My Egg

Yes I have lost it. I'm going to blog about an egg!! And better yet, it's coming with a picture. Check this baby out:

Its going to be a double yoker for sure!

However, I watched a chicken lay an egg the other day. I was rather grossed out by the process. This egg came out of its butt!! Does that gross anyone else out? As with meat I'm going to try not to think about it. I said something to DH this AM about it being kind of gross, he rolled his eyes and was like seriously?? So I will push this image in the way back of my head and move on. Being thankful I have farm fresh eggs!

Today we're off to grab our fresh milk and then will probably just hang out. Tonight there is a Halloween Pumpkin Parade in a town nearby. I'd like to take the kids however C'man and I are still sick. He's been coughing pretty hard, especially at night. We're both off antibiotics too. I am quite certain we all had H1N1 and guess what?? We're still alive.

OK so I went from a post about eggs to being sick. Wow I'm way off track.

I must know, what are you? your kids? your dog? cat? are for Halloween?? C'man will be Thomas and Miss A was supposed to be Tinkerbell but she wants to be a lion. The pants are like shorts on her! Whatever I guess.

BTW where is my spell check?? I must have upgraded my blogger. Things are way different.

Sending My SOS

Oh dear what have I done to my blog?? Can someone please help me? I wanted to change by background. Do you see what I see when I first open my blog this pretty 'fall' background shows up. Then it switches to that pink background. I want that GONE! I like my layout as in the columns but I want to be able to change my background. I know that last time I changed the background I did it by inserting a html code.
I'd really appreciate any help someone can give me!!
Thanks so much!!

Christmas-Yes It IS Coming....

Yeah like I'm telling something you didn't know already. My mom is after us to get our lists made, EVERYTHING is up in the stores including sales already on ornaments, trees, etc. How sickening! But atlas, it is coming and I need to start organizing, getting ideas ready for the kids. This is what I have in mind for them:
Miss A is having an American Girl 'Bitty Baby' Christmas. I got a BUNCH of items during my recent trip to NJ and she'll be getting some of it for Christmas from us and g'parents. Oh and her Aunt and Uncle and Megs:) In addition this is what we/I/Her came up with.
She likes the animals by American Girl. Meet Sugar:

Sugar is $24 a great price range for someone within our families:) Then C'man can get her the accessories such as the pet carrier that he's quite certain she needs. Read, he will be certain to taunt her with by playing with it himself.

Next would be any of the other over priced accessories that AG offers. Probably some things on there my parents will get her.

Mom said she'd like to get them a karaoke machine. She said she'd get them each one. I suggested one karaoke with 2 mics. They'd only fight over the mics anyway:) Sorry no pics as I'm still researching that. I want it so we can play our own CD's on it and they can sing along. Any suggestions??

Then there is C'man who also has a b-day 2 weeks before. What fun is that? This will be b-day #5!! That means will have all the family over instead of just g'parents:) With the help of my dear friend Shannan this is what we're thinking (BTW-need gift ideas go over to your friends house and scoop out there toys. My friend Shannan has the BEST ideas for gifts!)
First on the list is finding someone to make him a barn. I get so frustrated b/c the ones I find are like $125. Seriously it's like plywood with hinges. I don't need anything fancy. If I trusted myself with a saw (is that what that cutter thing is called?) I'd make one myself. Darn I should have paid more attention in shop class instead of having someone do it for me when the teacher turned his back.
OK back to C'man. Bomgaars is are 'farm store' in the area. It will be where we should be able to get everything for our little farmer. But atlas I see you can not shop via the webpage they have. Guess I'll have to go there:) That also means I can't post pictures. Grrrr....

What ideas do you have for your kids? and yourself???

Butter

I'm becoming so domesticated even I don't know what to think! We are getting fresh milk once a week and this week it has lots of cream. I was told to make butter! OK I thought, I can try that. And try is what I did. I scraped the cream off the milk on Saturday and then last night, Monday, I let it sit out on the counter. This AM i made it. Lets just say it didn't go the pictures said it would. In fact it went quite opposite. I had cream going everywhere, I think at least 6 bowls out, and yeah, it just didn't go as planned.
Discouraged and frustrated that I now wasted good cream, I decided to try again. This time i ditched the cheese cloth thingy and used dish towels to drain the cream and then water off. Now we were talking. It worked! And it worked beautifully.
I now have fresh butter in the fridge of which I haven't tried b/c I'm to chicken. I'm thinking I'll make a loaf of homemade bread (love the bread machine) and will eat it with our supper tonight!
How about you. Have you ever made homemade butter? How about cheese? Or how about just good ol Chocolate Chip Cookies! I have an AWESOME, never go flat, could eat one doz in one sitting, recipe I should share! I have tried many many MANY recipes and this one is THE BEST!
So let me know what you've been up to? Baking anything good? Try anything new??

Fall Post

HEY a post about us NOT being sick!! Accept for this, prior to all this illness crap I just had to get some pictures of the colors of fall for you all. It's not the most beautiful Fall we've had, in fact, I can't remember when he had one where the leaves all changed instead of just falling off b/c of freezing temperatures, to dry of summer, etc but this year seems to be a little brighter. Even amidst the snow fall. The day after I took these, it snowed! So without further ado:




We we pulled up to this little area there were 2 deer (see shot below) that must have been getting a drink out of the river. This this all just 2 miles from us, if even that far.

This is the tree that inspired me to grab my camera. When I would drive C'man to school I admire it's beauty. Standing so little but so strong and so vibrant. BUT the picture didn't turn out as well as i'd like with the sun behind it, but b/c I was along a busy hwy this was as good as I could get. The next day I drove by? Leaves were GONE. As in not a single one left!

This was next part of our venture. We went about 7 miles from my house to this great park, Here is a shot of the road that we take every time we go in to town.

I love this old gas station. I think it looks like something out of Department 56 Snow Village!! I want it too:) Right across the street are old war planes!

Old railroad bridge. sorry had to really zoom in as i was on the hwy and there is no way to get any closer then to go thru the field. OR down the river in which you go right under it. BUT i wouldn't recommend that. Did a canoe trip down this river and I will NEVER look at it the same. Awful. One of the worst things I did. Of course I'm sure it had nothing to do that I was going in for retrieval on #2?? IVF and was bloated like a dead fish, it was hotter then hell, and the bugs were just awful. Remember, I'm not an out door/camping kind of person and this confirmed it for not only me, but the friends we were with. (I think our one friend wanted to throw me over board. Seriously I wanted to get out and hitch hike home. Or even walk. At one point I was only 1 mile from home BUT the corn was so tall and I'd have to walk that mile in a corn field!) SOOO this bridge looks much more beautiful to me from the distance! :)

And lastly, our house from the hwy.

Bronchittis

Here I sit Monday afternoon. I had to take Miss A back in as she just doesn't seem any better. Fevers of @ 102-103 and go down to 100 and that's where they sit. Even with Tylenol and Motrin. The doc went ahead and treated her for Bronchitis. She still is real tight in her lungs so really the coughing and crap hasn't even started with her. It has for Mr C'man. While he didn't go with us, Doc is treating him too. All three of us are on the same antibiotics.

My disclaimer, yes I despise antibiotics and try to do whatever I can to avoid them in my kids and me. BUT I'm also at the point in all our illness that we need to do something. It'll be a week Tuesday that I got sick and the kids followed. This is why I am against anti. tho is had we ran to the doc for every little cold, ear infection, etc when we really needed them to work, like now, they wouldn't. So yes a necessary evil. Especially for kids. I strongly believe antibiotics should be avoided at all measures hense why we didn't get any the first visit and that was in agreement with our doc too. Three years ago was when I got hit with MRSA. After that experience is what made me realize the importance of antibiotics and what can happen if you over take them!!

Coming down from my soap box

Miss A has been napping for 3 1/2 hours now! I will continue to let her nap. Mr C'man was at my in laws and came home and is also napping, on the couch. Here's some pics or our lives for the time being.

Thank goodness DH doesn't know how to zoom in:) But this is me trying to take care of some things on the computer.

I guess I don't have any of Miss A. Took sick to see any sort of humor in it I imagine:)

Things aren't looking much better around here. I think I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, it's just a glimmer, but its something. Meanwhile Miss A was good all day yesterday only to have her fever return today. C'man appears ok today, but wasn't yesterday. His poor lips have fever blisters on them. He fell asleep later yesterday afternoon on the couch against me. He keeps saying he has a hole in his lip! It looks like it.
Somehow, DH has NOT gotten anything. Doesn't even feel anything coming on. I pray it stays that way. It hit the three of us within 24 hours of the last person getting it.
I still had a fever yesterday and felt no relief. I caved and called my doctor. He called in a prescription. I'm not a big antibiotic person but i knew that I was heading towards becoming sicker and sicker. Luckily it was something i happen to have in my cupboard from a couple years back, and the Pharmacist said i could just take that. I would have had to drive 30 min to pick up the new prescription and with the way I was feeling AND the kids?? I just couldn't imagine having to go.
Amazingly we are not going stir crazy! I'm disappointed that we are missing our annual Crop Walk where we walk to fight world hunger. But then I wouldn't have been able to catch my breath to walk from the house to the chicken house, there would have been no way I could walk.
I have a purse party too Monday night. It's looking unlikely that I'll be able to do it. Total bummer but I can't possibly cough like this and be out in public. Everyone should understand that was planning on coming. Something one can not control.

Well I guess my doom and gloom post should stop now:) Did I mention that when i cough I either pass gas, pee or both? The joys of getting older!! OH and my back is hurting from all the coughing....what fun this is.

Sick

We are so sick here. I got whatever it is late Tuesday night. I have been down with it since. Miss A got it Wednesday and C'man Thursday. This is how it works, high fever, cough, soar throat, aches, you get the idea. It SUCKS! I actually was doing better Thursday and till 4pm Friday when my fever came back. Holy moly does a fever make you feel rotten. Poor little A had a 103 fever late Thursday night. She slept with DH in our bed and I slept on the couch. As of now, Saturday AM this is where we're at:
Me: miserable. No fever but my once sort of loose cough is now tight
C'man-fever and poor baby has blisters on his lips. He slept with me last night to keep close eye on him
Miss A-actually seems to be doing good!! Will see if it keeps.
DH-so far so good but God help us ALL when he gets this we are all in big trouble. He is the WORST sick person one will ever meet.

Oh Miss A and I did go to the doc on Wednesday and they tested for Influenza A and it was negative. However I was only 36 hours in to it. I'm supposed to call him if things get worse, as I think they are. Self diagnosing me? I think I have pneumonia or bronchitis. I think we all 3 had the 'flu'.

So yeah this is our life right now and we're just getting thru the day.

Nanny 911

Remember this blog entry about Family Solutions? We had our first meeting this past Monday. It was ok. A lot of paper work. It's very humbling to sit in front of a counselor and admit you need more help then you can figure out. Seriously. You don't seek counseling unless you have problems right?? Or so that's how I've felt. But as i mature (ha) I'm realizing that life is to short to struggle alone with whatever it may be. And for us right now, or should I say me, it's dealing with Miss A. I want to give her the best I can for her future and the sooner we can get on the same page the better. I don't want the parenting issues we have now go un-dealt with to only manifest itself in say an eating disorder, or whatever control thing could happen.
Lets be pro-active while we can. Dori, our counselor, said we are 'easy'. We don't have any food issues, sleep (other then the child wakes up before the chickens do), she gets a long just fine with others, she follows directions in Sunday School, etc. And she LOVES to sing.
Dori said that when she's singing that means she's happy. SO when she stops singing you need to observe what she is doing. Could we be heading towards a control issue? What happened? or what could happen? Now mind you it's not like when she stops singing she's not happy.
Hard to make this make sense via typing:) It makes sense in my head. That's all the matters right??

Then the other BIG THING is that DH and I HAVE GOT TO BE on the same page. If I say no, DH says no. If he doesn't agree with something I did, he can give me 'the look' but that's IT! We can address it later, but not in front of her. She is smart to know that if him and i start becking at one another the attention is off of her. She won!

The biggest thing for me is staying calm! The minute i raise my voice or my non verbals go she has won. That's what she wants. To do that we are staying very calm and saying 'so sad. I guess will just have to sit in our room till we are happy'. OR what we use a lot when it's time to put toys away and she doesn't' want to 'so sad. You'll have to say good bye to them' at which point I/we pick them up and that's the end of those toys.

This has been working. She loves her Bitty Baby. She threw the baby. She didn't' get the baby for 2 days. And she would tell me why she didn't get it. Or when she threw trains and almost hit C'man b/c she didn't want to pick them up. DH promptly took her upstairs. The next day she told me she threw trains and almost hit C'man. She knew!

So this is just a nutshell and I'm doing the best I can sitting here on our laptop and the stupid cursor moves where ever i left the mouse! Please help, that's SO annoying. Both kids are playing very nicely with the farm animals. In about 10 min it'll be time to pick them up. Will see how that goes.

The only thing that didn't settle good with me at our meeting was when she had us sign papers authorizing us to talk with her supervisor/mentor. She is furthering her education so she has a mentor that she must study under. She said I'll tell her 'I'm working with a family of 4. One biological and the other child adopted'. If I hadn't been in utter shock at the comment and overwhelmed with all we'd just discussed, I'd had said something. That comment will NOT come again. If it does she will be corrected. Bio or not that has nothing to do with why we are here!

i must add quickly, momma loved her flowers. she called me and thanked me and said I didn't need to spend my money on doing that.

I'm In Trouble

Thursday my mom had Caddric surgery. I went and spent the time with them. We sat in the waiting room for well over one hour. They finally called her name and Dad and I thought we'd run an errand, or two. The nurses told us to be back 1 1/2. So....we ran to two stores to get fitness equipment I had bought for our Community Center.
As we drove away Dad said we'd better be back in one hour or she'll be mad. Well...we were on track to being back in one hour when I got a call on my cell saying she was done.
The words out of both of our mouths were shit!!
We knew we'd be in trouble FOR SURE! And that we were.

I can't say I blame her. I would have been to. Then to make matters worse we couldn't find her eye drops. They fell out of the bag in the van. You should have seen my dad and I. We were about to pull apart the entire van (unload the new bike, weights, etc).

We grabbed a bite to eat, in silence. We went shopping, she came around by then. But now I just got an email from my dad saying don't call for a couple days. She's pretty ticked and hurt yet and it'll take a couple days to get over it but she'll probably never forget it.

So yeah, here I sit. I fell ROTTEN! It was all my fault. I debated about running to walmart to get paint for Miss A's room vs going all the way to get the fitness equipment. And ultimately we should have just STAYED PUT!! The thing is, it is what it is. We ran errands, I feel awful about it (as does Dad) but here we are and I'm not sure what to do next. I feel even worse for my Dad b/c he has to live with her.

I'm going to go ahead and send her a floral bouquet and pray that eases some of the tension. Any other ideas??

Family Solutions Services

Talk about an answer to prayers. The other day my mom read to me an ad she saw in there local paper for a LMSW??? well here's what it says:
Family Solutions Services: Helping families, children and individuals find better solutions. Experience in: ADHD, Attachment Issues, Working with Families, Parenting Techniques, Oppositional Defiant Disorder Options, Working With Children. ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS!!

SIGN ME UP!!!

I called Tuesday afternoon and have us an appt for Monday. The lady was excited. She actually said I'm a smart (daaa) lady b/c i answered her questions. As in when I told her our daughter did so well away from us. What changed she said? I responded b/c she knows DH and I have different parenting techniques and she can pin us against one another. She asked her age and when I said just turned 3 she was like ' I LOVE THAT AGE!'. So yeah, her excitement level was encouraging. I felt that after hanging up I made the right decision. Now lets hope it continues. That I don't become intimidated or feel like a lousy parent for what we have done. I told her I've read lots of books, ask/talk to other parents, etc but my husband doesn't do any of it. Not that what he may do, or not do, is right or wrong, just feel like I'm the one educating myself and trying to implement what I've learned/read about, and he figures if it hasn't been tested on him it's a no go. Mind you, he was not like Miss A when he was a child, I WAS!!

I'll be sure to keep you all posted!

I'm BAAACK

Ahhh here I am back at home after a divine long weekend away. I left BEFORE the butt crack of dawn on Thursday. As in 415AM!!! DH drove me to the airport in dense fog AND a car that wouldn't/couldn't go faster then 65mph. I ended up getting to the airport 45 min before my flight left AND being that I'm so used to going to the same terminal, I went that way. Well guess what?? Yup, it was the wrong terminal. Back out, mad dash to the OTHER terminal, oh did I mention I had to hold my pants up while I ran. I had taken my belt off to get thru security and didn't want to put it back on only to have to take off. Once to the other security check point I got behind hokey, pokey, dopey, and gang, who for whatever reason decided they should go thru security with, change, belts, camera equipment, shoes WITH LACES, and good grief I don't even know what else the one dude was pulling out of his pockets. I asked if I could go around WHICH landed me in the 'pat down' section. Of course i looked nervous/panic stricken, I was about to miss my flight!!

None the less I made it with time to spare for a bathroom break, quick as it was. The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful. For me, that's pretty rare. I met a nice lady traveling from Nebraska to PHL too so we grabbed our connecting flights together. We stopped for a quick potty break and a cup of coffee. Which again, the Starbucks people must not have had there cup of espresso. They were so slow getting the 2 people BEFORE me drinks, while mine came right away!? It was rather humerus b/c the one customer had to keep repeating what he ordered. Mind you we all THREE ordered the exact same thing BUT mine was decaf. It was very comical. I can't remember what I said after the 3rd time of the poor guy being asked but we all about lost it in laughter.

It was so fun getting off the plane and being greeted by someone you know! I miss those days where you anticipate the first glimpse of your family. My niece Megan was there:) Then we walked on out to greet Laura. So fun!!

We had lunch on this big ship before heading home to Laura's.

Friday we had lunch @ Laura and Mario's restaurant and the went to the beach. It was to cold to swim, altho the water wasn't all that bad, still beautiful as ever. We walked up the almost dead boardwalk, but again, still great to see. On our way home we stopped for drinks and appetizers along the Washington River. Great place however I had one to many mojo's?? with clams and spent the early AM hours of Saturday sick!!! In fact, I never did feel 100% the rest of the weekend. Could function, but not to my fullest ability. To much rich food combined with just a couple drinks that I'm not used too.

Saturday was NYC!! That place is a fricken ZOO!! There is no other place in this country like it, seriously. There are people everywhere. AND the driving? You so much as blink? you'll get blown off the road. Traffic moves fast with little to no regards to objects. That could be people. You have to think fast, there is no hesitation. That hasn't changed in the years since I can remember it. We walked around Battery Park, drove in very slow traffic and eventually ended up @ Carmines for supper. BTW the people sitting next to us, they ordered 1/2 a cow, i mean prime rib. Seriously that was the biggest prime rib I have EVER seen. Also i gave them my blog address, so maybe they'll pop in for a visit. Better yet, maybe they'll send me a pic so I can post how huge the prime rib was.

We had a nice supper there before heading up to Broadway to see Mamma Mia which was AWESOME! Laura upgraded our seats. So instead of sitting way up high in the back, we sat front and center. It was simply amazing and I would see it again and again. By the time we got out it was raining. Jumped in a taxi, well actually we walked for blocks to FIND a taxi, and headed home. We didn't get to bed till 2AM that night!

Sunday I honestly had to recoup. I ended up taking a short nap even. Unheard of for me. I just was so tired I felt sick. It was a rainy/dreary day but we did manage to get fall decorations (pumpkins, corn stalks, etc) bought and put up at the end of Laura's driveway. I have pictures I will upload. We played Apples To Apples, of which I won:), and ate Paella.

Monday we left for home. It was nice sitting in the airport with Megs. The time flew by in no time. Talk talk talk we did. I actually finished 'Dare To Discipline' as well as a good start on a book about the pasteurization of milk and how bad it was! I got so much reading done! Even slept on the airplane. Totally unheard of these days.

Got in last night and was home by 1030. Was nice to the kids and DH. Altho C'man screamed and tried to hit me when I opened the van door to say hello. I guess I can't blame him. DH said they whined about wanting to get on the plane.

The best news tho?? the kids did GREAT at mom and dads. Few, very few, issues with both kids but most amazing was Miss A who didn't ask once where Mommy or Daddy were. Prior to them being at my parents, when I called home Miss A would answer and say 'come home mommy'.

There is a quick nutshell of events. Seriously not sure if I'll ever get around to posting more detail. BUT MEG if you are reading, you should do a post on your thoughts of NYC !! Email me about that.

NYC/NJ Bound

I can't believe I haven't done a post about my up and coming trip to the east coast. I've been so busy with canning, of which I do not want to see ANOTHER jar upon my arrival home. I am so sick of it all!!
So yeah, I leave Thursday and get back Monday evening. JUST ME!!! I'm going out to see my friend Laura and her husband. AND my lovely niece, Megs, is joining me there. She'll fly up from Orlando. I'm so excited. Excited to see Laura of course but also excited to see my niece. I enjoyed her company when we were in FL and thought I think I could 'travel' with her:) I invited her along and she willing accepted. Now lets hope she feels the same about me! I want to share her with Laura and vice versa.
I love these two women:) Meg will be great company. She's outgoing, but not in a radical, loud kind of way. She's easy to talk to and can carry on a conversation with anyone. Example, I know she'll talk with Laura and Mario, and be genuinely appreciative of them and want to know more about them. If you ask Megs how she is, she'll answer but also ask in return. She can start and carry on a conversation. I don't like silence:) I like people to be involved. She will fit right in with Laura and I, no doubt!!

Have you ever met people who talking to them is like pulling teeth. They just are not involved in the conversation?? OK so you get the idea.

I bought tickets to Mamma Mia of which Meg and I will go to on Saturday night. Prior to the show will all eat @ Carmines!! DIVINE PLACE!! Laura has seen Mamma Mia before so she's just going to hang out while we go. I can not WAIT for the who. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that DVD! Will spend the day in NYC and I can't wait to show Megan the city!! Maybe she'll move there someday:) and I can come visit her. I hope she likes it, of which I'm quite certain she will. I like the city WAY better now then I ever did in the 17+ years of vacationing out there when my G'parents lived there.

So yeah, there's my big news on my trip. Not sure if I'll get around to posting anymore this week as I'm busy cleaning up the canning mess, I thought about calling our neighbor lady and asking what it would cost for her to deep clean our kitchen, packing myself and the kids up. The kids will be at my parents from Friday afternoon till Monday evening. I'm PRAYING Miss A does not act like she does here or starts crying for us. She's NEVER been a way from us.

Oh and there is talk about getting my tattoo while out there. Or maybe it's a thought that I have. Stay tuned!

Frustration

I'm beginning to HATE that word. It's becoming a normal part of my way of feeling. I'm typing this while waiting for my in laws to come watch the kids SO DH and I can go to our church for the 'Fireproof' Marriage Study. I'm beginning to think this is not a good time for us to be doing it.

During the night Miss A was up with another one of her screaming fits yelling 'I WANT MY DADDY' at the top of her lungs. We've been putting a gate across her door otherwise she gets out and wonders here there and everywhere. Last night I just let her scream it out, eventually she got back in bed. Well @ 630 AM she started up again by saying to me 'mommy I get dressed?' I said in a little bit. And she followed with screams which woke C'man up and got DH and I against one another. I don't have a problem letting her scream it out UNTIL she started kicking and kicking the gate across her door frame. Or the constant screaming after 15 min. I think she should have been told, by DH since he rarely gets on her in any form, that this was enough screaming and it has better stop now. DH said that by even going in to her room or talking to her is going to give her the satisfaction that she got our attention. I do not disagree with that approach entirely just after 30+ min of such behavior is to long to not get SOME sort of attention.

What I got was a bunch of tears, crying on my part and DH saying he knows what he is doing. Me crying that she is disrespecting and while I agree with letting her 'work it out' letting her kick endlessly at the gate, screaming, etc has got stop.

I've read Dr Dobson's book, The Strong Willed Child, I've talked with other moms and I know that if we don't nip it NOW it's going to continue to get more and more out of hand.

Eventually she kicked the gate down and DH went in there and told her enough and that she'd better get in her bed. When she is quiet he will come back and get her, but only then. Well GUESS WHAT!! she cried a little longer and then went back to her bed and was QUIET!! But then DH went and got her and our day carried on. No talk about why that behavior is not acceptable. Nothing. 0!!

I don't want to turn this in to a DH bashing post. I do agree with some of the things he did, little as they may be. What I want to know, hear about, etc are do you and your partner have these kind of discipline issues?? Do you know someone who does?? Or most importantly, do you know a counselor that could help us in dealing with Miss A. And honestly I don't think distance is an issue if we can communicate via video, emails, etc. I just need help. I'd prefer a Christian counselor and looking on line via Focus on the Family, there aren't any in our area. Not even in Omaha that are listed on there web page.

Would You??

OK so this is an entry that I want/would like to see some comments:) Thanks to my faithful commenter's in the past, keep it going. Getting to the point.
Would you ever have YOUR spouse take YOUR last name?

In the past 6 months I've met two couples where the husband took the wife's last name. I don't really know the reasons behind it but none the less, the husband is now wearing her last name. What do you think of that? Would you ever do that?

Now, my thoughts. I kept my last name and took DH's last name too. Kind of like having the best of both worlds:) Now the reason. My family worked hard for where they got, I know what family hasn't. I wanted to honor my family by keeping my last name. I'm proud of my dad and his accomplishment. I actually didn't give it any thought, that was the way it was. Since our marriage our family has continued in a well known last name. At least in the political and business world. I am recognized by fellow politicers, and politicians by my maiden name more then my married name. AND my maiden name was short, although hard to pronounce, and my married name is short. Had my maiden name been Van Peepunaskep or something a long those lines, I really might have reconsidered. But it's short and it fits great with my married name.

I think had I had DH take MY last name it would have been a complete shot below the belt. Like your last name isn't good enough, or it comes with to many bad connotations, so lets take my name. I also think it reflects the nature of the marriage. A wife is to be submissive to her husband right? So taking HER last name what would that set the tone for the marriage? The 2 people I know, and by know I mean not personally, but enough to know the tone of the marriage, the wife TOTALLY wears the pants. She says how it's going to be.

And your thoughts? Anyone know anyone where the husband took the wife's last name? Do you know why? What would you do? I realize not everyone would agree on me keeping my last name, but some will. Thoughts???