Autism "Aggravated" by Vaccines

This is a LONG read, but if you're interested, it's worth the time. Josh and I decided not to give Kate any immunizations until she's at least 2 years old, and possibly not even then. We did all the required shots for Lauren and Hayden with no negative outcome, but didn't want to jinx it. So, if you're thinking we're just a coupla hippies, here's some of why we made our decision. If you do read it, let me know what your thoughts are on the subject, even if you don't have kids.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/government-concedes-vacci_b_88
323.html

Government Concedes Vaccine-Autism Case in Federal Court - Now What?

After years of insisting there is no evidence to link vaccines with the
onset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the US government has quietly
conceded a vaccine-autism case in the Court of Federal Claims.

The unprecedented concession was filed on November 9, and sealed to
protect the plaintiff's identify. It was obtained through individuals
unrelated to the case.

The claim, one of 4,900 autism cases currently pending in Federal
"Vaccine Court," was conceded by US Assistant Attorney General Peter
Keisler and other Justice Department officials, on behalf of the
Department of Health and Human Services, the "defendant" in all Vaccine
Court cases.

The child's claim against the government -- that mercury-containing
vaccines were the cause of her autism -- was supposed to be one of three
"test cases" for the thimerosal-autism theory currently under
consideration by a three-member panel of Special Masters, the presiding
justices in Federal Claims Court.

Keisler wrote that medical personnel at the HHS Division of Vaccine
Injury Compensation (DVIC) had reviewed the case and "concluded that
compensation is appropriate."

The doctors conceded that the child was healthy and developing normally
until her 18-month well-baby visit, when she received vaccinations
against nine different diseases all at once (two contained thimerosal).

Days later, the girl began spiraling downward into a cascade of
illnesses and setbacks that, within months, presented as symptoms of
autism, including: No response to verbal direction; loss of language
skills; no eye contact; loss of "relatedness;" insomnia; incessant
screaming; arching; and "watching the florescent lights repeatedly
during examination."

Seven months after vaccination, the patient was diagnosed by Dr. Andrew
Zimmerman, a leading neurologist at the Kennedy Krieger Children's
Hospital Neurology Clinic, with "regressive encephalopathy (brain
disease) with features consistent with autistic spectrum disorder,
following normal development." The girl also met the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) official criteria for
autism.

In its written concession, the government said the child had a
pre-existing mitochondrial disorder that was "aggravated" by her shots,
and which ultimately resulted in an ASD diagnosis.

"The vaccinations received on July 19, 2000, significantly aggravated an
underlying mitochondrial disorder," the concession says, "which
predisposed her to deficits in cellular energy metabolism, and
manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of ASD."

This statement is good news for the girl and her family, who will now be
compensated for the lifetime of care she will require. But its
implications for the larger vaccine-autism debate, and for public health
policy in general, are not as certain.

In fact, the government's concession seems to raise more questions than
it answers.

1) Is there a connection between vaccines, mitochondrial disorders and a
diagnosis of autism, at least in some cases?

Mitochondria, you may recall from biology class, are the little
powerhouses within cells that convert food into electrical energy,
partly through a complex process called "oxidative phosphorylation." If
this process is impaired, mitochondrial disorder will ensue.

The child in this case had several markers for Mt disease, which was
confirmed by muscle biopsy. Mt disease is often marked by lethargy, poor
muscle tone, poor food digestion and bowel problems, something found in
many children diagnosed with autism.

But mitochondrial disorders are rare in the general population,
affecting some 2-per-10,000 people (or just 0.2%). So with 4,900 cases
filed in Vaccine Court, this case should be the one and only, extremely
rare instance of Mt disease in all the autism proceedings.

But it is not.

Mitochondrial disorders are now thought to be the most common disease
associated with ASD. Some journal articles and other analyses have
estimated that 10% to 20% of all autism cases may involve mitochondrial
disorders, which would make them one thousand times more common among
people with ASD than the general population.

Another article, published in the Journal of Child Neurology and
co-authored by Dr. Zimmerman, showed that 38% of Kennedy Krieger
Institute autism patients studied had one marker for impaired oxidative
phosphorylation, and 47% had a second marker.

The authors -- who reported on a case-study of the same autism claim
conceded in Vaccine Court -- noted that "children who have
(mitochondrial-related) dysfunctional cellular energy metabolism might
be more prone to undergo autistic regression between 18 and 30 months of
age if they also have infections or immunizations at the same time."

An interesting aspect of Mt disease in autism is that, with ASD, the
mitochondrial disease seems to be milder than in "classic" cases of Mt
disorder. In fact, classic Mt disease is almost always inherited, either
passed down by the mother through mitochondrial DNA, or by both parents
through nuclear DNA.

In autism-related Mt disease, however, the disorder is not typically
found in other family members, and instead appears to be largely of the
sporadic variety, which may now account for 75% of all mitochondrial
disorders.

Meanwhile, an informal survey of seven families of children with cases
currently pending in Vaccine Court revealed that all seven showed
markers for mitochondrial dysfunction, dating back to their earliest
medical tests. The facts in all seven claims mirror the case just
conceded by the government: Normal development followed by vaccination,
immediate illness, and rapid decline culminating in an autism diagnosis.

2) With 4,900 cases pending, and more coming, will the government
concede those with underlying Mt disease -- and if it not, will the
Court award compensation?

The Court will soon begin processing the 4900 cases pending before it.
What if 10% to 20% of them can demonstrate the same Mt disease and same
set of facts as those in the conceded case? Would the government be
obliged to concede 500, or even 1,000 cases? What impact would that have
on public opinion? And is there enough money currently in the vaccine
injury fund to cover so many settlements?

When asked for a comment last week about the court settlement, a
spokesman for HHS furnished the following written statement:




"DVIC has reviewed the scientific information concerning the allegation
that vaccines cause autism and has found no credible evidence to support
the claim. Accordingly, in every case under the Vaccine Act, DVIC has
maintained the position that vaccines do not cause autism, and has never
concluded in any case that autism was caused by vaccination."

3) If the government is claiming that vaccines did not "cause" autism,
but instead aggravated a condition to "manifest" as autism, isn't that a
very fine distinction?

For most affected families, such linguistic gymnastics is not so
important. And even if a vaccine injury "manifested" as autism in only
one case, isn't that still a significant development worthy of informing
the public?

On the other hand, perhaps what the government is claiming is that
vaccination resulted in the symptoms of autism, but not in an actual,
factually correct diagnosis of autism itself.

4) If the government is claiming that this child does NOT have autism,
then how many other children might also have something else that merely
"mimics" autism?

Is it possible that 10%-20% of the cases that we now label as "autism,"
are not autism at all, but rather some previously undefined "look-alike"
syndrome that merely presents as "features" of autism?

This question gets to the heart of what autism actually is. The disorder
is defined solely as a collection of features, nothing more. If you have
the features (and the diagnosis), you have the disorder. The underlying
biology is the great unknown.

But let's say the government does determine that these kids don't have
actual "autism" (something I speculated on HuffPost a year ago). Then
shouldn't the Feds go back and test all people with ASD for impaired
oxidative phosphorylation, perhaps reclassifying many of them?

If so, will we then see "autism" cases drop by tens, if not hundreds of
thousands of people? Will there be a corresponding ascension of a newly
described disorder, perhaps something like "Vaccine Aggravated
Mitochondrial Disease with Features of ASD?"

And if this child was technically "misdiagnosed" with DSM-IV autism by
Dr Zimmerman, how does he feel about HHS doctors issuing a second
opinion re-diagnosis of his patient, whom they presumably had neither
met nor examined? (Zimmerman declined an interview).

And along those lines, aren't Bush administration officials somewhat
wary of making long-distance, retroactive diagnoses from Washington,
given that the Terry Schiavo incident has not yet faded from national
memory?

5) Was this child's Mt disease caused by a genetic mutation, as the
government implies, and wouldn't that have manifested as "ASD features"
anyway?

In the concession, the government notes that the patient had a "single
nucleotide change" in the mitochondrial DNA gene T2387C, implying that
this was the underlying cause of her manifested "features" of autism.

While it's true that some inherited forms of Mt disease can manifest as
developmental delays, (and even ASD in the form of Rhett Syndrome) these
forms are linked to identified genetic mutations, of which T2387C is not
involved. In fact little, if anything, is known about the function of
this particular gene.

What's more, there is no evidence that this girl, prior to vaccination,
suffered from any kind of "disorder" at all- genetic, mitochondrial or
otherwise. Some forms of Mt disease are so mild that the person is
unaware of being affected. This perfectly developing girl may have had
Mt disorder at the time of vaccination, but nobody detected, or even
suspected it.

And, there is no evidence to suggest that this girl would have regressed
into symptoms consistent with a DSM-IV autism diagnosis without her
vaccinations. If there was such evidence, then why on earth would these
extremely well-funded government attorneys compensate this alleged
injury in Vaccine Court? Why wouldn't they move to dismiss, or at least
fight the case at trial?

6) What are the implications for research?

The concession raises at least two critical research questions: What are
the causes of Mt dysfunction; and how could vaccines aggravate that
dysfunction to the point of "autistic features?"

While some Mt disorders are clearly inherited, the "sporadic" form is
thought to account for 75% of all cases, according to the United
Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. So what causes sporadic Mt disease?
"Medicines or other toxins," says the Cleveland Clinic, a leading
authority on the subject.

Use of the AIDS drug AZT, for example, can cause Mt disorders by
deleting large segments of mitochondrial DNA. If that is the case, might
other exposures to drugs or toxins (i.e., thimerosal, mercury in fish,
air pollution, pesticides, live viruses) also cause sporadic Mt disease
in certain subsets of children, through similar genotoxic mechanisms?

Among the prime cellular targets of mercury are mitochondria, and
thimerosal-induced cell death has been associated with the
depolarization of mitochondrial membrane, according to the International
Journal of Molecular Medicine among several others. (Coincidently, the
first case of Mt disease was diagnosed in 1959, just 15 years after the
first autism case was named, and two decades after thimerosal's
introduction as a vaccine preservative.)

Regardless of its cause, shouldn't HHS sponsor research into Mt disease
and the biological mechanisms by which vaccines could aggravate the
disorder? We still do not know what it was, exactly, about this girl's
vaccines that aggravated her condition. Was it the thimerosal? The three
live viruses? The two attenuated viruses? Other ingredients like
aluminum? A combination of the above?

And of course, if vaccine injuries can aggravate Mt disease to the point
of manifesting as autism features, then what other underlying disorders
or conditions (genetic, autoimmune, allergic, etc.) might also be
aggravated to the same extent?

7) What are the implications for medicine and public health?

Should the government develop and approve new treatments for "aggravated
mitochondrial disease with ASD features?" Interestingly, many of the
treatments currently deployed in Mt disease (i.e., coenzyme Q10, vitamin
B-12, lipoic acid, biotin, dietary changes, etc.) are part of the
alternative treatment regimen that many parents use on their children
with ASD.

And, if a significant minority of autism cases can be linked to Mt
disease and vaccines, shouldn't these products one day carry an FDA
Black Box warning label, and shouldn't children with Mt disorders be
exempt from mandatory immunization?

8) What are the implications for the vaccine-autism debate?

It's too early to tell. But this concession could conceivably make it
more difficult for some officials to continue insisting there is
"absolutely no link" between vaccines and autism.

It also puts the Federal Government's Vaccine Court defense strategy
somewhat into jeopardy. DOJ lawyers and witnesses have argued that
autism is genetic, with no evidence to support an environmental
component. And, they insist, it's simply impossible to construct a chain
of events linking immunizations to the disorder.

Government officials may need to rethink their legal strategy, as well
as their public relations campaigns, given their own slightly
contradictory concession in this case.

9) What is the bottom line here?

The public, (including world leaders) will demand to know what is going
on inside the US Federal health establishment. Yes, as of now, n=1, a
solitary vaccine-autism concession. But what if n=10% or 20%? Who will
pay to clean up that mess?

The significance of this concession will unfortunately be fought over in
the usual, vitriolic way -- and I fully expect to be slammed for even
raising these questions. Despite that, the language of this concession
cannot be changed, or swept away.

Its key words are "aggravated" and "manifested." Without the aggravation
of the vaccines, it is uncertain that the manifestation would have
occurred at all.

When a kid with peanut allergy eats a peanut and dies, we don't say "his
underlying metabolic condition was significantly aggravated to the
extent of manifesting as an anaphylactic shock with features of death."

No, we say the peanut killed the poor boy. Remove the peanut from the
equation, and he would still be with us today.

Many people look forward to hearing more from HHS officials about why
they are settling this claim. But whatever their explanation, they
cannot change the fundamental facts of this extraordinary case:

The United State government is compensating at least one child for
vaccine injuries that resulted in a diagnosis of autism.

And that is big news, no matter how you want to say it.

NOTE: Full text of the government's statement is posted here.

David Kirby is the author of "Evidence of Harm - Mercury in Vaccines and
the Autism Epidemic, A Medical Controversy" (St. Martins Press 2005.

Wierd Ass Dream

I hear people talk about their dreams and they always seem to make some sort of sense. Josh has dreams that are just an extension of his real life. Like he's got a really cool car, or he's on a great vacation, etc. If they get scary, he has enough control to wake himself from his nightmare. Can anyone else do that? I sure can't. I am deep in my crazy world.
The only other person I know who has dreams as wierd as mine is my dad. I must have gotten it from him.
I had a dream last night that I was at prom, in some rundown house. Josh was wearing his fleece and I was wearing someone's borrowed dress. Josh was grumpy, so I decided to go for a walk with my friends Kara, Devon, Sarah and others. We were walking through a cave that reminded me of Indiana Jones. I somehow became barefoot, so Devon carried me piggy back. After climbing a fence to get into Sarah's backyard, we finally made it back to the party. Josh was mad that I was on Devon's back. Jason Rood was sitting at a table having people sign a petition for an Animal Sanctuary. So, what the heck do you think THAT might mean...? I don't do drugs, but I'm starting to think they might help...

Puppies!!

So we finally went to see Josh's dad out in Sheridan. Their miniature dachsunds had puppies in December. Yes, that would be mini minis. Oh yes. There were 5 blonde bundles of fur running around in a kennel. It was a serious cuteness overload. They were pouncing eachother and nearly biting the ears off of their mother. The best was when the mom was nursing them. She's so short that she just stood there while they all got on their backs and slid under her like they were changing the oil. 5 soft little tummies all sticking up while they ate. These pictures are unrelated, just freaking hilarious.

Since Fox Won't Talk About Him

Just sent an email to Fox News to express my disappointment with their complete lack of coverage for Ron Paul. They actually have the tagline, "We Report. You Decide." on their webpage. Looks like they've already decided for millions of Americans who rely on them for their "news", bless their ignorant hearts...

Whether or not you support Ron Paul, you've got to pay attention to this screwiness. Yes, I just wrote "screwiness".

Monday Monday....

(That would be the Mamas and the Papas song) I actually hate them. Josh had the cd when we got married and it got stuck in our cd player in the car when some jerk off broke in and stole just the face of the stereo. You couldn't turn it off, just down. So if you wanted music, it was always the "Best of the Mamas and the Papas". It was my own private hell. Josh still likes them, but he's crazy.

Yesterday was another birthday party day. We had one at 12 at the aquatic center, or as my dad calls it, the bean dip. It was actually really fun. Josh and I didn't have our suits, but the kids played in the pool for almost 2 hours. They were nice and pruney by the time we left. While we were there, we looked into a membership. It's cheap! For $130, the whole family gets in to the pool and gym for 3 months! I think we might do it, we'll see. The place has been totally renovated, so it's really nice now too. They even put in a giant water slide. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Lauren and Hayden going down it. Hayden's brave, but Lauren's a huge wimp. She loved it though!
At 5pm, Lauren had another party at a pizza place. I just dropped her off for this one. No need to sit around and talk to a bunch of people I don't know when I could just come back in an hour and a half.
So after we went to the Thompsons' house on Saturday, I've been feeling a huge weight on me to get my house in order. My goal is going to be getting this house ready to sell, even if it's not going to be for awhile still. Josh was actually contemplating getting a POD in our driveway so we could redo the entire upstairs. We need to replace the carpet, either with new carpet or laminate wood. I think we'd probably go with carpet, but wood would be sweet. We also need to repaint the whole upstairs. Anyone in for some manual labor??? :)
Alright, so I guess I should start doing some of this work I'm talking about. Writing it in a blog won't get it done. Damn.

Happy New Year!

Ok, so it's already the 10th.

Well, to catch everyone up on my EXCITING life:
We had a great Christmas. It was one of those really meaningful ones for me for some reason. Not too much going on to enjoy the people I was with. We started out at the Chilcotts on Christmas Eve and did the annual prime rib dinner followed by some present action. Their gift to us was a trip to Disneyland in March. Woohoo! We opened presents in the morning at our house. The kids were pretty stoked that the "reindeer" chewed up and spit out their carrots all over the yard. We headed over to the Macs after that for the real Christmas. :) It was great. Our big present from my parents and Papa & Connie was a trip to a house in Sunriver for a week in June. I can't wait! We went to see "Water Horse" afterwards. Cute movie. Cheesy as heck, but cute.
We spent New Years at the Strauss' party. Lauren and Hayden stayed at Gramma Sue and Papa Jim's overnight. Kate came with us. She's a party animal.
Since then, we've just been catching up. The kids finally went back to school on the 7th. Christmas vacation is WAY too long in my opinion.
Hayden got a dirtbike for Christmas, so he and Josh have been riding it around the neighborhood. He can do it by himself now, which is good, but freaks me out. Josh took him last weekend to get his gear. He has a helmet, gloves, boots, shirt, pants, knee pads, elbow pads and a collar. He looks like a power ranger when he's in all of it. Pretty hilarious.
Lauren is completley obsessed with her new ipod. They watch a movie on it in her bed every night before bed. It's so cute.
Josh is getting into the groove of his new job. It's so nice to actually eat dinner together again.
Everyone is really enjoying Kate. She's an awesome and really funny baby. She LOVES the tv. I can set her down on the floor and she'll "watch" it for 10 minutes or so. She talks to it and smiles. She's even been sleeping on and off through the night. The other day, she went to bed at 11pm and didn't wake up until 9am. She woke up happy and didn't even want to eat until after 10. I kept wondering if she was ok, but she was fine! Really, besides being a little on the barfy side, she's perfect! The cloth diaper thing has really proven itself to me. I was using up some disposables that I found in one of the hand me down bins from Emily. She instantly got a little rash and woke up several times during the night. The minute I went back to her cloth, she was back to normal. It's a little more work for sure, and she doesn't fit into her clothes very well with the J-Lo butt, but it's totally worth it and I feel good about not needing to upsize my trash can.
I just found out that my sister in law Jessica is pregnant. This is not totally good news. She's kind of a looney and has all sorts of health issues. I'm happy for her because she and her husband have been trying for awhile, but I'm also nervous about what kind of freaky child they will have.
Well, I'm off to do more laundry. It's never ending around here. I'm blessed to have a warm house with a laundry room in it. I would be a really unhappy person if I had to use a laundromat for all this laundry.

December

Well, here it is, 5 days from Christmas. It's been a crazy month (or 3). We started the month out with an insane storm that pretty much wiped out Vernonia. Thankfully, Amy and her family were safe, except for that storage unit of Maggie and Rich's that was filled 5 feet with water...and the Airstream that went missing after floating down the creek...but everyONE was ok.
Josh and I saw the Trans Siberian Orchestra (see prev. post) on the 2nd.
We had Hayden's birthday party at Pump it Up on the 9th. It really was a blast. The best part was Sarah Thompson, Haley and I racing through an obstacle course. I went flying through a very small opening and threw myself on top of Haley, who in turn flew onto Molly. Did I stop? Hell no, I won. Josh challenged me to a race. I was all cocky and thought it was no challenge. I was wrong, very wrong. I even cheated and started without him. By the time I was about 1/5 of the way through, he was done. I swear, he's got super powers. And to top it all off, Hayden puked at his party, which was awesome.
Thursday, the 13th, my parents took Hayden to the Holiday Express steam engine ride from Oaks Park. He loved it and keeps calling it the Polar Express, like the movie. So what if they didn't go to the North Pole, he doesn't care.
On the 14th, Amy came and took Hayden toy shopping & to dinner. They spent the evening together. She did the same with Lauren for her birthday in November, only they went clothes shopping. She pretty much outdid herself. They both had so much fun and felt really special.
Kara had a Christmas party on the 15th. At the last minute, my very good friend Sarah from high school, decided to come. She took the train from Tacoma and spent the weekend with us. Crazy enough, after almost 10 years, we still think the same and finish eachother's sentences. It was really great. The party was fantastic, we stayed until 2am, with Kate in tow. She was a trooper, I tell you. She only cried on the way there and back. I mean, the entire trip. But she was happy as a clam at the party!
My parents had a party on the 16th, sort of an extended Sunday dinner. We had the usual crew, minus the Thompsons (they're in Florida) plus the Sprechers, Ashley's mom and step dad, Amy & the Chilcott boys. Andrew is back in town for a month, so it was good to see him. He finally got to meet Kate.
The 18th was Mom's birthday, so Emily, Haley & I took her to lunch at Red Robin. Mmmm, I could eat there every day.
Today is Pajama Day at Mooberry. Hayden's wearing his new Spiderman jammies and Lauren's wearing her purple long johns with pink furry slippers. So cute. It's Hayden's last day until after the break. Tomorrow's Lauren's last day. I'm going to miss school...
So, the weekend is fast approaching, thank God. Josh is going to have a 4 day weekend, which is much needed after starting his new job. He's absolutely exhausted. He's not used to getting up at 7:30 every morning. And because he's going through all this new employee training, he doesn't have enough time to get his actual job done, so he's staying late every night. I'm looking forward to him being on a schedule, knowing when he'll be home for dinner, etc. But until then, we'll just keep passing like ships in the night and wait for that day.
I can't believe it, only 5 days 'til Christmas! I need to get myself in the spirit! Maybe some music will help. Bing, take it away!

Love you all, Merry Christmas!!!

"Rock Never Dies!"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=irYg8dl_P8E&feature=related

Yes, I heard that yelled at this show last night. We went to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. We aquired tickets to the sold out show because Aaron's family goes every year. It's a tradition that dates back (I have no idea) years. Well, his mom passed away last year & in order to keep the tradition alive, Aaron bought tickets as soon as they went on sale. Come to find out, his dad wouldn't be able to go. He was going to be in Mexico with his new wife. Yes, already...
So, we got tickets.
I don't know exactly what I expected, but it wasn't this. I was picturing a much more elegant show. Not to say I didn't LOVE it, just totally more "mullet", than elegant. There was a drunk woman headbanging right next to Aaron and some unfortunate 9-ish year old girl who was literally worshipping the band from a standing position. Probably pissing off the people behind her. There were a lot of "rock" hands. You know, like the sign language "I love you", but more devil horns.
I don't know if you can tell unless you know what to look for, but in the video you can see a girl running around with a violin. She was crazy & awesome. Anyway, this show pretty much kicked butt. We hope to go again next year with the kids. Anyone want to watch Kate? :)

Changes

Well, today was Josh's last day as a full time employee of the Public Defenders' office. He starts his new job for the Library Services on Saturday. It's a bittersweet day for both of us. He has been working there for an astonishing 10 years. I met him downtown for lunch today. We actually ate in his lunchroom with a bunch of his coworkers. There were so many well-wishers and genuinely sad goodbyes. We went back to his office after lunch and as I was sitting there nursing Kate and Josh was down the hall taking care of last minute business, I was thinking about all the times I had come downtown for lunch with him. The first time was when we were first dating. My car overheated on the freeway and I was about 45 minutes late and had no cell phone to call him. It was mighty embarrassing... I was remembering all the times I brought our kids in to see him, starting with baby Lauren and ending today with baby Kate. Wierd, we're so much older now. He started that job in highschool and we're 27 years old now with 3 kids.
So here's to new beginnings!

Aaah, Christmas is Here!

Kate is just about the best thing EVER. She's wearing a giant puffy lavender bunting with a hood. I took her outside to visit with the neighbors while Josh was putting up lights and the big kids were riding their bikes. She was passed around like a joint between the women on my street. She's so good. I am so cold however, that my butt is actually numb. I mean really numb. The blood is making its way back to my extremities, but the rear end is always last to warm back up. Or as Ashley would call it, my honches.
So yeah, we have our Christmas lights up! And the inside is decorated too, all but the tree. It just instantly puts me in a better mood.
Well, that is all for now. I'm heading downstairs to watch The Santa Clause with the fam. I'm a tad giddy.

Suburbia Sucketh

Sunday was Lauren's birthday party. It pretty much rocked everyone's socks off. Literally. The party was at OGA (Oregon Gymnastics Academy). There were 18 kids there, along with their parents and a few brave childless adults. The best part was the foam pit. Jon, Haley, Maggie and I went in with the kids. I could see the look of interest in a few of the other adults (Josh, Stefan, Emily) but they didn't make it in. The only thing is you have to remember to remove socks BEFORE jumping in. It's a little like quicksand and will eat your socks. Luckily, no socks were hurt in the making of this party.
When the mayhem, uh I mean party was over, Papa and Connie took Lauren, Hayden and Audrey to the "River House". This would be Connie's son's vacation home near Battleground. Connie's granddaughter Sarah was there with her mom Pam. The kids had a wonderful time. Connie said the only problem was with Hayden. He wanted more Froot Loops. :)
So, since the kids were gone, Josh and I decided to go to dinner. We still had Kate, but she doesn't eat so she's still a cheap date. We headed out a little after 8 and NOTHING was open. Seriously, we tried like 4 different places. We went to Safeway, bought food to make at home and then found a sushi place right next door on our way out. It was open 'til 9:30. Sweeeet. We followed our sushi dinner with a trip to Blockbuster. We found 4 previously viewed dvds. Yes, we OWN Borat now.

Jake's Blog

Awhile back, I came across this blog that is written by a Marine. At the time, he was actually in Iraq. He's back in the States now, in Twenty Nine Palms but he's still writing. He's funny and well-spoken, check him out.

I know we all want this war to be over and for our troops to come home. My brother in law, Lucas is in Iraq at this very moment. Whether we are republican, democrat or other, we all agree that Bush is a moron. (At least I think we all agree on that). Here's a good example though of the other side of the story.

Jake's Blog from October 23rd:

Stark apologizes for saying troops die for Bush's 'amusement'

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Rep. Pete Stark, D-California, apologized Tuesday on the House floor for his recent comments saying troops in Iraq were getting "their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

It's not the blatant stupidity and insensitivity of this remark that is getting my blood boiling, its Starks' blanket assumption that everyone fighting in Iraq A)is a political pawn of President Bush B) doesn't know what they are fighting for C) somehow didn't volunteer for the ALL VOLUNTEER MILITARY and D) doesn't want to be over there.

This is right up John Kerry's alley of saying that if you don't do well in school that you'll end up stuck in Iraq. Wow. Hey, thanks for the thumbs up and high fives guys. Us dumb-shits over in Iraq really appreciate being publicly humiliated and used as political propaganda.

I really hope that if, God forbid, anything were to happen to me in Iraq, that congressmen like Stark, and there are dozens of them, would have the guts to walk up to my mom and tell them that I died for the President's amusement. I think my mom would punch them in the face. I take that back, my mom is way too nice of a lady to lower herself to that standard, but maybe with luck my dog would relieve himself on the guy's $1000 tax payer funded shoes.

Take your apology and jump off a bridge. For my amusement.

Hi, I'm Sarah the Elf

So I was talking to Josh yesterday as we were getting ready. I was suggesting that we figure out our Christmas lists and gift ideas and get started on shopping. He basically shut me down and said that gifts are stupid.
Well, as much as I wanted to smack him, I agree to some extent. We were talking about how dumb it is that we go out every year looking for stuff to buy for eachother and end up getting stuff just to get stuff. He's much more concerned with this whole consumerism thing than I am, but I get it. Every year, when we get home from our gift exchange extravaganza, there's a TON of little plastic stuff to find a home for as well as all the packaging to throw away. It kind of sucks, but it's something we all just accept.
I love shopping, there's no denying it. Josh and many others don't feel the same way. It actually hinders the Christmas spirit for him. That makes me sad, like he's missing out on the giddyness I have starting the day after Thanksgiving and all through December just because he's dreading the mall.
How 'bout a homemade Christmas next year? I know we don't have time to do it this year, but next? Huh huh huh?
Ok, I'm stepping off my soap box now. G'Day.

Stuck.

I can't leave the house because all three of my bras have puke on them. Thank you Kate.

What's Next?

Flash for the cure, really?
Amy and I have this little game, where we point out all the ridiculous breast cancer awareness merchandise that is out on the market. We have seen gardening supplies, dog collars, shoes, excercise & sports equipment, various foods including tomato soup, all types of jewelery, and so many more. But today tops it for me. Flash drives for the cure, what a joke.
This just happens to be the anniversary of my grandma's death, and seeing crap like this makes me want to hurt someone. I am fully supportive of finding a cure and the pink ribbon is something that I think is very important. I just wish that every single company in the world didn't think of it as a way to get people to buy their crap.
I will purposely NOT buy these stupid flash drives, even if a need for them arises.

Quality "Dad Time"

So this post is mostly for Kara. She told me I needed to post more of the funny things the kids say before I forget them. Here's a goody.
Saturday night, I went to Emily's house with Kate and Lauren for a jewelery party. Meanwhile, Josh and Hayden were hanging out at home.
When the kids reunited later that night, they were rehashing their time away from eachother, trying to make the other one jealous. Lauren said, "I won a free bracelet in the raffle, played with Molly and Charlotte and ate a brownie". Hayden (in his best "Hayden voice") responded with, "Yeah, well I watched Dad play a video game, watched Mythbusters, helped with the dishes and helped Dad pour beer into a metal cup".

This is where I start laughing so hard I almost had to pull the car over. I called Josh to tell him what I had just heard. What Hayden had meant by "beer into a metal cup" was "whiskey into a flask". I'm so glad Hayden got to be a part of that...

PrinciPAL? I think not.

Today was one of those days...

Josh got up with the kids and got them ready. I woke up a few minutes before they were going to leave for school and went down to help get them out the door. They left, so I came back upstairs to snuggle with the still sleeping Kate. I fell asleep nursing her, thinking this was going to be a great, peaceful day with both older kids in school. At 8:40ish, I got a call from the school. "William (Hayden's first name for those who don't know) doesn't have school today" is what the cruel receptionist tells me. So, I have to get myself and Kate dressed. We were freaking asleep! So, that sucked...
Hayden came home and we hung out for the morning and early afternoon. It wasn't awful or anything, but he was bored and kept asking me when we would be going to get Lauren or when we were going to have lunch or any other question he could come up with. So, not peaceful.
At about 1:30, I realized it was early release day. That means that I have to be at the school at 2:05, rather than 2:35. I was showered, but not dressed. Kate was neither. I still hadn't had any lunch, because it's kind of hard to get yourself food when you have a newborn attached to your boob all the time. So, we left to get Lauren and I hadn't eaten since 7:45 am.
Thennnnn...I got to the school and had to circle the parking lot 3 times before finding a place to park. I sent Hayden to retrieve Lauren so I wouldn't have to get out of the car with the baby. After a few minutes, I'm starting to wonder where my children are. Just then, the principal comes up to the window and informs me that she won't let them walk all the way to the curb. I will have to drive around to get them. I wanted to hurt her. So anyway, it took me 10 minutes to get her. It ususally takes about 2.
After that, our day was great. We spent a few hours at Emily's house. She made me coffee, God bless her.
I am aware that this was THE lamest post in the history of posts. Oh well, you get what you get. I'll throw in a funny picture to make it better.

Furry Baby Who Barfs-Kate's Indian Name

If you don't already read Kara's blog (Condi-to the right), please read her latest post. It cracks me up. She and Amy came over the other night for dinner and wine, which they brought, God bless them. We had a great time just hanging out and catching up. It's been a long time since the three of us have been together. Josh was home too, which always makes for a great conversation. (He and Kara debating about something completely unimportant)My favorite part of the night is when Kara commented on how much hair Kate has and I thought she would appreciate seeing how furry her back is too. I pulled down her top so she could peer in at what I think is the most adorable thing in the universe and her response is, "that's disgugsting". I guess some people just don't dig the furriness that is Kate.
Speaking of Kate, she just barfed down Lauren's shoulder. Hahaha. Kate barfs alot actually. At first I thought maybe she was sick or really gassy or something. I think I figured it out though. She's just an overeater like her mommy. Only instead of gaining weight, she just rejects the extra in the form of cottage cheesy spew.
Well, today is house cleaning day. I'm finally capable of doing all the housework on my own. I sort of long for the days of hearing, "no Sarah! Don't lift that!" or "Sarah, make sure you're getting enough rest". Only problem is that along with being pathetic and incapable of doing anything, I couldn't eat sugar or coffee. So to reward myself for cleaning the house today, I'm plannig to eat cookies and drink lots of joe.

Update on "The Did"

It's been a week since I gave birth to the latest addition to our family. Thank you Amy for posting the picture and announcement. This is the first time I've actually had two free hands to post.
Kate, or as my dad calls her, "The Did" as in Katydid, is awesome. She's already sleeping through most of the night, which is a little painful for a breastfeeding mom, but still lovely. I know her sleepiness won't last for too long, but I'll keep hopes high.
We had our one week visit from the midwife today. Linda came out to our house and checked on us. Kate is back up a little from her early weight loss. When she was born, she was 7/11 and had gotten down to 7/4. Today she was back up to 7/6. Yay!
Funny story: I found her umbilical cord stump in my bra today. Ew. I have NO idea how it got there, but I was doing laundry and looked down to see something poking through my shirt. When I first saw it, I thought it was a chunk of the granola bar I had just eaten and thought "wow, I'm fat" and then realized it was the dead hunk of tissue from my baby's belly. It must have fallen off while I was burping her and made it's way down my shirt. Anyway, it's off and she can have a real bath soon and not just the lame sponge bath I've been giving her.
I will leave you with this image. She is wrapped up in a blanket right now, with no clothes on (she shat on them) and her hairy back is slightly exposed. Oh how I love the fur.

It's a Girl!

Katherine Patricia Chilcott was born this morning at 8:20 am. She weighed in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and is 21 inches long.

More details to come later.