I had to share the hilarity of my children.  Last night was our Women's Bible Study and Kid's Club at church.  I go in the gym to pick up the kids and one of the little boys runs up to me and says, "Hey, she [pointing at Addie] said you were gonna have a baby."

I laugh and said, "No, I'm not having a baby."
Then our children and family minister steps up and asks, "Do you have anything you would like to share?"
Turns out that Miss Liz asked the kids to share a blessing each before dinner.  When they got to Addie, she said, "My mommy is going to have another baby soon."

Well, everyone's face turned and they all just assumed she'd let the cat out of the bag.  I had lots of inquiring minds but I assured them all that I am not pregnant.  This elicited lots of laughter, some relief, and a few inappropriate comments along the lines of, "Oh good, I was thinking, 'Are y'all crazy?!"  I was quick to clarify that we do want a fourth baby someday but that we are not currently pregnant.

On the way home I asked Addie why she told everyone that I was having a baby.  She replied, "Because I want you to."

Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Me: Well, baby girl, I know we would like to have another baby in our family, but Mommy is not pregnant right now.  I'm not growing a baby in my tummy so we don't need to tell people that because it might make them sad. 

Addie: But I want you to!

Me: I know, but I'm not having another baby right now.

Addie: Why not?  I told them you were having one soon, not right now.

Me: I'm just not, it takes a long time for babies to grow, so I'm not having a baby soon either.

Addie: [Bursts into sad sad tears and sobbing] I waaant you to right now!!!!!

Freddie: Mama, why don't you just go home and get married right now so you can have a baby.  I want you to have a baby tomorrow.  I want a Pokemon baby.

Me: It doesn't work that way Freddie.  Only God can decide when I am able to have another baby.

Freddie: Why don't you ask Him for one?

Me: I have and I will keep praying for that.

Addie: Just roll your window down and ask Him right now!

Me: [laughing a lot] I can pray without rolling my window down, ya goof.

Addie: I want a girl baby.

Me: God gets to decide if we have a girl or a boy, not us.  We will be grateful no matter what we have.

Freddie: Or we'll be grateful if we have two babies.

Me: [doubtfully] Um, yes, we'll be double grateful.

Freddie: Oh, Mama, you can get double pregnant.  Tomorrow you need to kiss two boys.

Me: [laughing more, near peeing my pants]  It doesn't work that way Freddie, stop worrying about it.  Mama will tell you both if we are going to have another baby.

Freddie: You can kiss Daddy and Rimshot, he's a boy.

Me: [thinking he may need a better anatomy lesson than I was willing to give a 7 year old]  No, humans can't have dog babies.  It doesn't work like that.  I'll explain more when you are older.

Addie: We never had a boy baby.

Me: What did you all have for dinner at Kid's Club??????

Today at lunch, Addie asked Jason what he made in Sunday school.  He replied, "Conversation."  Addie said, "Oh, that's good, conversation.  You made some friends." 
I told her that he also ate some cake.  She wanted to know what kind.
Jason replied, "Chocolate ice cream cake with chocolate chips."
Addie said, "Ooooh, that sounds delicious.  I'm gonna write that down."

She is hilarious.  So, I'm gonna write some stuff down too.  First off, today is September 1 and I ate a CHEESE quesadilla for lunch.  I had a whole wheat tortilla with white queso quesadilla cheese sprinkled with a little cumin and some homemade fresh salsa made from my garden tomatoes to dip it in.  Now I feel queasy.  I'm also nursing a sore throat and overall yuck feelings today, but I will try and blame the dairy for as much as possible.

August happened.  Vegan eating for a month happened.  Lots of new foods, recipes, ideas, etc. happened.  Four pounds lost and reaching my 60lb mark happened. Now it's time for something new or something old.  A friend asked me for an informative post on why vegan.  I mentioned watching Forks over Knives and a slew of other documentaries, but if we just need an abbreviated version I'll deliver.  So, the stuff that causes exponential cancer growth us omnivores is animal protein.  Animal protein isn't only found in meat, it's found in milk, cheese, and yogurt too.  I wish we could take butter out of the equation.  It's not protein, just fat, surely that's ok!  Also, I can't turn away from the incredible environmental toll of the livestock industry.  It is destroying our earth.  The human population continues to place crazy demands on high yield from the meat industry, causing soil erosion, water polution, severe animal cruelty, greenhouse gas emissions, genetic manipulation, and the eradication of viable farm land.  So, organic is good, right?  Free range chickens and eggs, grass fed organic beef, and all that jazz.  Well, maybe.  Maybe is as good as I can get because, first, I can't actually afford to feed a family of five all free range organic grass fed animals and their by products.  Second, it's not all it's cracked up to be either.  Free range chickens only require a few feet of space to meet the standard while they still get placed on an assembly line and male chicks are shredded up while they're still alive to make our dog food and hot dog fillers vs. a traditional chicken "manufacturer" who hoards hundreds of chickens into a few square feet and they grow into their cages and are pumped full of so many hormones to make their breasts grow that they can't even walk.  Hormone and antibiotic free organic dairy cows are euthanized if they have a basic udder infection because farmers can't use antibiotics to heal them or they won't get a stamp on their milk cartons.  Things like this upset me. 

I'm not asking or expecting it to upset everyone.  We all get through daily life with selective ignorance and denial on one thing or another.  I have no idea what small indonesian child probably suffered to make my cheap target sandals.  There is no way I could go through all the possible scenarios of how a cow is treated before it becomes a rawhide chew for my dog.  I've only started looking at how all the chemicals in my house are probably killing us.  Food has just been something that I take such an active roll in on a daily basis, that it seemed a good place to start being socially, economically, and environmentally conscious.  We all have our issues we are passionate about.  I'm not certain this will become "MY THING" since my thing is already all wrapped up in natural birth!  It's all strung together for me though.  Making small steps toward a more conscious way of living is how we'll survive another thousand years on this earth without it becoming a real live zombiepocalypse nuclear holocaust hunger games situation. 

K, there's my soap box.  I ate cheese today.  Just plain old cheese with no fancy labels and it tasted good.  I won't be eating it at every meal and I don't know when I'll feel like eating a piece of meat again.  I'm only going to do the best I can to reduce my consumption and educate my family so that they can do the same.  Maybe a year from now I will have more resolve and higher standards and expectations for myself.  I honestly hope so, but I've made dozens of small changes and an entire eating, lifestyle, shopping, environmental consideration, fitness, and outlook change because of these.  That's good enough for me for right now.  Individual choice is key and I'm proud of any small step I make or you all make in the right direction.