Wordless Wednesday=Whacky Wednesday

MHO Monday Mingle #12

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Welcome back to the Monday Mingle!

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This week's Theme: Pregnancy

1.  Have you ever been pregnant? If so, do enjoy being pregnant?

Yes I have!  3 times and 3 babies to prove it.  I feel blessed to have had safe and healthy pregnancies and babies.  I did not enjoy it though.  LOL

2.  Do you wish to be pregnant?

Nope!  No way!  Now how!  Nuh Uh.  I love my babies to bits but I am all done!  (I hope)

3. What do you think is the worst part of pregnancy?
All of the worrying.  The pains sucked too BUT the worrying about baby and whether he or she would be healthy, and the worrying about making sure to do things right was tough!

4. What is the best part of pregnancy?
I LOVED feeling baby flutters and kicks.  Oh and watching my belly do the wave!  haha

5. What advice would you give those who have never been pregnant? If you haven't been pregnant what question would you ask for those who have been pregnant?

Stay active.  The minute you slow down your body will too.  Get used to gross things happening.  Your body will do tons of gross things during the 9 months you are pregnant and then the little monster in your belly will come out and do grosser things.  Ditch the weak tummy now.  Last of all, don't eat everything in sight!  It is hard to lose that weight!!

 Okay, now it's your turn. Grab the button and questions and repost on your page!!! You don't have to answer the questions, you can just repost the button on your sidebar or in a post. Link your page or post up and mingle with other bloggers!!! No rules, just meet new people!

Heading East to West. Part II

I left my last post off at the emotional part.  When preparing the donations for this trip, I never took into account that I needed prepare myself, my soul, or my heart.  If you missed part 1 you can click here to read it.

We had to drop the big yellow truck off at Home Depot in Bellmead, TX  That's where the Penske Truck Rental location was in that area.  To get from Hillsboro, TX to Bellmead, TX we were forced to drive through West, TX.  As we got closer we could see the news choppers hovering overhead.  There were road closures.  There were cops everywhere.  I saw a few different vehicles with trailers full of bottled water and other goods driving passed.  It seemed as if that day we were all on that highway for the same reason.  To find a way to help.

It wasn't until we actually pulled into Home Depot that it actually hit me.  I looked up and I saw their American Flag at half mast.  If you are American, and you see the flag in that position, your heart begins to break.  It is in that position as an honor and a memorial for those that have passed away.  It is heartbreaking to see the flag that way.

I snapped this picture at the Home Depot off of I-35 in Bellmead, TX.  It's heartbreaking to look at but nice to see these brave heroes being honored!

When we started to pull out of the parking lot and leave we decided to stop in West.  One of our friends had a relative from there that she hadn't heard from in a while.  She wasn't even sure he was still living and working there but she asked if we would check around if we went through there.

As we got off of the interstate at the only exit they were allowing folks to come in and out at, it was a little chaotic.  Police officers were placed at every single road that could possibly lead you to the blast site.  They had concrete barricades where they lacked manpower.  They were doing an amazing job protecting the people of West, as well as protecting their privacy as they gathered their personal effects.

Cop Blocked

We drove around a little trying to find out where the command center was, or at least a place where we could find someone to talk to about our friends family member.  Most business downtown had been closed due to there being no running water in a better part of the little town.  As we drove we witnessed a lot of homes with the windows blown out.  

You can see some boards on the bottom left 2 windows.

Boards on the left of this home as well. 

You can tell the direction in which the blast came from.  All of the homes with boards on the windows only had them on the side that faced the direction of the fertilizer plant.  Even city hall felt it! As you can see in the picture below.

Boards had to be placed on the top left side.  

It was hard seeing this and trying to imagine what must have been going through these folk's heads when this happened.  Many people said they actually felt it before they heard it.  I can't imagine having my world rocked like that!  

We finally decided that we just needed to stop and ask someone where this place was located.  We were having no luck finding it.  Luckily, like stated before, there were cops at every corner.  We ended up coining the term "Getting Cop Blocked".  Seemed like everywhere we tried to go, there was a cop.  This time it was a welcomed "cop block".  We needed directions and there was a very handsome cop there to provide them! 

So, Chelsey volunteered to go ask the directions. He was very kind, and very helpful.  

 As it turned out, we weren't to far from where we needed to be.  We were just down the road from the community center.  That is where everything was set up!!  

More flags at half mast :(

There was a lot going on here.  There were a couple of tv crews set up, H.E.B. was there handing water out, there were people grilling, there were blood drives, and donation stations, and there was even a charging station set up outside the doors courtesy of Samsung.

We were greeted at the door by a fireman.  He asked what we were there for.  We explained to him that we were looking for someone.  He promptly led us to the command center.  It was one very long desk with about 10 women.  They ranged from teens to middle aged.  All volunteering.  All lacking sleep.  You could see the exhaustion on their faces, and the sadness in their eyes.  Through all of it, they still smiled at us and were ready to help us the minute we walked in.  I don't know how long they had been there, or how much time they had between shifts.  Many people don't realize the emotional toll it takes to man the phone lines after a disaster.  You aren't always answering simple questions.  It isn't always as simple as telling people where they can donate food, or advising which restaurants have running water.  These questions are from people who have lost everything, including a loved one.  In some cases, love ONES.  Yes, there were brothers fighting that blaze.  There are people who had to flee without their medications, people on respirators who have no electricity to run them, people trying to locate a family member that lived in the apartments or nursing home just 800 ft from the explosion.  I can't imagine the fear in the voices on the other end.  I don't want to imagine the sobbing, and I definitely wouldn't want to be the person on the other end without the answers they are looking for.  These women took on a job that can break you down and hurt your heart.  They volunteered their time even though they are going through similar situations.  These women are first in line to deal with everything.  Every call comes to them.  I was hurting for them as I heard a lady call upset because her nephew was out of insulin and she had no way of getting him any.  She didn't know what to do.  I was also there when someone prank called.  Not only was there 1 prank call in the short time I was there but there were TWO!!!  Then there was the person who called, and the women didn't have the answers this person wanted.  That person proceeded to call the woman a "fat bitch" and threaten to call the news crews to inform them of how incompetent the city was during this.  INCOMPETENT??  These women were trying.  They were doing their best and giving their all.  They don't need to be treated like this.  They need some compassion, some love, a thank you, some encouragement, and probably some counseling later.  They need to be commended for their efforts.  For stepping up for taking calls and helping to the best of their ability.  For doing what others couldn't or weren't willing to do.  One of the phone calls received while I was there had to do with locations of those lost in the explosion.  You could see their hearts were hurting as they were taking in the information.  These people were far from incompetent.  They were special, their generosity was heart warming, their compassion was unlike anything I've seen. I'm sad that I heard some things that I don't care to repeat because hearing some of the stories broke my heart.  

For lacking the ability to plan for a disaster they were still highly organized.  

After chatting with these nice, hardworking women, we thanked them for their efforts and were on our way.  As we were heading out of town we noticed a press conference was being set up at city hall.  We decided to stick around and see what was going on.  The town, and officials were doing a great job of keeping an open line of communication with it's citizens.  They were allowing everyone at the press conference not just the press.  

This particular conference was an update on number.  How many were missing and the dead.  The conference came to a pretty abrupt halt when the questions became over the top and consisted of baseless and down right disgusting accusations!  

When the conference ended these reporters refused to accept that no more questions would be answered.  They were angered over silly stuff.  One was mad that they weren't sure about the EXACT number of missing, that's a hard total to get in such a short amount of time.  However, reporters these days will do anything to stir up drama.  What really set me off though, was one certain reporter.  I didn't catch his name, as he was from one of the NBC channels and I'm not fond of their reporting anyway.  He just would not take "no more questions" for an answer and he followed the man that held the press conference around.  You know, because reporters want all the answers but don't want to give the people trying to get the answers the time to actually do it.  Anyway, this man asked why he wasn't allowed to go into the blast site.  He wanted to know why nobody could go in and see it.  The Mayor pro tem explained to him that they weren't allowing anyone back there.  It was hazardous and there was an investigation going on.  He explained that when they felt it was safe and the people who lived there had a chance to get in and rummage through the rubble to salvage any personal effects they could find, that it would be opened up to everyone else.  

WELL, that just wasn't good enough for this "man".  He came back by saying "Well, if you won't let us in to see it and get pictures, as far as I, and everyone else is concerned, no disaster ever took place here."

That made me tummy hurt.  My friends and I wanted to punch him.  Had there not been a million cops in that town I'm sure someone would have decked him.  How dare he make a statement like that!  People are hurting, they are trying to find a way to cope, and plan, and figure out what their future entails.  Do people like this "man" not get that??  Do they not understand that this is a town of about 2900 people??  This is a huge economical crisis for them!  This plant employed a better part of the town.  It was people's livelihoods. This is how people fed their families, and put roofs over their heads.  It's gone.  Uncertainty is all they have in it's place.  Oh and if they lived anywhere near the disaster site, their home is probably gone too.  Also, with that possibly being their main source of income, they may no longer have the means to pay for their home, let alone rebuild.  There are 14 dead, there are 200 injured and this "reporter" has the audacity to make a statement like that, and in the state of Texas nonetheless!!  I wanted to hug the Mayor pro tem.  I wanted to shake his hand.  I wanted to commend him on the strength he showed.  Instead I left him be.  He was sad.  He didn't need a hug, or a pat on the back.  This poor man needed a do over, a miracle, or maybe just an eraser.  

After witnessing first hand the hell these folks have gone through, I can't get it out of my head.  I can't stop seeing the look of concern on the young girls face who took the phone call about the child who was without insulin.  The young girl was nervous. She took off to find a doctor to help.  I can't get the pain in the eyes of the woman who was called a "fat bitch".  The look of frustration on the face of the woman who got the prank calls, and the look of helplessness on the young lady who got yelled at and was threatened with calls to the news.  

If you ever go through a disaster in your community please be patient with those volunteering their time. Show love and compassion because the emotional toll it takes to take on the responsibility of fielding calls is hard and painful.  Show some compassion for one another.  Show some love, show some gratitude.  Remember, they are volunteers.  They are spending countless hours trying to help you.  Be grateful, not selfish.  Be hope, not hate.  

Thank you to everyone out there that volunteers their time to help others!!  You are amazing human beings!

West, you will stay in our hearts always.

I was able to snap a picture of this make shift memorial placed outside of city hall.
It is just simple and beautiful enough to touch my heart. 

And of course the pic I snapped outside of the fire station.  This was such a beautiful and honorable memorial.  

Are You Perfect?

I just love Facebook!  Every single perfect parent out there has a Facebook account.  They typically use it to show off their perfect parenting skills, and to make sure that you believe that their lives are in fact, perfect.  I have been given a crash course in parenting multiple times by these parents. These people make me sad.  Not because they make me feel like less of parent (even though it's typically their goal) but, because I know it's fake.  I can't imagine being so sad inside that I would have to actively work to make people feel like less of a parent, all while making myself feel like a great one.

Personally, I do my best to bring people up.  Even if I don't parent my child in the same manner they do, I do my best to support their choices on parenting.  Every child is different, and every parent is different.  It's okay.  IT.IS.OKAY.  You do not have to raise your kids the same way I do.  I won't judge you. It's not my place.  I don't know what works for you and your children.  I don't believe in offering unsolicited advice.  I don't live your life and I certainly don't have to live with your kids.  You are the one that has to live with them.  So you are the one that has to raise them in a manner you can tolerate.  

I am writing this blog because I am fed up!  I am fed up with moms who think they can come in a presume that they know what is going on in your life.  They can assume they know what is best for YOUR children.  They THINK they are doing you a favor by telling you what you are doing wrong.  

BITCH PLEASE!  You, you are trying to be a know-it-all!  You are trying to make yourself look good.  You are trying to be better than the rest.  DON'T.DO.THAT.  It makes you look like a jerk.  It makes you look like you have no life, and it definitely does not make people want to be your friend. Your piss poor attitude makes you look like a bully.  

Why am I writing this?  I will tell ya.  I recently posted a picture collage of my princess.  It was cute and it made me laugh.  I thought I would share it on my page.  I've never gotten a sequence of pictures of any of my babies falling asleep.  So when I saw it happening I had to take the opportunity and then share it of course.    This is the picture::

When posting this picture I never imagined I would be judged immediately.  People were commenting about how it was cute or funny, but then came the comment THEEEEE COMMENT.  The one that makes you want to pull your hair out.  The presumptuous comment.  This comment "Chest clip too low.... not a belly clip".

This picture was not posted with any sort of question about how to safely strap my baby in her car seat. That means telling me how to do so is unwelcome.  I shouldn't have to explain myself.  The fact that I am snapping pictures of my child in indoor lighting should be a dead giveaway that we aren't driving.  So of course I replied to comment by saying to the girl "We're eating dinner not driving.  She is allowed to be comfy in a sling.  Thank you judgy mcjudgerson"  Probably not my finest moment BUT I still stand by it. In the end though we didn't get in a huge argument or have a big debate.  We both let it go and moved on because that is what respectful people do.  Disagreements are okay as long as in the end you find a way to be respectful of one another.

Flat out ignorance and hatefulness is NEVER okay.  You see, after my comment about my baby being allowed to be comfortable, some chick pops up and responds with "well, you don't even wipe your kids face, that must be uncomfortable for her too no?"  Ummmm....we.were.at.dinner.  as stated previously.  She was eating a piece of bread when she started to crash out.  Other moms may be willing to wake their kids up to wipe their faces but as a mom of 3, I have learned not to do that.  It makes for a crabby baby!  The crumbs from her food will be there when she wakes up and I can wipe them then.  If it were uncomfortable for her, she would not have went to sleep.  She would have cried her little lungs out until I complied with her needs.  Had I started wiping her face down mid-pass out, she would have started screaming. Also, messy faces are part of being a kid, if you can't understand that, it should not be my parenting skills called into question.  

On that note, had I not been immediately judged for my piss poor parenting skills, and had you rationally thought about the different scenarios of what could have been going on, you could have just enjoyed the picture or moved on.  

So, what were we doing when that picture was taken?  The picture that proved me to be an unsafe parent who can't properly care for her children?  This is what we were doing.

I raise my children alone Monday- Saturday.  My husband works out of town.  It's not his fault.  It's the job. He loves us, and he is a great provider.  Nonetheless, I am alone with 3 kids all week.  I do every midnight feeding, change every diaper, I cook, I clean, I help with homework, I kiss every boo-boo, I deal out every punishment, I give every bath, and I handle all er visits, doctors visits, and I'm on vomit clean up duty during every sickness.  It's exhausting but it's okay.  I love my family and my life.  I recently started a little weekly tradition.  A way to treat the kids for us all making it through another week in one piece.  We go out to eat at Johnny Carino's every Friday.(I switched it to Thursday this week because I had other things planned for Friday this week)   They get to order whatever they want and the kids and I just hang out at the table and discuss our week.  We joke, we laugh, we have dessert, we eat lots of carbs the kids drink Italian Cream Sodas and mommy has a glass of wine  (calm down it's just one) and then we go home.  That's what was going on when that picture was taken.  Bread from the restaurant is what was all over her face.  Her chest clip was moved down for comfort  because we usually stay for a while laughing and joking.  I had turned my back for a minute to play a game of Tic Tac Toe with the oldest and when I turned back around I saw the poor baby passing out from exhaustion.  She looked adorable, messy face and all! 

So, all of that being said, I really hope that the next time you choose to judge someone by a picture you see, you will stop and think about the fact that there could be a million scenarios going on when the photo(s) was snapped.  

Stop being hateful.  Don't give advice that wasn't requested.  Don't judge other moms.  Be respectful, be pleasant, be a role model, don't make negative assumptions, be a human being, and for heaven's sake, HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR!  

Last of all, don't be a Keyboard Ninja!  If you can't say it to my face then typing it makes you look like a coward.  If you have that much concern for someone send them a PRIVATE message and express your concern.  It makes you look like less of an ass.  

If you have to be hateful then I feel sorry for you.  I hope you find happiness someday.  In the meantime, I will be enjoying my life and my kids.  Messy faces and all.  

Plus, my baby could probably kick you ass!

Look at how tough she is!  hehe

Oh and here is my CPS worthy pics!  Hurry call now!!  My children are soooooo mistreated and unhappy!! Just look at them!

Heading East to West:: Part I

One minute you're laughing and smiling, cracking jokes, drinking a beer or a glass of wine, yelling at your kids to get their little behinds back in bed, kissing someone goodnight, or relaxing with a good book.  It was a minute of normalcy.  A minute you experience each and every night, but the last minute you experienced before your world was rocked.  Literally.

Next thing you remember is hearing sirens, looking at shattered glass on the floor of your home, then realizing your windows were blown out.  You run around, you check on your kids, your husband, your pets.....what happened?

WHAT.THE.HELL.JUST.HAPPENED.?

You're scared, your confused, you go running out of your home.  Police and rescue workers are everywhere.  Unable to answer questions but forcing you to evacuate your home.  What do you do?  What do you grab?  Will they allow you to grab anything?  What about my family, my friends, my pets?  Your heart is racing, your anxiety is at full force, and panic sets in.  Life is about to change drastically.  

On April 17th I watched what I just described unfold on every news station.  This happened in a town about 180 miles from my home, the tiny, little town of West, Texas.   

An explosion happened.  A fertilizer plant exploded.  It killed people.  Mostly firefighters who were there responding the fire that set this explosion in motion. Wives, lost their husbands that night, parents lost their sons, children lost their fathers, siblings lost their brothers.   With a town of only about 2,900 people you can probably imagine this has impacted each and every person in the city.  

Watching stories like this unfold before your eyes on the news makes you feel helpless.  I wanted to get in my car and go help that night.  What can you do though?  Unless you are a trained professional you are just kind of stuck.  Unless you are a trained professional, jumping in your car is useless.  You would just be in the way.  This was just so close to home though and sitting back and doing nothing is not an option.  

As I am scrolling through my Facebook news feed I see some other people posting about wanting to help.  One of my friends and blog sponsors, Origami Owl Living Lockets: Chelsey Ann Pope, Independent Designer, had posted that she was going to collect donations and take he SUV down there.  I thought this would be a perfect way for me to help too.  So, I told her she could use my house as a drop off location if need be and that if she had too much I would drive my car too.  

Well, holy smokes!!  The support from our local community was astounding!  So many people stepped up to help!  Donations poured in at a rate that would not allow us to fit everything in our vehicles.  We then receive a donation to help us rent a truck from Penske of Abilene.  It wasn't quite enough money though.  So, Penske cut us a fantastic deal on the rental.  We were so grateful for their generosity!  We also received a donation from someone to pay for gas.  We had other monetary donations come in.  One of those was from another one of my blog sponsors, Wrapped Away With Cori.  I was just amazed at the generosity from people!  

My dining room was packed!

When we realized how much stuff we had, we decided to have a little "organizing party".  Obviously that meant letting my good friend Christine, from Moore Organized Mayhem take the lead.  Being the generous hostess I am, I supplied my volunteers with the necessities, Wine, soda, pizza hut, and a half eaten cheese cake.  Don't judge, it was last minute and I had to work with what I had. 

That particular bottle was not easy to open!

We all chipped in, got things organized, loaded the truck, and with the help of the wine, loaded ourselves.  Even the kids got involved!  I was so proud of all of the kids that were here that night.  They WANTED to help.  We did not ask them for help or make them help.  They just stepped up and helped load the truck.  

The next day 3 of us made the trip.  I took my personal vehicle and my friends, Chelsey, and Taylor drove the big Penske truck. 

Chelsey and Taylor in front of me as we hit the highway!

 We only got the Penske one way so we needed a personal vehicle to get us home.  Then we were off to Hillsboro, TX.  Where the great folks at Hill College were all set up and waiting for our delivery.  They quickly helped us unload so that we could get the truck to it's destination about 30 miles south of there in Bellmeade, TX.  This is where things get a little difficult....emotionally.  

All of that being said, you will have to stay tuned for a part II....