Fall Semester Wrap Up

Just finished my fall semester! I got somewhere around a 90% in Early Childhood, which I'm quite happy with. Before my final I had 103% in Psychology, not horribly worried about that one, and I feel like I did really well on the final. No idea what I'm getting in Sociology, probably a high B or low A. Didn't feel very good going into the final, but I actually think I did pretty well.

Overall - feels like a good semester. But I'm ready for a three week break. And I am so excited for spring semester! A little bit of fun after all those intro classes is just what I need!

Next semester's line-up: Child Development for the Educator, Infant and Toddler Care, Childhood Activities, Child Psychology, and Photographic Technology. Can't. Wait.

I so badly need the next three weeks to get my focus back. Get back into the swing of working at Meijer, concentrate on my kids a little more, enjoy the holidays and all the family time that goes with them, and just breathe for a little while.

In....and out....hey, we all need it sometimes.

xx Amber

Physical Punishment Poll Follow Up

Well first of all, congratulations to myself on the most page views I've ever gotten on a single post!

So the results came out fairly close to what I expected. Seven use no physical punishment at all, nine use it in some form or another, whether on a regular basis or only in severe situations.

Here are a few statistics:

75% of mothers in England admit to spanking their child before age one year.

20 states in the US still allow corporal punishment in public schools.

Schools can hit disobedient students, but it's not allowed in prisons.

Last year, over 200,000 children were physically punished by a school authority figure.

Anyone else completely disgusted yet? Cause I sure am.

If you're one of the ones who use physical punishment, you may not want to read on. You've been warned. And I'm in a snarky kinda mood today, so if you want to debate, bring it on. Just keep it civil please.

PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT IS COMPLETELY INEFFECTIVE.

There are studies upon studies upon studies illustrating this fact. Research shows that modeling and positive reinforcement are far more effective. It also shows that spanking does nothing but teach the child that it's ok to use aggression as a means of handling frustration and anger. Not to mention the fact that a person who uses physical punishment is far more likely to abuse their child, and that it's extremely demeaning to the child.

Ok, stepping off my soapbox (for now).

Do you use physical punishment?

So as usual I'm working on a paper..and I want some opinions. Feel free to leave comments if you don't feel any of the answers apply to your situation.

Why I'm majoring in Early Childhood.

I got a lot of criticism when I changed my major from nursing to early childhood education. And I didn't lose any credits since all I had so far was pre-reqs anyway. I don't feel like I need to justify that decision to anyone, since it's my career. But for the sake of posterity, let's go through this argument.

1. The obvious - I love children. Seeing them learn is just amazing. And just this first semester of classes has been an amazing learning experience for me.
2. The pay - teaching isn't going to pay as well as nursing. But this isn't a field that people go into looking to make the big bucks. You do it for the kids, not for the money.
3. Job security - can I just ask everyone to take a look at the paper? Because I see waaay more help wanted ads for education than for RNs. Just sayin'.
4.  I'm putting a lot of time and effort into my education. Why would I sink that much time, effort, and money into something that I may or may not love doing?

All this being said, my first early childhood class is going great. I am learning so much. My views have changed in a huge way, and I am so confident in my choice now. (I'm also happy with my decision to do early childhood as opposed to elementary!)

Christmas is Coming!

And it's time to start thinking about how you're going to send out the kiddies' Christmas pictures! How about an adorable card from Shutterfly? I've ordered through them before and they're great!. They have a great selection of cards for 2010, ranging from traditional, to fun, with any number of pictures on the card. I can't wait to pick out my family's Christmas cards. I love this one:

Like the idea of a photo card? Go check them out here.

They have all kinds of cute photo gifts, like calendars and super cute baby invitations and announcements. Plus, they're so affordable, they always have specials going and coupons out!

The best special right now? Bloggers that do a write up of their products can get 50 photo cards for free! Sounds good right? Check it out here. All you have to do is fill out a form and post a quick blog!

Someone took their creative pills this morning

Not really sure what came over me, but I kinda got crazy creative today. My living room looks like the craft section of Walmart was picked up in a tornado and dumped on my house. But, I made two super cute tutus (which sadly, I can't keep for Claire because they were made for other people), as well as a new bow for her and a bow holder.

Clouds and Their Silver Linings

You know what I hate?

Being in a great mood, and then having it shot, beat with a stick, and then rolled down a steep hill.

I got 100% on my early childhood paper that I wrote about Teaching the OI Child and I am totally jazzed about it.

But do you think I got a chance to share that with my family? Of course not. Because the minute I walk in the door, I get hit by a wave of grouchiness that knocks me over backwards. Not to mention the fact that in said childhood class tonight, we had an exam over 5 whole chapters. Which accounts for 10% of the total grade for the class. Stress? What's that?

But, I did manage to get myself registered for the spring semester today, and I'm going to send myself to hell thoroughly and jump from 4 classes up to 5. I'm doing Childhood Psychology, Infant and Toddler Care, Child Development for the Early Childhood Educator, Early Childhood Activites (Do you see a theme here?), and Photographic Technology.

Confessions

I'm in a random kinda mood tonight, so I'll give you a few of my confessions, ie. things most people don't know about me.

I love Taylor Swift.

I read like a fiend. I can literally sit down and finish a book in one sitting.

I'm probably one of the most passive people you'll ever meet. I don't like confrontation at all. In fact, I'll go out of my way to avoid it.

I was in a bad boat accident when I was 14, and I have some wicked cool scars on my leg. Sometimes when strangers ask me about them I say I got bit by a shark. (Yes, I've actually had people believe me.)

I was raised the only child in a single parent home, and I've never met my biological father, nor do I want to. And yes, I feel this has contributed greatly to the fact that I'm extremely spoiled, as well as my shyness and anxiety problems.

I hate scary movies. They give me horrible nightmares.
(This probably stems from the fact that I have serious anxiety issues that I should have probably seen a therapist for a long time ago. But I digress.)

I didn't have my first kiss until I was 17.

I have never used any illegal drug in my life. I've never even tried a cigarette, and I seldom drink alcohol. But when I do, I prefer what my husband calls "girly foo-foo drinks".

My husband and I are high school sweethearts. We've been together since we were 17. This December marks 4 years since we started dating. I complain about him a lot and he drives me nuts, but in reality he's my other half and he keeps me sane.

On the other hand, had you told me when we first started dating that in four years we'd be married and have two kids, I would have said you were bat $#*! crazy.

 I got early acceptance to my first choice college....then I got a positive pregnancy test. Now I'm in my second semester at the local community college getting my AAS in Early Childhood Education.

Well, that's enough of my deep, dark secrets for tonight. Happy Halloween everyone!

Did you hear?

About the crazy storm that just rolled through here? A 72 MPH wind gust was recorded here in Ludington the other day. As you can imagine, power lines have been down everywhere, trees and branches all over the roads...what a mess. Luckily we were able to avoid any serious issues, our power didn't get interrupted except for blinking a few times, and since we don't have any trees in our yard we were safe there. A tree did fall in the backyard of my childrens' daycare provider yesterday while they were there. The storm did make all kinds of crazy out on the lake though, and I was of course out there snapping pics like it's my job. Here's my favorite:

I am DYING for Chrsitmas to get here so I have my new camera and photoshop finally.

$#*! My Dad Says

Found another excellent book to read!

(Excuse my crappy amazon.com image)

First of all, this book drops a lot of F-bombs. But as long as you're not offended by that or can look past it, it's a good, quick read for a laugh! After all, what can you expect from a bok with a four-letter-word in the title?

While I don't advocate the parenting methods per se, it's great for a laugh, especially for a parent I think (it sure made me feel good about the way I'm raising Brennan and Claire!), although I will give him this, he's fair, and he has his childrens' best interests at heart. Definitely a unique form of writing a memoir.

Overall, worth the $11.99 I spent on it (which doesn't even really count, since I paid with my bottle return money)? Definitely.

Follow up: What Would You Do?

So the book I was reading was Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult.

***SPOILER ALERT***

Synopsis from jodipicoult.com - When Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, they are devastated – she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain. As the family struggles to make ends meet to cover Willow’s medical expenses, Charlotte thinks she has found an answer. If she files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her ob/gyn for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the monetary payouts might ensure a lifetime of care for Willow. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in public that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she’d known about the disability in advance – words that her husband can’t abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile. And the ob/gyn she’s suing isn’t just her physician – it’s her best friend.

Being a JP book it's full of twists and turns of course, and a tear-jerker, like all of her books. I think this one is probably the saddest I've read. One of the main conflicts in the book is that Charlotte tells Willow that she's just saying that she wouldn't have given her up to get the money. But she has to testify in front of a court that she would have.

So, the reason for the poll. Out of 10 people that answered, 4 would have kept the baby, no matter what the disability, and 6 said it would depend on the disability. I didn't vote because I didn't want to throw the results off.

Here's my answer: I don't know.

I don't think I could abort. And if I did, I'd be devastated, and I'd probably think about that child, wondering who he or she would have been, for the rest of my life. But I don't know if I would be strong enough to provide the kind of care a special needs child, especially an OI child, would need. I've gotten to know osteogenesis imperfecta pretty well the last couple of days, since the book inspired my topic for a paper I'm writing for my early childhood class. These people are absolutely amazing. A friend who read my paper asked me if I knew someone with the disease, and I don't. But I'd love to spend some time with a person who does.

So now, knowing a few more details, is your answer still the same? Would you abort a fetus with OI, or would you keep the baby and hope for the best?

What would you do?

I'm reading a book that has me thinking a little bit. I realize this is a tough question, but I'm just looking for honest opinions, not an argument. I'll give the poll a couple days (plus me some time to finish the book) then I'll elaborate.

Results

We got a call from Claire's pediatrician yesterday, and we got the all clear. Everything on her ultrasound looked normal. HUGE load off my shoulders. Of course I'm still wondering why she got a UTI in the first place, but we'll look into more extensive testing if she happens to get oone again.

On a side note: I have the mot awesome husband you could ever imagine. I'm going to see Lady Antebellum in Grand Rapids on Saturday! Yay!

Ultrasound

Tomorrow is Claire's ultrasound.

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

People have been telling me the past few weeks that I just need to stay positive and that everything will be ok.

Everything is not ok. My little girl has to have an ultrasound tomorrow. If things were ok, I would not be taking my five-and-a-half month old for an ultrasound tomorrow. And as much as I want to believe that she's fine, I'm her mother. It's not going to stop me from worrying. It's in my job description, and it's a part I take very seriously.

Claire and I have to be at the hospital at 10:30 AM EST tomorrow, so I would appreciate all the thoughts/prayers/hopes/wishes that you have to spare that the ultrasound with goo quickly and smoothly, and that all is well with my little girl. It'll be a few days after that before I get the results, but as soon as I do, you can be sure I'll probably blog about it.

Wish us luck,
Amber and Claire

Overload

Ever get that feeling like you maybe bit off a bit more than you're able to chew?

I do! Pick me, pick me, I'm the one!

Brennan + Claire + 4 classes + work = Me having a complete meltdown

I have 3 research papers due this semester. I've started one, and I have little more than a topic and a rough outline.

I hate my job. Period. The end. (Hopefully this will be improving, I'm pretty sure I'm getting a new job, working in a daycare.)

Still no luck getting Brennan started on potty training. He still would rather yell at the potty than sit on it. At least we're not having to cry it out anymore, he's finally going to sleep like a good boy again. He'll be transitioning into a twin bed soon.

Claire goes for her ultrasound on her kidneys on Oct. 5th, and heaven knows I won't stop worrying until we get the results from that. Sigh.

And as hard as I try I can't get rid of the blasted fleas on the dog and cat. Sigh x 2.

Can I be a SAHM now?

Terrified.

My readers know Claire was sick last weekend, and she had a UTI. I got a call from her pediatrician Monday and was asked to bring her in, the doctor wanted to look her over. I didn't think anything of it, just a normal follow up visit.

I was kinda wrong.

Turns out a UTI is highly uncommon in a baby her age. This is why her doctor wanted to see her. And the fact that she had such a high fever indicated to him that it was not just a UTI, but could involve her kidney(s) as well. Some possibilities that he mentioned were reflux, a duplicate kidney, or a kink in her urethra.

I have to take her for an ultrasound on her kidneys on October 5th, and hopefully at that time we'll find what's wrong and it will be easily fixed. If not, she'll be having more testing done.

Hoping for the best,
Amber

Show and Tell

Hi everybody, this is my beautiful daughter Claire Madelyn Gutowski. Five months ao today, I gave birth to her. She's cute.

So in honor of her turning 5 months old, I'd like to share her birth story.

I had contractions for months before I had Claire. I was physically and mentally exhausted, sick, and so ready to have her. She was due April 24th. On April 12th I had my last OB appointement. I was 38 weeks, and she was Breech. I was told that if she hadn't come by the following Monday, I would be induced or have a c-section, depending on whether or not she turned back head down.

April 13th came, and I was still having contractions, nothing out of the normal, and I convinced myself that it was nothing like usual and went to bed that night in a bad mood, thinking about the fact that I had to wait another week, and sure I would have to have a c-section.

On the morning of April 14th, I woke up at 3 AM. I wasn't sure why at first and tried to go back to sleep, but after about 20 minutes I realized my contractions were slowly getting stronger and more regular. I held out until 5 AM, terrified that I would be sent home from the hospital again. At 5:30 I woke Logan up and told him it was time. My grandparents watched Brennan, and we headed to the hospital.

I was immediately strapped to the monitor and my cervix was checked. Imagine my surprise when I was told I was already nearly 6 cm dilated! We went with the assumption that the baby was still Breech, I was given a shot of Brethene to stop my contractions, and was told I would have a c-section sometime that morning. There were two other women scheduled in front of me. The on-call doctor ordered a flat plate x-ray to be sure that she was still Breech before they started prepping me for surgery.

She wasn't. Stinker. She gave me nothing but problems the whole pregnancy, why stop now, right?

Fortunately the Brethene wore off within about 15 minutes, and a happier woman you've never seen. It was 6:30 AM, I'm in full active labor and practically skipping up and down the hall of OB with excitement. About 7:30ish the on-call doctor came and broke my water, and I immediately jumped up to 7 cm. I went and relaxed in the jet tub for a while, still without any pain meds, I felt great. I was made for Claire's labor, I could hardly believe the difference between Brennan's labor and this one. Once I got out of the tub I was checked again, waited a while and checked again, and I got a little stuck at 8 cm. At this point it was decided  that I needed the dreaded Pitocen. Oh Pitocen, how I loathe thee. I was doing awesome with my pain management before you were injected in my IV. I honestly think I could have made it through the birth without any medication if I didn't have the Pitocen. But I'm a pansy, and 5 minutes after they started it, I asked for Stadol, and promptly passed out, mouth hanging open, drool running freely down my chin. Lovely.

At 11 AM I was 9 cm, with just a little lip of cervix left. The doctor pushed it out of the way (ouch), I started pushing at about 10 minutes past. They told me she had hair halfway though and I got sooo excited!

At 11:26 AM I laid eyes on this for the very first time. Love at first sight.

Claire Madelyn Gutowski

April 14, 2010 11:26 AM

6 lbs. 10 oz. 19.5 inches

Perfection.

Nine years ago.

Nine years ago today I sat in Mrs. Dilworth's 7th grade language arts class. A senior came across the hall and gave us the awful news. When I got home from school, my mom had the news on, and I watched it with her.

I was 12 years old then, and I didn't understand.

I'm 21 years old now, and honestly, I still don't understand.

I don't understand how people can have so much cruelty in their hearts.
I don't understand why anyone would want to hurt other people so badly.
And above all, I don't understand why we can't all just accept each other.

So today, along with hoping for peace for the poor people who lost the ones they love, I'll have hope for the souls of those who felt that this was a good idea. And I'll have faith that they get their just rewards.

And above all, I'll have hope for my children, and I'll pray that they never have to lose their innocence, and never have to experience a painful disaster such as I did 9 years ago.

R.I.P. Twin Towers, and all the brave souls who went with you. We'll never forget.

What I've been doing.

Sorry I kind of suck lately, but things have been really busy. Here's a quick summary on my life at present.

I'm Working. At Staples. It sucks. End of story.
....Ok, not end of story, I need to rant a bit. I took the job assuming I would get 15-20 hours a week. That 15-20 hours has quickly escalated to almost 30. Between work, school, and homework, my kids are beginning to forget what their mother looks like.
And another thing. I applied for child care assistance from Dept. of Human Services, and they told me I make too much. So after childcare and taxes, I'm essentially working for like 50 cents an hour. Hell to the no. Not really sure if I'm going to be there uch longer, it's stressing me so badly it's not funny.

School. It's going well, just finished the 2nd week of the semester (but I hae yet to have my class that only meets on Monday. Figure that one out.) Anyway, I'm doing my best to stay caught up on homework, 2 of my profs I like, the other reminds me of a duck.

Brennan continues to grow and grow and grow. The most recent LOL story I have on him goes like this. My grandma bought him a Dora the Explorer doll, and the other day he was cradling her in his arms. When asked what he was doing he replied "feeding the baby" and proceeded to burp her and switch sides. Think he's a mama's boy much?

Claire's (almost) 5 month stats - 13 lbs. 6 oz. (doubled her birthweight!) 25 in. She laughs, loves her feet, can roll up onto her side, and has recently started taking a paci.

Yesterday I picked her up from daycare with a 103.5 F fever! Not too much to worry about though, 4 hours in the ER told us she had a virus, and to take her home and alternate Motrin and Tylenol every 3 hours. She's running warm again today though, so I'll update tomorrow.

Thanks for sticking with me through my month of non-blogging!

Cora's Story

Imagine holding your five day old baby, nursing her at 3:30 AM, and looking down to see her face covered in blood.

For Kristine McCormick this isn't a nightmare. It's a horrible memory that she will never escape. Her daughter Cora was born with congenital heart disease that wasn't found until she was already gone. I will warn you,her blog will make you cry. I'm not an easy cryer, but I was reduced to bawling.

http://www.corasstory.org/2009/12/coras-story.html

Thank you Kristine, for sharing Cora's story with us all. And thank you as well for making me hold Claire just a little bit tighter today.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was an absolute blast! Saturday we spent just lounging around the house since Logan didn't get out of work till 6 AM. Then that evening we went out boating with some neighbors, our friends Rod and Kendra, and Dave and Mary. Went swimming, had a great time. Then we came home and grilled, and stayed up til 3 AM playing cards. Good times.

Yesterday was our first anniversary. My mom watched the littles so we could go out to dinner. We ate at P.M. Steamers, which wasn't too bad but was a little pricey for the quality of the food, but the carrot cake I had for dessert was to die for! Altogether a great weekend!

A happy 4th, and my good deed for the day.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

So, the plan was to go to the parade today, but then 15 minutes before we were due to leave, plans changed. What's new for this family? Decided to hit up the state park and go swimming instead. So we went swimming, beach was packed of course. Took Brennan to see the dam, played on the sand dunes, went for a short walk. Which  brings me to my good deed.

We were almost back to the van when we saw a boy about 10 years old laying on the ground just off the path. We stopped and I walked over to him, shook him awake and asked if he was ok. He seemed incoherent, he could tell us his name but couldn't tell us where he lived or where his camp site was. Neither of us had out cell phones since we had been on the dunes, so I booked it back to the beach to get a ranger for help. I ran to the concession stand and while I'm screaming at the idiotic teenage boys behind the counter who were looking at me like I was the stupid one in the situation, a 60ish woman came up to me, gave me the description and name of the boy, and said she was his grandmother. Apparently he was autistic, and was disoriented from the new medication they were giving him. She said it was a Godsend that we happened to come up to the concession stand at the same time, they had been looking all over for him and were going to the stand to find a range to set up a search party for him.

Here's my question. How do you lose a 10 year old autistic child? Shouldn't someone have been keeping better tabs on him? Who knows how long he would have laid there sleeping if I hadn't gone for help. Also, the beach was a good long ways away from where we found the boy. How on earth did he wander that far before they noticed he was missing?

To the Twilight Haters

Dear Twilight haters,

Since you feel the need to publicly ridicule something that I enjoy, I'm going to turn around and ridicule you, even though this is just a boring blog and not Facebook.

Firstly, I'd like to address the point of why one would want to blatantly put down another person's interest. Is it jealousy, because you don't feel so strongly about something you enjoy as much as my fellow Twi-fans and I do? Because honestly, that's quite sad. Get a hobby. It'll help. Trust.

Do you just not understand, or are you incapable of understanding Twilight? Many haters refer to Twilight as "immature" and below an adult reading level. I may point out to these people that Stephenie Meyer has in fact said that she was not intending to write Twilight for a YA audience, it just happened that way. Or is it because today's society is so hung up on sex that we're unable to even fathom the idea of a couple not being sexually active before marriage. Personally, I find the temptation and resistance to be sexier than the second hand embarassment I would get from reading some nasty sex scene.

To those who don't read for religious reasons, that don't want to believe in vampires: it's fictional. The author is mormon. There are no beings who can really sparkle in the sun. Move on.

Point being: hate it if you want, it's not my problem even though I can't even fathom a person who can't relate or enjoy in some way. I'm going in less than two hours to see Eclipse, ad I'm damn proud of it!

XOXO
Amber

Eclipse, Potty Training, and Cooking and Cursing Vol. 2

Eclipse - hubs and I are going to see it tonight at 7:10! I am so excited! Fan girl squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Review to come tomorrow.

Potty training. We're trying. Brennan absolutely hates the potty chair. I know he's ready, he tells me every time he pees or poops. I think he's just scared of going outside of his diaper for some reason. Also, he's taken a sudden disliking for his firetruck toddler bed. I'm not really sure what that's about.

Point Roster

Cooking Skill -3

Amber - 1

Attempted to make scalloped potatos out of a box last night. Attempted being the key word. We only got to eat half the box because the other half was burned to the bottom of the pan. I seriously considered docking myself a point I failed so bad.

Cooking and Cursing Vol. 1

Point Roster:

Cooking Skill - 2

Amber - 1

That's right! Victory baby! I got stumped on the fettuccini alfredo and the french toast, but I annihilated the chocolate chip cookies! Take that cooking! Who's the bitch now?

Yeah...so I made homemade chocolate chip cookies yesterday...and they're amazing! I used my grandma's recipe, and managed to bake without burning. I rock.

Just for fun: Hot topics.

Would you do meth if it was legalized?
-No. I've never done any kind of illegal drugs, and even if it was legal I would still see it as wrong.

Abortion: for or against it?
- For myself, I am against it. I think there are three circumstances when abortion is acceptable: rape, incest, or when the pregnancy threatens the mother's life. I believe that if a girl thinks she's mature enough to have sex, she should be able to stand up and deal with the consequences. On the other hand, I think making abortion illegal is unrealistic, because women are going to find a way to do it if they really want to, and if it's illegal it would be in disgusting, unsafe and unsanitary ways.

Do you think the world would fail with a female president?
- Absolutely not. I think a woman president is just what this country needs. As long as it's not Sarah Palin or Jennifer Granholm.

Do you believe in the death penalty?
- To a point. I believe that some people deserve it, and maybe logistically it would save money by not having all these lifers taking up space. But I do think it should be used judiciously, and that it should be decided by a jury.

Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already?
- I don't really have an opinion either way, since it doesn't affect me. I suppose since people are going to get it either way, might as well let the government tax it to help the debt.

Are you for or against premarital sex?
- I am against indiscriminate sex with whoever you feel like. I realize that to many people sex and love are not mutually inclusive or exclusive concepts, but to me, sex is something that should be shared between two people only when they love each other and plan to remain in a relationship for an extensive period of time. As for marriage though, I think it's unrealistic in this day and age to get married without living together first.

Do you believe in God?
-The jury's still out at this point. I believe in a higher power, but I haven't yet accepted who or what that higher power may be.

Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized?
-For sure. I don't feel that anyone should have say over the marriage of two people that love each other.

Do you think it's wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the country?
- Oh yes. I also have a problem with them getting all the good paying jobs when my husband and I have to fight to get one that pays minimum wage.

A twelve year old girl has a baby, should she keep it?
- I have a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of a twelve year old doing something that would result in a baby, let alone raising one.

Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen?
- Might as well, I don't believe I know an eighteen year old that hasn't drank anyway. It's pretty ridiculous that this country will allow an eighteen year old to go fight  and possibly die for them, but not have a beer first.

Should the war in Iraq be called off?
- I think we're too deep into it for just calling it off to help anything.

Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars?
- Probably. I could do a lot with a million dollars: pay for my babies to go to college, buy a house and new cars for me and Logan. And buy a new flag to replace the one I burned.

Should child predators be forced to wear signs identifying themselves ?
- More than that, it should be tattooed on their foreheads.

Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers?
- Somewhat, but I'm not overly worried about it. They're my opinions and if a person doesn't agree with me, so be it.

Catching up.

So, let's see. It's been a long few days, hence why I haven't been on the computer...pretty much at all.

Work is just craptastic. I was there for three days and I don't think I'm going to continue with Meijer. It's just not working for me, I'm not happy and I have no time for my kids or my husband. I am, however, going to take my resume to a daycare that's hiring tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about that.

The 18th of July will be the first anniversary of our wedding. I'm so excited to see what next month brings, on the Friday Logan got me five bouquets of flowers, including one he sent to me at work. It was so sweet. I love him so much, and I can't wait to see what he has planned for our anniversary.

Cooking....not going so well right now. Reading either. With work and everything going on for Fathers' Day we've been living on pizza, and I'm never home to read. I'm hoping to have something more exciting in this area to post next week.

Found out today that my belly button piercing is still open. Random, but I was happy about it.Also got my hair cut. Double happy.

Back to work tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the day I've been dreading waiting for ever since I got taken off work in December. Going back. I'm not looking forward to leaving my babies, even though it's just with my mom. Claire is still refusing to drink out of any bottle I offer to her. Brennan will be fine, he loves spending time with grandma.

There are two things I want to start doing on my blog. 1. I am an avid reader, so I'm going to try and do a book review every week, maybe on Friday or Saturday. 2. I'm working on becoming a better cook, because right now, I can't cook anything that doesn't come with a box and step-by-step directions. So I'll be documenting that process here. Keep reading, because it's sure to be entertaining!

Mommy. Wifey. Me.

I have been blessed with the two most amazing children on earth. Brennan James was born April 30, 2008. He was 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 20.5" long. Claire Madelyn came into our lives two years later on April 14, 2010, weighing 6 lbs. 10 oz. and 19.5" long. These two little people mean more to me than anything else on this planet.
Brennan fits the definition of a typical boy: a loud noise with dirt on it. He's got curly blond hair and bright blue eyes that will melt your heart. He loves to run and play and would live outside if we allowed him to. He has so much love and personality that it's hard to even describe him.
Claire is our little princess. She's only 2 months old, but our family wouldn't be complete without her. Her eyes are lightening to green, and she has a head full of dark hair. She enjoys her swing, she's a total mommy's girl, and she is adored by her big brother.
These two angels are what makes me a mommy.

On July 18, 2009 I married the love of my life, Logan Gutowski. He's my other half. We're about to celebrate our one year anniversary as husband and wife, and I'm thankful for him every day.
He makes me a wifey.

My name is Amber Lynn Gutowski. I'm looking forward to my twenty-first birthday on August 10. I'm going to college for early childhood education simply because I love children. I love singing, dancing, swimming, rain, playing with my kids and our pets Zoey and Jello.
This is me. Take it or leave it, cause what you see is what you get.

Mommy. Wifey. Me.