No more messing around...

On a follow up to last blog, I have decided upon getting both the seasonal Flu shot and the Swine Flu shot as soon as I can get my hands on them.  We had someone close lose a baby this week from getting the H1N1 virus, and have had a brother, sister in law, 1 year old neice and mom all sick with it for the last several days. No more messing around... the risks of getting so severely sick and having complications outweigh my nervousness about immunizations.

Flu shot or not?

It's not a compliant, its a fact... it is a crappy time to be pregnant in your 3rd trimester. The news splashes stories every night about some pregnant lady or her baby that died from complications after getting the Swine Flu. And a slough of opinionists says if you are pregnant RUN to the nearest Dr. Office and get immunized because you are at the top of the list!
So why am I not running... of course I am concerned, and usually boarderlining a pessimistic hypochondriac when it comes to picking up illnesses. But after 8 years of working with kids with an array of developmental disabilities and seeing so closely the eerie similaries in low immune resistance, allergies and what even an annual flu shot does the majority of many kids...(nevermind the ZILLIONS of stories from intelligent mothers... excluding Jenny McCarthy... about 1st and 2nd year immunizations and their devestating effects on their childs development and of which I am certain that although it may not be the "cause" of Autism and spectrum disorders, there is an undeniable connection that shouldn't be discounted)... so Yes, I am hesitant to get myself immunized at the risks that the quickly manifactured, poorly tested swine flu vaccine places on our baby boy. (note: boys are almost 5 times more likely to develop a spectrum disorder than girls.. you should see the classes I have taught. If girls are in them at all they are most often seizure related delays, rather than full on spectrum classified  kids. So this stat in the back of my head may or may not be making the hesitation even greater to pump some engineered virus into the boy in my pregnant body).
So what are my options? Face mask in public. House bound recluse. Back to the witch doctor/ homeopath/acupuncturist( that didn't work getting us pregnant, so why would it safeguard against getting the swine flu?). Cross my fingers for the next 2 months. Or do I suck it up and take my chances with the vaccines. For the record, YES I am going to immunize the baby when it is born. I think it is irresponsible given the many options to minimalize doses, remove heavy metal toxins like mercury, stack and spread out the shots, to not get your child immunized at all. And worry for the trend of "say no to immunizations" when a measles or polio outbreak in public school leaves 19th century effects... but that is a topic for another day. Today I need to know what do I do? Flu shot or not? I just don't know...

360 Degrees of U2

My first exposure to U2 was in the 6th grade as I stole most of my taste in music off my older sisters CD collection. For years it didn't extend beyond The Joshua Tree, Achtung baby and a handful of bandwagon chart topping hits played on the River.. but with time and exposure ( much thanks to Matt's extensive U2 CD collection...) it has evolved into a healthy respect and enjoyment for most things produced by U2.
That healthy respect and enjoyment was blown out of the water Wednesday night when we saw them perform live at the Reliant Center here in Houston.
The show was unreal! The band's performance was insanely good with a great mix of new and classic U2 songs, blips of fan favorite covers (Beatles here comes the sun, Stand by Me, and Unchained Melody) and just enough human rights/ political agenda to leave you wholly satisfied but not nauseous. The house was completely packed and  I couldn't imagine anyone leaving disappointed and not humming the tune of Sunday Bloody Sunday for the next week!

In my opinion after seeing them live, U2 is one of the few groups still around that adaquately magnifies the traditional "oh so cool rock star persona" (please no arguments for No Doubt, Weezer or Coldplay-esque groups... although I am a fan, the discussion is completely moot until after they have an equal resume of 30+ years of great music under their belt and can still put on a concert of that magnitude) and for that reason alone U2 was worth every penny of admission price, and every minute of swollen pregnant feet and back ache I've had since Wednesdays concert. * Thank you to Darrell for the "you only live once/ get the stupid tickets" speech that resulted in Matts awesome birthday present!

Going... going... gone?

It is only wishful thinking that summer is gone for another year here in Texas...  While other parts of the country are enjoying autumn colors, jeans and hoodies, we are still in and out of the pools and running our AC much too high.  Here are a few of the 300 pictures Matt's dad took testing out his new fancy camera as we were playing with Murph in the pool the other day!

The fam... for about 3 more months

We told you our dog was awesome!

But sometimes a little bit obnoxious... and did we mention he is massive? We only put the cute little puppy picture on his profile so people wouldn't be scared to come over to our house...

Ah I love my babes... I hope the baby looks just like him!