Pissed Off

I posted this article to my FB page a few days ago, but I'm STILL mad about it.

For the record, I have never had an abortion, but it wouldn't matter if I had.  Cooper is not a punishment from God.  No one that cute and sweet could ever be a punishment.  Yes, Cooper can be challenging, but I think that's a GOOD thing.  Obviously, God thought I could handle Cooper.  Cooper has already taught me so much.  The biggest thing I have learned is to look at the good instead of the bad.  I choose to see all that Cooper IS doing, and hope he will continue to do more.  If I only looked at what Cooper is not doing, I would drive myself crazy.  So already, Cooper is making me a better person.  

My Aunt Frannie had the best comment.  She said that "he should be shot."  That might be a little extreme, but he does need to learn to keep his mouth shut.  Sorry, this has been floating around my head for several days.  It just makes me so angry that anyone could be this wrong.

Here is the article:

Virginia lawmaker: Children with disabilities are God’s punishment to women who previously had abortions.

By Amanda Terkel on Feb 22, 2010 at 1:45 pm

On Thursday, Virginia State Delegate Bob Marshall (R) spoke at a press conference against state funding for Planned Parenthood. He blasted the organization for supporting a women’s right to choose, saying that God punishes women who have had abortions by giving them disabled children:

“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically.Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall, a Republican.

“In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”

Marshall is also fighting against health care reform, saying that “Obamacare” is trying to take “your soul.” Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has been pushing back against high-profile figures and entities who have been attacking people with disabilities. Will she speak out against someone in her own party?

Tag, You're it!

My cousin, Lauren, tagged me in a "Getting to Know Me" post.  And since Cooper is at school and laundry is done, I thought I'd participate.

First Things First, The Rules:

• You must post the rules.
• Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
• Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
• Tag eleven people and link them on your post
• Let them know you've tagged them!

Here are my 11 fun facts:

1. I want to go on my honeymoon again.  Right now.  It was an amazing month, and Brad and I could really use a vacation right now.

2.  I'm not excited about entering the last year of my 20's.  

3. I love Cooper, but I really want to have a "normal" child too.  BUT, I'm worried that I won't be good at being a mom to a normal child.

4. I love the slightly sore feeling you get after a good workout.  Crazy, I know.

5. I would love to do a year of culinary school- just to get all the basics.

6. I miss teaching, and having a regular schedule.

7. I love my pets.  They're both awesome (Sicily is currently VERY interested in what I am typing).  We got lucky.

8. I've been getting crafty lately, and I kinda like it.

9. Watching Cooper bounce and laugh is my new favorite thing.  Putting him in one of his bouncers can completely turn his mood around.

10. Brad has vacation next week and I really want to go see a movie.

11. I can't wait to go to New York next month!!! 

My Questions from Lauren

1. Who or what influences you most in your life? My parents: they are my model for marriage.  
2. What is your favorite vacation spot? What fond memory do you have of the place? My favorite vacation is still camping in North Carolina, which my family did for many years.  I remember playing cards with my siblings and cousins.  Ad swimming and tubing in the cold, cold creek.
3. If you could go back in time and meet anyone, who would it be and why? Shakespeare.  I bet he had a great sense of humor.
4. If you could take a class to learn something new, what would it be? What would you do with your new skill? I would love to take a photography class.  Then I could take "professional" pictures of Cooper.
5. What is your best childhood memory?  Going swimming every day during the summer.  I looked forward to the start of the swimming season all year.
6. What is your favorite sweet treat to bake? I love making cupcakes.
7. What recent movie made you laugh outloud? Which made you cry? "Date Night" made me laugh out loud.  "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was just so sad.  Poor Caesar.
8. What is a book you could read over and over and over again?  To Kill a Mockingbird.
9. What is something on your bucket list that you want to do? What is something you already have done? I want to go to Egypt so badly.  I have been to Pompeii and Rome!!
10. What is something you would NOT do for $1 million? Streak in a public place.
11. What is something you hope to pass on to your children? I hope to get to travel with them and pass on a love and respect for other cultures and people.
    
    
    My Questions:
    1. If you could live in any era, what would it be and why?
    2. What is your dream vacation?
    3. If money was no issue, what would you do with your life?  Why?
    4. What is your favorite Christmas memory?
    5. What is your favorite season?  Why?
    6. What was the last book you read that you just couldn't put down?
    7. If you could move anywhere in the world (and have all your family and friends come with you) where would you want to live?
    8. What is your favorite thing to cook?
    9. What is the best restaurant you've eaten in ?
    10. What do you most admire about your spouse/significant other?
    11. What 3 people would you most want to have dinner with?
    
    
    My Tags:
    Sarah
    Christine
    Katie
    Melanie
    Kara
    Julia
    Lauren
    Emily
    Sarah
    Katie
    Mary

One year canvas

I created a canvas at Shutterfly to celebrate Cooper being one and happy.  I just love the pictures Diane took of Cooper that day.  Here is the canvas:

Mounted Wall Art

View the entire collection of cards.

Cutest Little Sleeper

Cooper has always been a really good sleeper.  And he is so cute while doing it.  Plus, his Aunt Semmes says I need to put more pictures on my blog.  So here are some good ones of the sleeping:

Even as a newborn, he was a great sleeper!

He could sleep on top of other people, including his BFF Zane.

He could sleep on Daddy's arm.

He still does this sometimes,

He could sleep sitting up.

He can even sleep in the hospital, which has been a good thing.

He loves to sleep next to Mommy.

And when Aunt Semmes is studying.

Handicap Parking Pass

Cooper is 16 months old and weighs 22.5 pounds.  He doesn't sit up by himself, crawl, walk, etc.  And now he's REALLY heavy.  So we talked to Cooper's pediatrician and she agreed that it was time for us to get a handicap parking pass.  I'm only going to use it when he is in the car, promise.  She filled out a form, I filled out a form, and voila, parking pass (really, it was almost TOO easy).  My arms and shoulders are already grateful!

Quiet Blog

I know that my blog has been a little quiet lately, but that is because Cooper has NO DOCTORS APPOINTMENTS!!!!  He had his third synegis shot Wednesday.  And man, has he figured out what those are.  He was all happy, sitting in my lap and making cooing noises in the room.  Then the nurse came in with the shots.  And we started taking his pants off.  And then he lost it.  He screamed and kicked and squirmed and didn't stop screaming until he got so exhausted that he just passed out on me.  Needless to say, he did not have a good day at school that day.

And speaking of school, Cooper has not had the easiest readjustment period.  He was, as his physical therapist so delicately put it, a pill.  Everytime he had any therapy for the first three days, he threw huge temper tantrums.  They were so bad that the therapists were concerned that they were physically hurting him.  I assured them that this was not the case; I do the same things with him at home and he is fine.  I think it was a combination of missing me and realizing that he has the power to control his environment and not do something that he doesn't want to do.  So cognitively, this is a good thing.  But it's making it hard to give him the therapies he needs.  By Friday, though, he had calmed down a lot.  Hopefully he is starting to get back into the swing of things at school. 

One last thing.  When Cooper started going to Medical Home Clinic (the doctor that is kinda like the overseer of his care), Dr. Becton had wanted him to see Dr. Casey.  Dr. Casey is a developmental specialist.  He is really well respected in his field and actually runs two clinics at Children's: the Medical Home Clinic and the Growth and Developmental Clinic.  Well, we didn't get to see him.  The doc we saw has been fine, but his specialty is eating issues.  And now that we have that all figured out, it seems silly to continue seeing him and not the doctor that can follow Cooper long term and be much more beneficial.  Brad actaully met Dr. Casey last week through work.  He told him and his nurse about Cooper, and Dr. Casey is going to see him next week!  He told us that when we originally wanted to see him, his sister had just passed away and he wasn't taking new patients.  But he got us right in to see him (usually it takes months to get in to see him).  So yay!  That appointment is the 18th, and it's going to be a long one!  But hopefully he'll have some new and good advice to give us.

For Sarah (his current schedule)

Cooper's current schedule is MUCH less complicated (really)!  So let's just jump right in:

7-7:30 a.m.- Cooper wakes up.  It's amazing that he wakes up at exactly the same time everyday.

7:30- Cooper gets 600 mg of Sabril and 7.5 mg of Prevacid in 50 mL of water.  He gets one puff of Flovent.  We also brush his teeth at this time.

8:00 a.m.- Mondays through Fridays, I leave to take Cooper to school.

9:00 a.m.- Cooper eats 145 mL of formula.

11:00 a.m.- Cooper gets 50 mL of water.

1:00 p,m.- 145 mL of formula

3:00 pm.- 50 mL of water

3:30 p.m.- This is when Cooper gets picked up from school.

5:00 p.m.- 145 mL of formula

6:00 p.m.- Cooper eats real food.

6:30 p.m.- Cooper gets a bath, since he usually gets pretty dirty eating solid food.

7:00 p.m.  Cooper gets 750 mg of Sabril and 7.5 mg of Prevacid in 50 mL of water.  He gets one puff of Flovent.  We also brush his teeth at this time.

8:00 p.m.- Cooper goes to bed and starts his overnight feed of 390 mL.  It ends sometime around 6 a.m.

Good start to a new year

Last year, as 2010 was coming to an end, we were in the emergency room because Cooper had pnuemonia.  It was a GREAT start to 2011 (note the vast amounts of sarcasm in that statement).  This year, things are looking much better.  Cooper is back at school full time today.  He is reaching for things, jumping like a crazy man, smiling when he sees me, crying when he's mad, pulling up to sit up straight (not the same thing as sitting up all the time, but we're getting there), etc.  Also, he's healthy.  No throwing up, no breathing issues, no seizures.  It's kinda awesome.  I almost don't want to talk about it, like I'm going to jinx it.  But really, compared to last year, things are good.