Samantha Pierce

Diane Rehm just confirmed that Alaska governor Sarah Palin will be McCain's Vice Presidential pick. I'll post the audio when it becomes available ( here you go ). Maybe this election season will be interesting after all. I wonder what the debates are going to be like. A lot of people are asking who Sarah Palin is. For those of us who have been following the election this year she is a pretty good pick for vice president for the GOP. Blog Reactions NBC Confirms Gov. Sarah Palin As McCain VP Choice McCain Hits It Out of the Park With Palin (UPDATE: ABC says Palin is not the pick -- still in Alaska, UPDATE: CNBC says it is Palin, now confirmed by many sources) The McCain VP choice: Not Huck, Romney, Pawlenty, or Palin(?); Palin buzz alive, multiple sources confirm Palin for America: A true conservative It's a girl? It’s Official! Sarah Palin is McCain’s Veep! McCAIN CHOOSES Brilliant (UPDATED) McCain-Palin Ticket: Reaction By A Swing Voter Instapundit News Reports Alaska Gov....

Hey it's Thursday! Almost forgot. Today I am thankful for/that: Lots of things that escape me right at the moment. Mom finally made it into town this evening despite a few break downs of the bus on the way. Hubby ended up picking her up on the highway between our house and the bus station after the bus finally give up the ghost so near the end of its long journey. I remembered to pack a spare change of clothes for baby in the diaper bag. Of course baby's first blow out happened in the car on the way to the grocery store but we were prepared. Sophia, the most helpful little big sister in the world. She's a little too helpful sometimes but she's never been a big sister before. She's patiently waiting for Jewel to get bigger and play ball and dress up. What are you thankful for?

After this experience this is rather unwelcome news, Mumps Outbreak in Vancouver . There are more details and commentary on the story here . The resurgence of diseases that were previously controlled by vaccination could make one consider questioning people about the vaccination status of their children. If we were more social types I might consider it. But it raises the question of, Mixing unvaccinated children with vaccinated children: Whose rights prevail? . For my part I'd really rather not run the risk of having an unvaccinated individual pass something on to my newborn or to one of the older kids who's vaccines didn't quite take. But how many people say, hey just in case you're immune-compromised or something, we don't vaccinate our kids? This response from the comment thread has a certain amount of appeal: Personally I solve the problem very simply. Simple scenarios. 1) Me: Do you vaccinate you children? Parent: UM, why? Me: Out! 2) Me: Do you vaccinate you...

While we were in the hospital for Jewel's birth someone, or maybe several people, on staff was exposed to mumps ( wiki entry ). Everyone on the maternity floor, down to the housekeeping staff and the lunch lady, had to wear masks at all times. I was not thrilled. I wondered if the exposure came from someone who was not vaccinated. Who knows, but with a full patient load in maternity and labour and delivery one floor above the potential for an outbreak was, and still is, great. The whole episode reinforced my decision to make sure all of my kids get the recommended vaccines on time. At any rate, the media seem to be catching on that falling rates of vaccination put the public health at risk. Measles, Once Declared At An End, Makes A Return Jump in US measles cases linked to vaccine fears As Diseases Make Comeback, Why Aren't All Kids Vaccinated? It is interesting, no maddening, to note the comments of those insisting that vaccines cause autism on the Glen Reynolds article. Thes...

Today I am thankful for/that: Jewel Elisabeth (more pics of the peanut here ). Sophia didn't drop Jewel when she decided to pick her up to stop her from crying. I turned from Ethan's door to find her standing outside the baby's room beaming that she had stopped Jewel's crying. Sophia now has firm instructions to come get mommy if the baby cries. A new birth story to tell. All hail nap time! What are you thankful for?

A day late again but still I am thankful for/that: Isaiah's usual response to, "Bed time!" is to immediately head for his room. We always got a kick out of his reaction to being put to bed when he was a baby. Once we set him down he would take one look around the playpen and then do a face plant into the mattress. It was an amusing contrast to Ethan who would take forever (and sometimes still does) to fall asleep. Cooler than usual August weather. Despite a maddening reluctance to vacate the premises (namely me) baby is a-okay on the ultrasound. Modern cold medicines. Although they don't seem to be doing me all that good they are keeping Sophia happy. Her good humor lasts almost exactly as long as her cold medicine persists in her system. Warm showers. These days I feel like each one could be my last for awhile. What are you thankful for?

Sophia sneezed on me four times on Sunday. Then Ethan sneezed twice. By bedtime on Sunday Ethan had developed the sniffles. He's been sniffly the last few days and coughing on occasion. Sophia and Isaiah have so far not been afflicted. Hubby is almost always congested so there's no telling what's up with him. I have been nursing a stuffy nose and headache for the last couple of hours. I've never had to go through labour and delivery with a head cold before. Should be interesting, not. Update: 8/14/08 As of about 4:00 AM Sophia has a cough and stuffy nose (despite denying it when questioned about it in the daylight hours). Isaiah was coughing a bit as he was getting dressed for school. Now we're all sick!

As summer break winds down we're staring down the barrel of the start of the fall semester. Students living off campus are starting to trickle back into the neighbourhood. My advice to these returning students is simple. Cheerfully wandering through the neighbourhood during daylight hours smiling to others on the street and admiring gardens and such will get you a warm welcome and maybe a dinner invitation or a batch of homemade cookies. Wandering the neighbourhood after dark, especially way after dark, in a noisy and possibly chemically enhanced state just might get you on the business end of a super soaker that may or may not contain water. I'm just sayin'.

Today I am thankful for/that: A slightly cooler than usual August. The last time I was pregnant in August it was one of the hottest summers in recent memory. I'm rather relieved that I don't have to go through that again. The rain fed growth in my garden. Okay so it's all over grown because I haven't had the energy for yard work for the past month or so but the purple cone flowers are doing great this year. I'll try to get a picture of them up soon. Helping hands. Regular phone calls inquiring after my well being. Though I did answer one phone call this morning, "If you ask me if I'm still pregnant I'm hanging up." One can only tolerate hearing the question so many times before getting a little cranky. Caller ID so you know if it's safe to be cranky or if you have to try to be pleasant when you answer the phone, or if you shouldn't bother answering the phone at all. Back to school shopping! Although it doesn't hold the same excitement f...

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Alright Sis1 no need to freak out. The previously snake free (except for a few pets) island of Barbados now has its own native species. The smallest species of snake so far discovered by scientists. This species can curl up comfortably on a US quarter. Most regular folk would probably mistake it for a worm or a millipede . I have the feeling that Sis2 may have bashed some of these with a rock when she went through a creepy crawly hunting and bashing stage when she was little. Spaghetti-Thin Snake Is World's Smallest Technorati Tags: snake , barbados , caribbean , west indies Generated By Technorati Tag Generator

Had this exchange with Ethan at the farmer's market yesterday: Me: Okay no touching. Keep your hands to yourself until I say it's okay to touch. Ethan: So say it already! He had his eye on a pint of cherries that he really wanted to get into. The kid's mind is amazing. I sometimes wonder, how can I possibly keep up with him?

The latest installment of some of things hubby and I have heard the kids say recently. *** Isaiah: Read this. After I failed to read the entirety of the title page of Dr. Suess' Ten Apples Up On Top before bedtime one evening. *** Sophia: [ Brandishing the saw from a toy tool belt at Isaiah. ] Don't mess with my room or I'll cut you. Me: [ To hubby. ] Did she just threaten to cut someone? Hubby: [ Giving me an of course she did look. ] Yes. Me: .... Sophia followed Isaiah out of her room matter of factly explaining that she would cut him with the saw if he did anything to her room. She, of course, is to have free reign of Isaiah and Ethan's room. *** Sophia: Mommy I want to watch Alton Down Brown! In addition to raising a new generation of scifi geeks we're also raising a new generation of foodies. She means of course Alton Brown of Good Eats fame (check out the wiki ). She was immediately transfixed the first time she saw him on TV a few months ago wanting...