A Nerve

Last night on election night, I read several Facebook posts that accused Obama supporters of being lazy and perpetually on welfare/unemployment. There were also several negative comments about the "type" of people who accept government assistance.

This hit a nerve with me. Big time. I am one of "those" people. Quinn's extreme prematurity and extremely low birth weight classified her as having a disability. She qualified for social security benefits and Medicaid benefits due to her "disability" for about the first year of her life.

And these government run programs saved our family financially, and gave us one less thing to worry about during the toughest time in our lives.

We weren't looking for a hand out, and we weren't even otherwise uninsured, but Quinn racked up over a million dollars in medical bills in less than 5 months, and I will be forever thankful for the assistance that our wonderful government was able to give my child when we needed it.

We are not lazy, or uneducated, or looking for the next handout. We are just your average Americans that had something really bad and scary happen to us, and were so lucky that we have a government that had a program in place to assist us. And we are not alone.

However, most people would never guess that we have needed government assistance, and because of this, aren't very careful with their choice of words. And it is hurtful.

By the way, I saw these posts from distant "friends" or from posts that friends commented on. This is not directed at anyone in particular and especially, not at anyone who reads my blog. This was more of a venting session just to get it off my chest.

Weight Watchers Week 4

Weight loss: 3 pounds
Total: 12.6

Successes: consistent weight loss
Goals: push myself to be a active.
Wish: that I was Jessica Simpson and someone was paying me 4 million dollars to do this. And then I could afford to not work, have a private chef, and a personal trainer.

Lazy Sunday

Quinn took a three hour nap (sung to the tune of the Gilligan's Island theme song) yesterday. It was nice, and a bit out of character. It also allowed her to stay up until 10 pm, and let us enjoy Sunday evening at my parents' house. So it was a win-win. She is overall sleeping better than week ago, but she is still not close to winning any sleeping gold medals or anything.

We had a lazy day yesterday. Dalan and I did get some much needed cleaning done around the house, and we caught up on all our programs. That was nice. Oh, We have cable again after an almost two year break. I honestly can say I don't really find myself watching it. Maybe once it is dark for 18 hours a day and freezing cold, I'll change my tune.

Oh, and Quinn drew all over her hands and spilled ketchup on the dog yesterday in unrelated incidents.

Oh, and I guess I am going to do that national blogging month thing since I 5 for 5 already. I can't remember it's fancy name. I did it three years ago BQ (before Quinn) and by the end, I was blogging about blogging. This time around, I'll just slap up a picture of my kid and call it good if it gets hard.

U-T-A-H Fight, Fight, Fight!

We went to the Utah game yesterday. Well, Dalan and I did. We ditched Quinn as she is a little too busy (isn't that the nice way to say wild?) to sit through a game.

I did get some adorable pictures of Quinn in her Utah gear. Her mad face is how she feels about any team playing Utah. Ha, ha! We went out for frozen yogurt later, and Quinn made a fine mess of herself.

Halloween 2012

We had a great Halloween this year, that included a bunch of fun pre-Halloween activities (the pumpkin patch,Red Butte after dark, pumpkin carving, Jenny and Gil's party, and Wheeler Farm).

Quinn got to wear two costumes, and got a lot of use out of her kitty costume. I was also impressed that she would keep her kitty hat on (but not the good of the dog) and she loved having her nose and whiskers drawn on. She has even been fake drawing them in herself and saying kitty or dog.

I was also excited that she got Halloween this year. She was adorable trick or treating and earned lots of extra candy purely based on her adorable little self.

On Halloween day, Quinn visited with Alice and showed each other their costumes. Then that night, we went trick or treating in my parents' neighborhood. There were lots of humbugs not handing out candy, but Quinn was happy to just run up and down the street and get some candy. It was a lot of fun. We also ate delicious homemade chili.

Piper dressed up like a squirrel, but was not feeling her costume. Scout dressed up like a peacock, and didn't mind her costume, but was not too find of all the trick or treaters. Silly dogs!

Oh, and there are some bonus comparison photos! Quinn and the past Halloweens, plus 2 yr old me and 2 ye old Q.

Fun Fall Photos

Quinn loves playing in the leaves in the yard. She likes to stomp them, run in them, and throw them in the air.

We also took trick or treating at Wheeler Farm during the Farmer's Market with Odessa and Sierra, Becca, Isaac, and Sam, and Julia, Susan, Mikey, and Stella. It was a beautiful fall day, in fact, so warm Quinn had to ditch her puppy costume before we hit the farm. Quinn quickly learned the three steps to Halloween, "trick or treat, candy in the bag, and thank you!"

Sir Sleeps-A-Little

Quinn became the world's greatest sleeper over the summer. By the end of summer, she had self-imposed an 8 pm bedtime, and would sleep in her bed until 7 am, when I woke her up.

Then fall hit, Quinn rejected her early bedtime, which is actually ok. I don't mind the extra time with her. But she stopped sleeping through the night! And she is progressively getting worse! Plus I think she is having nightmares!

She woke up at 1:15 am last night (I think due to a nightmare) and did not go back to bed until almost 5:30 am. And then woke up at 7:45 am, only to fall back asleep in the car. She has also woken up at 4:45 am this week and refused to go back to sleep.

Oh. My. God. It is killing me!

Right now she is soaking in a tub with lavender. And I bought her a special Lightening McQueen pillow, and Patti bought her a special Mickey Mouse blanket. She knows both of these things are "made" to help kids sleep all night. She also knows that Aunt Ali has a magical blanket that helps her sleep in her bed too.

I have a McQueen nightlight ordered, and I will make a chart if I have it becomes necessary, because I am too old for late night party sessions. My little humming bird of a daughter may only need a couple hours of sleep, but not this lady.

Rant over. Halloween pictures and recap coming soon!