The Triumph of Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!

Since the end of June I have had to restrict my caffeine intake dramatically. I know, I know I'm not supposed to have any during pregnancy at all, but that is more difficult than you can imagine.

One of the first questions on my mind at my first ob visit was, "How much caffeine can I have a day?" Pathetic, I know. It isn't like I drink a pot of regular coffee everyday. In fact, I might only have one cup in the morning (and hubby makes half-calf anyway) and if I need a pick me up sometime during the day I might stop by Starbucks for my favorite, "grande, non-fat latte please!"

The midwives told me that I could have 1 cup of regular coffee a day if I desired. Whohoo! So for most of the pregnancy I either had a cup of hubby's half-calf in the morning followed by a decaf Starbucks later in the day or splurged with a tall latte as my one treat for the day. This seemed to keep my desire for coffee satisfied and I apparently forgot to consider the caffeine I was ingesting in the form of iced tea and the occasional chocolate treat.

At the end of June I headed to the gym to work out one day. When I arrived I felt my heart just racing and I hadn't even worked out yet! It was running at about 130 beats per minute. They immediately sent me home and told me to call the doctor. After several weeks of visits to the midwife, primary and even a cardiologist for a monitor and echo cardiogram - I was diagnosed with pregnancy tachycardia. All it means is that my heart likes to race occasionally and add a few beats just to make things interesting!

What it meant for me was that I needed to stop exercising for the remainder of the pregnancy, rest when my heart raced and, you guessed it, stay away from caffeine even more. Naturally, that last one was the hardest! It's pretty difficult to give up coffee, iced tea and chocolate when you're headed to Virginia Beach for vacation. Nevertheless, I managed.

Eventually, after several chiropractic visits, my heart rate decided to calm down. (Apparently my twisted rib cage was aggravating the symptoms and the chiropractor was able to help reduce them with a few simple adjustments!) As a result, I have found that I do not have to rest as much these days since my heart does not usually go up beyond 120 bpm anymore. Also, the doctors said that I could have some decaf and small bits of chocolate too...how wonderful!

So in an effort to satisfy my cravings for coffee and chocolate I have been on the hunt for some chocolate chip ice cream to go along with my "grande, decaf, non-fat, light ice latte, please!" To my dismay, however, it seemed that good old chocolate chip ice cream has become obsolete in the shadows of such superstars as Moose Tracks, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Cookies and Cream, and it's more preferred cousin, Mint Chocolate Chip.

I was beginning to become convinced of the demise of Chocolate Chip ice cream after checking out what seemed to be every frozen food isle and ice cream parlor from here to the Jersey Shore. In fact, I had just given in to mourning that old comfort food, when I spotted a sale on Breyer's ice cream today at the grocery store. There it was in all it's simplistic glory: Old Fashioned Chocolate Chip Ice Cream!

What a yummy triumph!

My Mid-Life Motherhood

Check out my new blog over at My Mid-Life Motherhood. I'm just getting started over there and hope to have the opportunity to share with other moms the adventure of having another baby at 40!

Tribute to Grandmom

Back in May I traveled by overnight train to Florida to attend my Grandmother's funeral. Before the baby arrives (in a matter of days!), I wanted to be sure to post the tribute I wrote to baby on the way to the funeral.

During the family memories part of the ceremony my Dad read my journal entry, my Mom read a poem she had written for Grandmom years earlier, and I read a poem about Great Grandma's teddy bears that my daughter had written six years earlier at Grandmom's 90th. I broke down at the end, so it's a good thing my Dad read the journal entry - I wouldn't have been able to do it at all (even writing this post brings me to tears again.)

So before time passes by any further here is what I had chosen to pass on to my unborn baby about the Great Grandmother she missed meeting.

Wednesday, April 27, 2009

Dear Little One,

Right now you and I are headed down to Florida via the train. I haven't felt you kicking too much, so I think all this motion is rocking you to sleep.

At 24 weeks you weigh about a pound and a half and measure roughly 8 1/2 inches from "crown to rump." Basically the size of a small baby doll...and that you are - a doll baby!!

The reason we are headed to Florida is to attend my Grandmom's funeral. It is sad that you will never have the opportunity to meet Great Grandmom McNulty, but I'm sure her legacy will live on so that you will come to know who she was.

Mabel Emily Seifert McNulty went to be with the Lord on Monday, April 27, 2009 around 2 p.m. She had just turned 96 years old the previous Sunday, April 19th!

Here's a few things about her:

Marvelous Mother
Amazingly Artistic
Beautiful Bears
Entertaining Storyteller
Loved the Lord

Another way to read MABEL is: Mother's Always Bring Extra Love!

Grandmom always made me feel so loved - even though she lived so far away and I only got to see her every few years. She was very caring and motherly to me. I learned most of my crafting ability from her. She was truly an artist with her sewing and crocheting skills. Our Christmas tree is full of ornaments that Grandmom made over the years. Her most favorite craft was making teddy bears. I used to get one almost every year! I think I have a doll or bear to mark every milestone in my life!! Before Grandmom died she set aside one of her bears especially for you. So you already have your very first teddy bear from Great Grandmom!

Grandmom was always eager to tell a good story from our family tree. I enjoyed immensely the fascinating tales of our ancestors and stories of Grandmom's childhood. Your name - Clara - is in honor of Grandmom's family tree. Somewhere, somehow she was - and so are you - related to Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross. Naming you Clara is our way of honoring Grandmom and her enthusiasm for passing on all she learned of our family tree.

Lastly, Grandmom loved the Lord! From my earliest recollections I can recall Grandmom talking to me about Jesus. The stories of her life and the way she lived were a testament to her faith in Christ. I can only hope to have been such a testimony to others as she was to me and those around her.

From Grandmom, as well as those before her, to my father's generation to mine and now to you, Darla and Micah - a living legacy of faith has been passed.

May you too come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and join us in Grandmom's legacy!!

Love,
Mom

Ode to a Nut

A year ago this week we lost our favorite nut: Peanut, our cat. He was the best cat EVER and I still miss him dearly. I figured it was high time to write a proper tribute about my favorite pumpkin sized feline, recording some of the antics and highlights of his years with our family.

Prior to bringing Peanut into our home, we had already had two kitties. A brother-sister duo named, ironically, Peanut and Parfait (in honor of the peanut buster parfait at DQ!) While I was very pregnant with my son, Peanut got sick and died suddenly. Naturally, I didn't handle that well. Cried for days. Original Peanut was an adorable fluffy peanut colored kitty. He was very smart and could even speak and fetch with his favorite toy: a rolled up napkin ball!

Nearly a year after Peanut passed away, friends of ours were looking for a home for their kitty, named - you guessed it - Peanut! My immediate response was to fill that Peanut shaped hole in my heart, so we took in the little nut. He adjusted fairly well, considering the strange environment with another feline in the house. He and Parfait pretty much kept their distance from each other and he attempted to escape on a daily basis. I have never seen a cat so intent on getting outside. If you put your foot in the doorway to stop him, he'd just wrestle it down, flip over and make a run for it. Despite living on a very busy street, I finally gave up and let him become an indoor/outdoor cat. He was extremely well suited to the task and seemed to really enjoy the freedom.

About a year after we adopted Peanut we moved to a more country suburban home with a big yard backing up to some woods. This was heaven for Peanut! He roamed the neighborhood, hung out in the woods, kept many wild animals away from our house and everytime I would look out the window when the kids were on the playground - there he would be standing guard. Anytime we headed out back to play we could just call his name and he would come bounding out of the bushes to greet us. Considering he had grown immensely over the years, to a whopping 22 pounds at one point, his "bounding" was quite humorous! Peanut was the quintessential fat cat. He was basically Garfield in real life. When I saw those movies I couldn't help but laugh extra loudly at the fat cat maneuvers and falls which was art imitating the life of my cat!

Peanut became a household name in our neighborhood - everybody knew and loved him. For awhile there he would come home in the summers smelling like perfume! We never did figure out with whom he was having a regular rendezvous. One time I opened the front door to let him out, I heard laughter coming from our neighbor's yard and then "Hey Peanut, come on over!" Yup, our cat had just been invited to the party!

The neighbors on our other side loved Peanut like their own cat. They had a little bed for him in their garage and sometimes he'd have sleepovers at their house. They would even let him inside their house to hang out. When Peanut passed away they came over to the grave to pay their respects and we all shared our favorite stories about our shared pet!Some of Peanut's favorite things were:

FOOD

BEGGING FOR FOODLOUNGING NEAR HIS FOODPAPER BAGS

BOXES

LOUNGING IN GENERAL

Over a year later and I still pull into the driveway missing how the big nut would run to greet me as I got out of the car. I miss his addiction to feet - he had quite a foot fetish and loved to rub his face all over anyone's feet if they'd let him. If you didn't allow him to do so, you risked getting nipped in the ankle! In general we all greatly miss the cool cat whom we lovingly remember as being a "really good dog!"

Check Your Heart

The other day I heard a little blurb on our local Christian radio station encouraging listeners to take a look in their checkbooks to see what is important to them. You know, where your treasure is, so is your heart. As I am the one who carries the checkbook, I thought this sounded like a great way to check my heart and see where it lies. OK, deep breath, here goes!

Gift for baby shower
Chiropractic appointment
School Tuition
Cash for lunches
School T-Shirt
Piano registration
Doctor's office for supplements
Cash for groceries
Compassion child
Cleaning help
Hospital bill
Musical DVD from school
Taxes
Taxes
Taxes
Dentist
Cleaning help
Church lunch
Church tithe
Macy's maternity clothes
Motherhood maternity clothes
Giant groceries
PT gym use
Cash for groceries
Church tithe

So to sum it up, since the beginning of April, the checks were written for:

friend
me
kids
family
me
kids
me
family
charity
me
me
family
government
government
government
kids
me
church
church
me
me
family
me
family
church

Yup, pretty much me! 3 checks for the gov't, 5 checks for church, charity or others, 8 for our kids or family and 9 for, well, me. Hmmm, my heart sure seems to be focused on me, me, me! I think I need to do this more often to check my self spending.

Well, that was a bit of an eye opener and hopefully, it will help me curb my spending where needed. I know hubby, and our checkbook, will appreciate that:)

Pondering Easter

My daughter has been doing an online devotional with some of her friends. They take turns creating a weekly email devotion and I thought that I would pass on to you some of her insights on Christ's death and resurrection. A great reminder to us all as we celebrate Easter.

Christ's death and crucifixion. Luke 23:26-49

In this passage it talks about Christ's death and the pain he went through for us. If you can imagine all he went through for his sinful people that he was faithful to for so many years, well it's unbelievable!! Jesus was God (and He still was on earth) and He came down to this sinful wicked world to walk and talk with His people. He loved the people so much he died on a cross for their sins. He was sinless and yet he took on all of our sins on that cross so we can live forever with him in heaven. Imagine having everything and coming to sacrifice yourself for these people who rejected you and some who hate you. Even God the Father rejected His son when he was on the cross because he contained all the sins of His people. He sacrificed so much for us!

Here are some questions you can answer in an e-mail and in your journal:

• Can you think of anything you would die for like Jesus died for us?
• When you think of the pain Christ went through for you how do you feel?
• Do you feel free to give Christ all your burdens of sin to hang on that cross?
• Christ died for you, are you willing to die for him?

Luke 24:1-12.

One word describes this passage perfectly!!!! AMAZING!!!!! He is risen guys!!!! The Lord Jesus Christ was under the curse of death for only a few days before He was alive again!!! This story is so amazing. I just read the passage and do you know what I just realized? Before Christ died He told His disciples He would die and then raise from the dead. But those disciples didn't believe Him!!!!! After He was raised from the dead the woman told them what the angel said but Christ's best friends didn't believe it!!! They didn't remember what their teacher said!!! They forgot about how He mentioned rising from the dead!!!! But Jesus still loved them. Even if His chosen ones give up on Him, there is no way He'll give up on us. We might doubt Him, but every word of the Bible is the truth!!!! No matter what we do, if we're a Christian we'll never be taken out of His hands! His love is so amazing!!!

Happy Easter

Knowing

If you're up for an edge-of-your-seat thought provoking thrill ride then this latest Nicolas Cage blockbuster is for you. Knowing is an intriguing suspense thriller that had me hiding under my coat for much of the movie. In fact, had not an old friend of mine been one of the writers, I highly doubt I would have dared to set foot in the theater after viewing the trailer. To be honest, I was a bit concerned about what I had gotten myself into after several previews for slasher/horror flicks that preceded the movie, but I braved my fears for the sake of helping contribute to the movie's eventual #1 box office slot for opening weekend. I must say, that despite jumping out of my seat with a yelp to the amusement of movie goers around me, I was quite impressed with the film.

Instead of just another spooky doomsday flick, this one wrestles with philosophical questions of the meaning of life while providing an action packed adrenaline rush. Nicolas Cage's character is a professor of astrophysics who, in an odd turn of events, finds himself deciphering a 50 year old list of numbers to determine when and where great catastrophes will occur. He begins his journey believing that everything is random and by then end of the film is realizing that everything had been determined beforehand. The philosophical aspect of the movie falls short there, without giving meaning or purpose to such determinism - something we can find in reality if we hold to a biblical world view. But hey, it was much more thought provoking then I ever imagined a suspense thriller to be! Many will note the obvious eschatological and apocalyptic themes throughout the movie. I, however, saw more of a modern day Noahic parable with recurring themes of destruction/judgment, pre-destination, election, redemption and salvation.

In my estimation, Knowing, was like The Sixth Sense meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind, with action sequences reminiscent of Independence Day. All great films, to which I think Knowing aspires. The destruction scenes in the movie were disturbingly intense, with amazing special effects. In the words of my screenwriter friend, Stuart Hazeldine, "I wouldn't have your grandma see it. It's pretty dark and scary in places, especially the disaster sequences." I would also recommend keeping the kids home too, otherwise you may be in for a few weeks of nightmares. I still peer out in the woods at night half expecting to see creepy men lurking on the edge...yikes! You know a suspense thriller has done it's job when it gets into your psyche for just a bit.

Well done, Stu! I give it: