Samantha Pierce

Today I am thankful for/that: Nap time. It helps me catch up on some of the sleep I have been losing because I've been coughing all night the last few nights. It also keeps Sophia from turning into the cranky three year old from outerspace. Cough drops. Although I'm getting to the point where I can't stand the taste of the things I'm glad I have them when I need them. Clean water. Ice cold to soothe a parched throat or steaming hot to chase away the chills, it's wonderful stuff. The humidifier. Hubby and I would probably sound a lot worse than we do if we didn't have that thing. Dry indoor winter air is a beast. The hot water bottle. Far away friends. The latches on the doors leading to the kitchen have encouraged Isaiah to try out that whole asking for what he wants thing. Somehow, "I want bagel" always comes out sounding like, "I want bacon." I know he actually wants a bagel because he's usually pointing at a picture of one when he says...

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . NPR has just finished up a week long series Exploring the Status of Muslim Women in Europe . I found it to be an interesting look into the clash of cultures in Europe. Issues for Muslim Women in Europe Evolve In Europe, Muslim Women Face Multiple Issues Muslim Women Behind Wall of Silence in Germany Muslim Activist Critical of 'Multicultural Mistake' Many British Muslim Women Embrace Political Islam British Warn of Growing Female Islamic Radicalism French Muslim Women Forge New Islam, Activism French Activists Fight Female Genital Mutilation You can read the text and/or listen to the audio at the links above.

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . The following article appeared in Sunday's Parade Magazine: Autism Changes Everything For a while, we mourned the loss of the little boy we knew and all we hoped he would become someday. Our grief evolved into feelings of anger and, eventually, determination. We’re now playing catch-up as we try to stem the tide and ultimately eradicate autism for the sake of future generations. If we continue our current trajectory, we’ll get there in my lifetime. (Hat tip Autism Vox .) When my first born was still a baby a friend asked my husband and I what hopes and dreams we had for his life. I thought about it for a while and realised that when I looked at my son's future I saw a grey unshaped mass. I had no plans for his future because I had no idea what the future would bring. At most I hoped that he would grow up to be a happy, responsible, upright citizen. Too often I had seen people suffering under the burden of the plans their parents had...

Today I am thankful for/that: Isaiah chose to pour the Dayquil into a cup and then dump it onto the kitchen floor rather than drink it. He came home from school early because he was sick. He apparently found the bottle at the very back of the highest shelf in a kitchen cabinet. I didn't even know it was there until I found him standing in the puddle. What are you thankful for?

For the third time in my life now I have witnessed the phenomenon of thunder snow . Thankfully I've been indoors for all of them. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Today I am thankful for/that: The prayers of friends near and far. God knows we need them! The gift of an answered prayer that you didn't even know was said on your behalf. The people that God uses to answer our prayers. Isaiah and I had a relatively brief sojourn in the ER this week, a little over two hours. Me: What do you want for dinner? I want... Isaiah: Gum! I want gum! I want gum! I want gum! He happily skipped into the pantry expecting that I was going to give him gum for dinner because he used his words. I think I gave him an apple and a pb&j sandwich instead. It was nice that he asked for what he wanted. Hubby has been helping Ethan with is homework. It's a toss up who dislikes homework more, me or Ethan. I'm feeling well enough to get back to doing the household chores. Wait a minute... Peg of What if? and this post . What are you thankful for?

I was trying to avoid it but I ended up in the ER with Isaiah today. The ER staff were all quite understanding when I told them what I suspected the problem was. They all smiled kindly each time I told our story. It's oh so common and they see it all the time but it was the first (and hopefully last) time I had ever had to deal with it. Isaiah has had a rather stubborn sinus infection for a few weeks now. Turns out that that sinus infection was being aided and abetted by some foreign body he had managed to get stuck up his left nostril. If I hadn't been so sick recently I probably would have noticed before now but Isaiah seems to have a very high tolerance for discomfort (unless you're trying to comb his hair or remove the foreign body that he's got stuck up his nose). Anyway, it took myself and three members of the pediatric ER staff to hold him and fish the thing out of his nose. We're not sure exactly what it was but there was a lot more of it than I would have e...

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . Rather than blog about the various interesting reactions to the recent news that removing thimerosal from vaccines hasn't had the expected effect on rates of autism or to the new studies that have identified different genes involved in autism I decided to browse the galleries at HubbleSite . A much more relaxing, up lifting, and perspective correcting exercise. I call this image the Cosmic Zit. NASA calls it, Outburst from Comet Tempel 1 . " In a dress rehearsal for the rendezvous between NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft and comet 9P/Tempel 1, the Hubble Space Telescope captured dramatic images of a new jet of dust streaming from the icy comet. The images are a reminder that Tempel 1's icy nucleus, roughly half the size of Manhattan, is dynamic and volatile." They call this one the Cat's Eye Nebula . That's a fanciful enough description for me. " Observations suggest the star ejected its mass in a serie...

I haven't done one of these in ages. You Are a Red Flower A red flower tends to represent power, seduction, and desire. At times, you are loving like a red tulip. And at other times, you're very enthusiastic, like a bouvardia. And more than you wish, your passion is a bit overwhelming, like a red rose. What Color Flower Are You?

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . I've always wondered why there is a pill for just about everything under the sun that ails you but no pharmaceutical companies marketing a pill for something as ubiquitous as morning sickness. Now I know why. Activist Mothers In 1975, Mekdeci gave birth to a son with limb reduction birth defects; the cause of most such birth defects is unknown. Not satisfied with that answer, she began a quest to determine what caused her child's suffering, and persuaded herself that the culprit was the morning sickness drug Bendectin, which she had ingested during pregnancy. In 1977, when Mekdeci brought her lawsuit, fourteen epidemiological studies of varying strength and quality had examined the relationship between Bendectin and birth defects and found no association. While these studies were not powerful enough to rule out some connection between Bendectin and birth defects, they certainly provided no cause for alarm. Bendectin had been on the m...

Today I am thankful for/that: TulipGirl's Recipes to Try post which helped inspire me to start making forays into the kitchen again. I've made dinner from scratch two nights in a row now and I was able to eat what I made. Isaiah and Sophia have both started drawing faces. It is interesting to note that they are going through the same developmental stages just at different times in their lives. Those few days of wonderful spring like weather this week. I held it together long enough to walk the kids down to the park to play and watch the ducks. Hubby turned up at the park with the car just as I was starting to fade. I wouldn't have made it home under my own steam. The chance to day dream over the growing stack of gardening catalogs. Isaiah: Daaaaddy! Daaaaddy! Said Isaiah this morning when he wanted to be let out of his room. We have to lock him in when we go to bed because he has a tendency to wander around in the middle of the night otherwise. He usually just rattles the...

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . I wonder how this news is going to go over. Autism Vox reports: Thimerosal Exposure Declines, Autism Rates Increase Exposure to thimerosal, a preservative that contains ethylmercury, during childhood is not a primary cause of autism. This is the conclusion of a study published in the January Archives of General Psychiatry (Vol. 65, no. 1) by Robert Schechter, MD, MSc, Immunization Branch and California Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities, Research and Epidemiology , and Judith K. Grether, PhD, Environmental Health Investigations Branch, of the California Department of Public Health, Richmond. Schechter’s and Grether’s article is entitled Continuing Increases in Autism Reported to California’s Developmental Services System: Mercury in Retrograde . By studying time trends in the Archives of General Psychiatry (Vol. 65, no. 1) by Robert Schechter, MD, MSc, Immunization Branch and California Center for Autism and Developmental ...

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . The cold snap in a lot of the country this week has been making the news. Up here in the north we're used to that kind of thing, especially in the winter. Although I do wince a bit every time the ancient furnace fires up. I really don't want to see the heating bill when it comes. Subzero Life Goes On in Saranac Lake, N.Y. Think you've had a chilly week? While much of the nation has dealt with a real taste of winter, residents of Saranac Lake, N.Y., have been in the deep freeze. Below-zero temperatures are the norm there in winter. But the 33 below zero morning this week had even longtime residents donning their extra-thick long johns. Saranac Lake is a lovely place to visit in the summer. They make good maple syrup up there too.

Cross posted at Say Anything: Reader blogs . So Huckabee won the Iowa caucus. Up until about two months ago Mike Huckabee was Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor. At some point, hubby thinks it is the point when he started winning, he stopped being the Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and started being Mike Huckabee, former baptist minister. A curious change of emphasis don't you think? Now I know which one of those two former occupations of Huckabee's I think is more relevant to being President of the United States of America. Which one is more important to you?

It has been a while but today I am thankful for/that: As miserable as I have been for the last few weeks it all falls within the range of normal so I don't really have anything to worry about. Being pelted with badly formed snowballs by small children with really bad aim. It's the thought that counts. Hubby brought home some wonderfully unscented soap and found some shampoo with a fragrance I could tolerate. I was actually able to enjoy taking a shower today! Pregnancy makes my sense of smell go haywire. The smell of pretty much everything makes me want to throw up. (I haven't even been able to bring myself to cook since Christmas Eve.) I have so far avoided tossing my cookies. Mom, Dad, and Sis3 wrangled the kids for me over Christmas break. I was mostly free to lounge around and concentrate on not throwing up. Those who give without ever knowing the names of those who are blessed by their gifts. What are you thankful for?

You know that question isn't really as scary as some people make it seem. Particularly when it is proceeded by an exchange like this: *Sophia: I think it looks like a baby sister. Ethan: No, it's a baby brother. Sophia: It's a baby sister! Ethan: Baby brother! Sophia: Baby sister! Ethan: Baby brother! Sophia: Baby sister! They went on like that for a couple of minutes in the doctor's office yesterday as they looked at an ultrasound picture of the latest baby Pierce. Hubby and I had a good laugh over their argument. This morning Sophia asked if we could go to the store to get a baby sister for her and a baby brother for Ethan. I told her that babies don't come from stores. That led to the question of where babies come from. It's not so complicated a question to answer and a three year old really doesn't need much in the way of details. *Hubby notes that, "The exact quote was, 'There's no baby brother in that picture. That's a baby sister....