. . . when I can see blog traffic growing and growing, I’m guessing from loving friends and family wondering if this little bundle of joy has arrived. Not yet. He’s due in just under 2 weeks. So we’ll see what happens. Some days I’m just sure he’ll be early, other days I’m not. I did have what I now call the “two week freak out” the past few days–a sudden feeling of urgency that this baby could come at any time I had better be sure that I’m ready. It happened with JJ and I still had two weeks. We’ll see if that holds true this time around as well.

So with my “two week freak out”, yesterday I:

• cleaned out and reorganized all of my baby stuff
• washed baby clothes, blankets, car seat covers, and the baby bjorn
• filled up the car with gas
• got some groceries, especially snacks for Dustin to eat at the hospital
• worked on tying up some loose ends for work

and other things I think I’m forgetting. It feels great to have all of that done. It would be great to not have this baby for another two weeks and work on getting all of the lower priority projects done too (reorganizing the “office”, anyone?).

People keep asking if JJ understands or is ready. We’ll see. He’s learned how to give the baby a hug and a kiss, he knows the sleepers and infant car seat are for the baby, and he asks to see the babies on the computer–we love to look at K.C. and Emily’s triplets (remember the miracle babies–they were born in September and are now all home and doing great!). So we’ll see how it all comes together in his head.

Here he is giving the baby a hug. He’s getting particular about his clothes lately, thus the Sunday sweater with his t-shirt and sweat pants, and a sandal and sock on ONE foot. Funny guy.

Wish us luck! For a planner like me, it’s certainly hard not to know exactly when or how this major life event is going to take place! But with JJ I could definitely see that everything worked out just how it was supposed to. So I’m going to have faith that that will happen again.

It’s true.  The time on my new computer is 2:42 am.  I was absolutely exhausted this evening and went to bed at 8:00 pm.  I slept great until 1:15, when inevitably I had to go to the bathroom.  Got back in bed, and, as usual, was ravenous within 5 minutes of getting back in bed.  I had my Cheerios (I feel like our family alone keeps them in business, at least during pregnancy), got back in bed, and before I know it my heart is beating fast and I am wide awake.  I think my adrenalin kicks in and my body goes into survival mode–some mornings I feel like I could go out and run 5 miles.  Too bad that’s not an option.  I think it’s been several weeks since I slept well–I really don’t know how long it’s been.  But it’s catching up to me and it’s not pleasant.  So anyone who has great sleep tips – please share!

Some might have noticed I haven’t been blogging much lately. It’s true. My prime blogging time has been filled with either yard work (a little) or early bed times (a lot). I’ve really been enjoying earlier bed times, and haven’t always had a lot of desire to do anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Some might recognize this condition as overall laziness, or more astute observers might guess that it’s something else. Although I can’t say it’s not total laziness, it may more of a condition known as pregnancy. Yes, around November 21, our three will soon be four (or five as we sometimes nervously joke about).

We’ve kept it on the d-l somewhat for quite some time, but as it’s getting more difficult to suck in, it’s time for the news to get out. I’ve enjoyed keeping my pregnancies quiet for as long as possible–the more people ask how I’m feeling, the worse I tend to feel. And when no one else knows, it’s almost like it’s not real, making the pregnancy that much shorter when you finally do break the news. But it gets hard to explain why you’re not doing any races this summer or to completely hide the fact that by 9 pm, you’re completely wiped out.

We can’t believe how many family and friends we have that are also expecting withing about 10 days of us. Between the two of us, we have two cousins, one sibling, a best friend, a client, a friends daughter and probably others we’re forgetting all due right around the same time. Wild!

We got to see cousin Emily while in Colorado (read her miraculous story here) who is also technically due Nov 21. She’s expecting triplets though, so she’s just slightly bigger and will probably have a shorter pregnancy.

We have some great pictures comparing our tummies, but I don’t have them handy at the moment, check back soon.

I’ve always had a problem with wispy hairs, but pregnancy really did me in.  It appears I didn’t lose a single hair for over a year–the entire pregnancy and about 4 months after.

And then I think it all fell out.

It was conveniently right around the time we moved, which meant that every time someone came to look at our apartment we had to take care of the hair carpeting our white tile bathroom floor.  Worse, when our new bishop helped move in our dark purple couch, I was horrified and embarrassed to realize it was covered in my long, blond hair.

Thankfully the hair is growing back in, but having that much hair grow in all at once has made for a much worse wispy hair problem.  There is no calming these babies, they just go wherever they want.   One night I came home from a youth activity only to discover that those hairs were particularly rambunctious.  I took these pictures myself:

It’s not so bad from this angle (although the look on my face is)

But the side view really spells trouble:

I’ve heard much worse stories . . . grateful this is the extent of my battle stories.  And I can safely say that that cute little guy was worth every hair.

Dustin here.  I know I’ve posted about this before, but I keep feeling that this is incredibly important – that I need to get my voice out there.  I’ve read a lot on both sides of the aisle about California’s upcoming Proposition 8.  I am a strong proponent of Proposition 8 – a resounding “yes” from my corner!  I believe this is one of the most critical historical moments of my lifetime.  If this Proposition fails, I believe it will instigate a great social experiment that will negatively affect people on both sides of the debate.  As I am not the most articulate person, I am referencing one of the best articles I’ve read about this.  You can visit this person’s blog directly by following the link below.  Please read and share your comments.  And more importantly, urge anyone you know in California to vote “YES” for Proposition 8 this Tuesday!

The War of the Ring: In Defense of Proposition 8

By Brady Brammer

Does anyone else think that it is ironic that Mormons are seeking to defend traditional marriage so ardently? After all, 100-150 years ago the Mormons in Utah were criticized for their views on marriage to such an extent that the 1856 Republican party ran on the platform of “prohibit[ing] . . . those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery.” There are many differences along with some similarities between the two issues. Nevertheless, that is a discussion for another day.
As a background, I have been involved in this issue since 2004, working for the Marriage Law Foundation. I have also published a piece in the BYU Law Review entitled: The Religious Right and the Gay Rights Movement: Finding Common Ground. I do not believe myself to know all of the issues or all of the angles, but like many, I believe that I have some angles that may be persuasive, or at least helpful in understanding the issue.

Initial Admission: We (Religious Groups) are not without Blame
I know that you have all heard the line before that “this isn’t anti-gay, this is about protecting marriage.” For many I believe this is true. For others however, I fear that it is pretextual. I believe that to some degree anti-gay feelings exist. Not the anti-gay feelings of “I still love them, but I disagree with that aspect of their life” (which is sort of how I feel about my friends involved in MLM marketing or those driving minivans), but rather, there is an actual and a violent hatred for gays that still permeates both the religious right along with many other groups. I sympathize with my friends that are gay because I don’t think that they have been given a fair shake. I truly believe that God and Christ will have a level of mercy for them and the choices they make that far exceeds the bigotry and judgment that they have been dealt by religious groups and society in general.

Arguments
Different Goals:
Traditional marriage is a bestowal of rights. These rights are given in hopes of providing social good. In this instance, the social good that these rights are given are (to name a few):

1. The right of a child to be brought up and know his/her biological parents,
2. encourage the optimal situation for child rearing (social science consistently shows that this is a home with a mother and father),
3. bridge the male-female divide,
4. help children to develop the positive aspects of their respective genders, and finally,
5. providing a socially acceptable means of responsible sexuality and reproduction.

Admittedly, traditional marriage as a whole fails to live up to these ideals, despite this, it has the potential to live up to these ideals and commonly does. At its core, same-sex marriage cannot meet the same goals that traditional marriage has espoused. Specifically, it cannot encourage parentage by biological parents of different sex, nor can it bridge the male-female divide. This is not to say that same-sex marriage cannot have benefits of its own. It is merely to show that the goals must, by definition, be different.

Specificity:
As discussed above, providing for a separate institution, such as civil unions allows for the law to seek social goods that could come from civil unions. These goals include among others:

1. fostering relationship stability,
2. when procreative powers are used, it provides for more stability in the lives of children than they would otherwise have.
3. providing a framework for more responsible sexuality

While some may agree with civil unions, and others would dispute them is a debate for another day. The point to this is that civil unions allow for a legal framework that addresses fundamentally different goals than marriage does in a more specific way.

Muddled Legal Framework:
Family law is based on certain presumptions specific to traditional marriage. The addition of same-sex marriages into the legal framework brings with it challenges. How does the law deal with divorce issues for same-sex couples? Issues that arise more frequently would be tied to child custody issues such as biological parenting rights, surrogate parenthood, and artificial insemination. For example, in Massachusetts, gay couples are having to spend much more money to divorce because the established laws and cases are difficult to apply, causing further litigation. For example, for traditional marriage, most child custody issues are decided presumptively in favor of the mother. In a same-sex marriage between two females, the court is forced to determine who is in the role of the mother first, then apply the law as if the other partner were the man.

Additionally, what about the situations where one partner gives birth, while the other provides support, but is not the biological parent; under the current law, the biological parent is at a great advantage. Having a separate institution allows greater flexibility and responsiveness to deal with issues that are largely same-sex specific.

It Does Hurt, and it Can Hurt me in the Future:
One of the strongest arguments against the protection of traditional marriage is the question “How is the marriage of Janice and Janet going to hurt the marriage of Brady and Nicki?” The reason why it is a strong argument is because in reality it won’t hurt me or my family directly. However, that is not to say that it won’t hurt us indirectly. Taken as a whole, the societal consequence is that I must view marriage in a way that I don’t believe that marriage is.

Just as most do not believe that polygamy is marriage, and most would not want it to be called marriage, I don’t believe that same-sex unions are marriage. Forcing me and my family to change that definition hurts my belief in marriage as an institution. I am not a bigot for believing that the role of a mother and the role of a father are essential in the lives of the children they create.

I recognize that many of the arguments against same sex marriage are “doomsday” or “slippery slope” arguments are not applicable now and are largely given for dramatic effect. Despite this, I do not wish to huddle with the people that agree with me and try to persuade my children that “real” marriage, as has been in effect for centuries is acceptable while “new” marriage is only acceptable to our belief system in certain circumstances. This truly does hurt how I raise my family. Whether the schools teach it, or society teaches it, same-sex marriage will be taught as marriage as long as it is legal.

Precedent:
As an attorney, I look first to precedent. Currently, three states allow same-sex marriage (California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts). To my knowledge, 26 states have passed constitutional amendments protecting marriage and 19 have passed statutes, totaling 45 out of 50 states with some form of marriage protection. California and Connecticut both had laws protecting marriage that were overturned despite wide margins supporting those laws when passed. Additionally, federal law defines marriage as a legal union of one man and one woman. That being said, precedent isn’t everything, so let’s go on.

Different Actors in the Legal Relationship:
At its core, marriage is a legal union, just as a partnership, an LLC, or corporations are legal unions. The choice of which legal union is applicable depends upon the actors and the rights that are sought. Here, the actors are fundamentally different. While the rights may even be identical, the actors are different, thus a legal difference in name is appropriate—not discriminatory.

Rights, not Acceptance:
I don’t believe that the government has the job to tell people to like me. I believe that the government is in place to give me rights. Rights to do things without government intervention, and in some cases, like marriage, the right to do things with the help of the government. Here, the same rights exist under both the civil union framework and the marriage framework. With that in mind, seeking to change the name of those rights is a play for acceptance and not a play for rights. I do not believe that the role of the government is to sanction my lifestyle or anyone else’s. If the government seeks to end all marriage benefits that is fine. Changing marriage to something different in hopes of lending credibility and acceptance extends beyond the role of government.

Conclusion
These are just a few of my thoughts on the subject. I hope that they are received in the proper context and that they are not perceived as being bigoted. In sum, my support for Prop 8 comes down to 1) a belief that a father an a mother in a committed relationship meet the social goals of marriage, 2) same-sex marriage has different actors and goals that can be addressed more effectively under a different legal identity, and 3) seeking acceptance by changing the meaning of accepted terms is not the role of the government.

Dustin’s mom has kindly shared several large batches of peaches with us.  Delicious!  My mom had a friend share this recipe with her, which of course I adjusted to meet my tastes and came across a surprisingly easy, relatively healthy and delicious peach pie.  I am hoping that cousin Emily, the pastry chef, will still be my friend after learning how I concocted this crust, but all in all we were pleased with the results.

Whole Wheat/Canola Oil Crust:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour (I prefer white wheat)

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup canola oil

3 TBSP cold water

1.  Mix flours and salt.  Add canola oil and mix well.

2.  Sprinkle dough with cold water and mix together.

3.  Roll out dough between two sheets of wax paper and carefully remove one sheet and place pie crust in pie plate.  I didn’t have wax paper, so I ended up rolling it out as best I could and then piecing it back together in the pan.  It worked alright.

4.  Bake for 12-15 minutes at 400

Filling:

About 8 ripe peaches

1/2 cup sugar (okay, the recipe actually calls for 1 cup, but I think 1/2 cup is plenty!)

2 1/2 TBSP cornstarch

1/2 cup water

1.  Blanch the peaches, by placing them in boiling water for 30 seconds and then in ice water.

2.  Peel and slice the peaches directly into the cooled pie crust, cutting off and reserving bruised portion (you’ll need about a cup of these little bruised pieces).

3.  Mash the bruised pieces really well and add sugar in a small saucepan.

4.  Mix cornstarch and water until cornstarch is dissolved and add to bruised peaches in saucepan.

5.  Stir constantly over med to med hi heat (about 5 min) to a boil and try to boil for 1-2 minutes without scorching.  Take off the heat and add immediately 1 Tablespoon butter to give mixture a sheen.    Pour over peaches covering completely or peaches will brown.

Serve cold with real whipped cream.

Our little boy has arrived! While everyone else looked under the tree to see what Santa had brought them, we went to the hospital to pick up our Christmas present.

James Dustin Schick was born on December 26th at 12:57 p.m. weighing 8 lbs 9 oz and stretching 19″ long – one day after his due date! He gave us a bit of a scare when he was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. The doctor reacted fast, cutting the cord once it was visible and delivering him as quickly as possible. However, he wasn’t able to get all the blood and oxygen that he normally would have had under the ideal birth. He was sent to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) right away and had a bit of a rough start. He had low oxygen levels, a fast heartbeat and respiration rate, and a heart murmur. After 2 1/2 days in intensive care full of all sorts of tests, needles, cords, and antibiotics, little James was cleared to go home! The valves of his heart appear to have fused properly and his alarmingly unstable vital signs were fully attributed to his stressful birth. He’s gotten healthier and stronger each day.

We are especially grateful for modern medicine and the miracles that occurred during James’ first few days of life. Our story would likely be drastically different had James been born just 100 years ago. Alicia did a great job throughout the whole process and is recovering well! Dustin is happy and very relieved. The last few days have been very tiring but we are all doing well and are very, very happy to have little James with us. We appreciate all the wonderful support from family and friends. Please pass the word along, as we do not have all the email addresses of everyone we would like to get the word out to.

We were dismissed from the NICU with strict instructions to keep him away from sick people and public places for the next several months as he is more susceptible to illness. We really appreciate everyone’s love and support and regret that we can’t have many visitors or talk to everyone individually, but we do love emails.

We will post updates and additional pictures soon!

Well, with the name game still on, we’re doing the other things we can to get ready for this baby. It’s very surreal to think that any day we could suddenly be in the hospital. Anyway, we got up this morning and Dustin said, “you know what would be nice to have? A camcorder.” I agreed – especially since the baby could be coming anytime and we want to be able to record special moments. So we did something we don’t usually do, but we think was a great move. We got online, looked at several (Dustin was really admiring some in the $3000-$4000 range), and opted to get a newer budget camcorder – The Flip. They are between $100 and $200 and pretty basic, but they have a pretty decent picture, are small, and super easy to use. We found what seemed to be the last one in town, laid down our credit card, and bought it–the very day we thought of it. Once we started thinking about it more, we realized that we wanted to have it before the baby gets here, so we just did it. Here is our first real video–a very small sampling of all of the wonderful baby things that have been shared with us:

Now that we’re a short two weeks away from our Christmas Day due date, we’re starting to think that maybe we should decide on a name for this baby.� So we’re taking suggestions for names.� If you submit the winner, we’ll have a great prize for you, although we don’t know what that is yet.� So let us know what you think!

Things I’ve discovered this week:

1. Sleeping with a pillow between my legs really does relieve back pain and helps me sleep better. Miraculous! I’ve been sleeping much better.

2. Leeks are very similar to onions, and although they are delicious, they still make Dustin’s insides upset with me. And they cost way more than onions!
3. Planning meals a week at a time relieves some stress and provides for much more interesting meals!

4. Every time I decide to put pictures up on our website, I realize that Dustin has the camera with him at work. Sorry!

So the week in review:

I decided to actually decide what I was going to make and write down what I would need to buy in order to make those things. This is both good and bad. It’s good to plan ahead–it was really nice not to have to worry about what we were going to have for dinner and if we had what we needed to make it. It’s bad because somehow I’m always able to create a meal out of things we already have, so I actually spend less when I don’t plan ahead. I did a pretty good job of figuring out what I already had and could use though, so it worked out.

Some highlights:

On Wednesday, the large bag of plums in the fridge had stared at me way too long–we’ve got to make something out of these! I purused all types of plum recipes, and finally decided to make a fresh fruit cobbler. I printed out a recipe I intended to use, but about halfway through, I just threw it away and made up my own Plum Crisp. It was delicious, and we managed to eat up nearly all of those plums! Essentially, I used about 4 cups of pitted and sliced plums along with a large can of sliced peaches. I mixed in about a TBSP of lemon juice and a 1/4 cup flour, and then topped it with a crisp topping of 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup honey, 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup oats, 2 tsp vanilla, and 1 tsp cinnamon. I cooked it for about a half hour at 350, and it was really good!

For dinner that night we had Romano Chicken Supreme, except that I forgot to get Romano cheese and just used parmesan. It was really good, although I was hoping there would be enough sauce to serve it will noodles. There wasn’t. Maybe next time I’ll double everything but the chicken. This recipe is from the most recent Taste of Home.

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 cup soft bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup grated Romano cheese

In a large skillet coated with nonstick cooking spray, brown chicken on both sides over medium heat. Transfer to a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray; sprinkle with salt.
In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms, lemon juice, garlic and basil in butter. Stir in the broth and orange juice; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Spoon over chicken; sprinkle with bread crumbs and cheese.
Bake, uncovered, at 400� for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and chicken juices run clear. Yield: 6 servings.

We also had some good soups this week . . . coming next.