

What a wonderful weekend we had over here at the Schwab house.  My 5 year old daughter had her first 'real' swim meet on Saturday and she did great!  She is in the U8 division so, she is swimming against 6 and 7 year olds!!  She is so little out there and she swims her heart out.  I cried every time I watched her race.  I cried for the simple reason of I was so happy for her and she is such an inspiration to people! 

Our 5 year old(who will be 6 in 10 days) is little, always has been.  She is getting bigger but, she was always a peanut and she was my baby for 4 1/2 years until we had our 4th baby, so I still consider her my baby.  She is our little engine that could.  Not being able to do something is NOT in her mind.  She goes out there in anything she does and tries and tries hard.  She actually listens to her coaches (my older 2 don't!!) and she takes what they say to her and uses it to make herself better at what ever sport or activity she might be doing at that moment.

She is nice, kind, self-less, and always willing to try almost anything.  She isn't a dare-devil but, she is willing to do most sports.  She plays soccer in the fall and spring, does dance(ballet and tap), gymnastics, swim team, and ice skating in the winter months.  She wants to try hockey (we just haven't let her yet) and karate and she is fascinated by Yoga.  She practices her sports daily!  Many times during the day you can see her practicing her handstands, practicing her swim strokes in the air making sure her hands are 'just right' and she taps around the house and practices everything her teachers or coaches as of her.

She is a delight to have for a child and I am so pleased that I get the opportunity to be her mom.  She is very excited to teach me how to ski this winter and I am excited for her to do it.  She is a very patient person when it comes to teaching them! 
OH, she does have her moments of frustration, usually aimed at her older brother and sister or mom and dad and she is so soft-hearted she often gets it broken.  Those are things we still need to work on with her to protect her but, the determination to not really win but, to be the best she can be at her particular sport at that time, is amazing.

I have watched her grow in every sport and activity she does and I am so thrilled.  She doesn't necessarily have the most athletic skills, she isn't athletically gifted but, because she listens to her coaches, she practices, and she is determined, she will be a great athlete as she grows. 

I could learn so much from that little girl!  For the same determination she has in sports and activities she also has in school and doing her homework.  She is very determined to finish her homework, do her best and she is very pleased with herself when she has done something well. 

My husband and I have often compared her to a Golden Retriever...no, we don't think our daughter is a dog!  But, if you know Golden's, they have this desire to please their owners, they just want to make them happy.  Our 5 year old is very similar.  She has a desire to make people happy, to please her coaches, and her reward for that is how she feels about her hard work and that is pretty awesome.

Oh and by the way!!!  I have to say, watching swim meets is WAY better than any other kids sport to watch!  It was fast paced, super exciting, you had no clue who anyone was, or for me, what they were doing but, it was entertaining and fun.  I watched a lot of races when I could(I was volunteering in the kitchen) and it was a thrill to see those children race and swim. 

If you ever get the opportunity to watch a swim meet I suggest doing it.  It really felt like it does when you are watching the Olympics, it is high energy and the swimmers are all cheering each other on, it was really cool.  I wish my older 2 were on the swim team too, it is really neat.

Anyway, the baby just woke up so I must go. 

Go out today, put your best into everything you do.  You don't have to be the best but, you have to do your best!!

Blessings to you all,

-Liza

Nurture the Nature.

Good Morning Everyone!

So I have been up for over 2 hours already and yet, not much has been done today.  The house looks like a trash house and my laundry somehow has reached epic levels.  Does it ever end?  Really!  When do I get to have staff?  I would really like some staff around the house.  I thought I would have cheap staff having 4 children.  I truly thought it would be built in free child labor, hahahahaha WRONG! 

All children do is create more mess.  This past weekend we switched our children's bedrooms around, again.  Oh yes, this seems to be something we do every couple months lately and frankly, it really isn't a lot of work.  Whatever!  Officially the upstairs now has 3 bedrooms so, we have moved from a 4 bedroom house to now a 5 bedroom house without adding on or moving.  However, never mind the 5th bedroom has no closet and it 7.5 x 7.0 feet (not much smaller than our 'master suite') but, it works and that room comes complete with a super clean child and a even more super cool secret hiding space/playroom.

Our 5 (almost 6) year old daughter really wanted her own room because she is a neat freak and her big sister is a hoarder, oh yes a hoarder!  She has emotional value attached to every single thing in her room.  She can tell you where she got everything and when and nothing can be thrown away because it means too much to her.  So, my almost 6 year old begged us to move her into a different room.  I didn't understand until after we moved her how bad she really needed it.  Her room is perfect, I mean perfect!  She makes her bed every morning, something she didn't do before.  There is nothing on the floor, her shoes are organized in a container underneath her bed, her playroom/attic area is perfectly organized and clean.  I didn't realize how much of a cleaner/organizer she was until we moved her into her little bedroom.

Now, I also didn't realize how much of a hoarder our 7 year old daughter was until I moved her sister out.  Wow, words could never describe the mess I found in there.  When my husband took down their bunk beds...wow.  The amount of just plain crap she had on her bed that she slept with every night, I don't know how she slept!  Then, once the bed was down the amount of things that were underneath the bed!  It took me over 2 days of just going through things, sorting out what is really something to keep and what can be tossed and the clothes!  Wow, I found items of clothing that had been missing for over a year under her bed. 

I am still trying to get everything cleaned up and out of her room and it is Thursday!  That is my plan for the day is to finish her room once and for all today.  I have hauled out 3 full garbage bags out of there already, I had to sweep, yes sweep the carpet before I could vacuum it.   I am taking her bookshelf out of her room because she is such a collector that I am not giving her an opportunity to create massive amounts of collections in her room anymore.  OH!  I forgot, when she saw her room cleaned up and how big her room was(she has the biggest room in the house) she was so excited!  No, not because it was clean but, because she saw how much room there was now and exclaimed, "YAY!  And right before Christmas!  I can fill it up with lots of gifts from Christmas!  Oh mommy, thank you!  I can't wait to fill it up again."  Sigh.

So, I am removing a bookshelf, I moved her bed to the other side of the room, she has a really cute dresser and I added a mirror to the top of it.  She also has a little desk in her room with only book and pencils in it and a nightstand with books on it for her to read and that is it!  Her trunk(that is FILLED with animals) is still in her closet out of the way and her rule is the animals have to be in the trunk or mommy will throw them away.  She even helped me yesterday by throwing away 6 stuffed animals that she had left on the floor!  However, it was only after doing it that she told me it was because she wanted new ones.  Again, sigh.
I love that girl though, she is amazing in every way and her imagination and her heart is pretty incredible.  I guess it is a trade off? 

I have to laugh because really, I am the same way.  My house is filled with 'stuff'.  I love stuff.  I can tell you who gave me what, where I bought what, and when.  I can also probably tell you the price I paid for most of the things in my house.  Granted, I can't remember appointments, dates, what I was doing 5 minutes ago, what I really was going to write this blog about but, I can tell you in great detail the stories behind the 'things' in my house.  I guess when my mother would tell me when I was little, 'I can't wait until you have children, I hope you have one just like you.'  Well, she got her wish and frankly, I don't think it is all that bad. 

Granted, I drive me crazy, and frankly my 7 year old drives me crazy too but, we both have other great qualities and so there!  :-)

It really is amazing how different yet, how similar we all are and I am even more convinced than ever that Nature is MUCH more powerful than Nurture.  Don't get me wrong, they are both just as important but, you can't mess with nature, nature will always win.  You can change nurture and control nurture, you can't change or control nature.  You can try but, you will only get frustrated.  So, embrace that crazy child of yours, embrace those weird tendencies we all have and know THAT is how God made you and God doesn't make mistakes or create imperfect things.

Baby just woke up, need to really start my day now. 

Blessings to you all!

-Liza