I was baptised a Catholic, and my relationship with God is a strange one I guess. I don’t go regularly to church.
It’s not that I don’t believe in God, but the God I believe in… doesn’t judge me for not reading the Bible. I see him as an exasperated father, that rolls his eyes at our antics. He’s not the vengeful God that causes followers to wage war, to use his name as we see fit, to bestow guilt on his followers unless we live our lives a certain way.
I see God as having a sense of humor. I never wanted children. I’m currently expecting my 6th and 7th. Yes, I KNOW about birth control. Given that I was on Depo and RH had a vasectomy and still fell pregnant with twins…
After getting used to being a mom, and being a mom of 3, I wanted a 4th baby. That’s when I got pregnant with twins for the first time. How would I cope with 5 children? I never thought I would.
Shortly after I had the twins, my second son was diagnosed with leukemia. It felt like God was saying – well you only wanted 4, I thought you could do 5, how will you cope with me recalling one? And so we fought. Because it turns out I CAN cope with 5, and I love each of them so much, I don’t want to lose any of them. And we’re winning that fight.
I get mad at God. I think he has odd ways of showing us his influence.
I get madder at people using him to justify irresponsible things, blaming him for things that are our own fault. I don’t think he has a direct hand in our lives, I think he trusts us to do the right thing – perhaps thinking more of us than we deserve.
I see no fight between religion and science. Science does not prove or disprove his existence. Religion does not make science wrong.
I may not be the most openly religious person out there. I may not praise god publicly. But in my own quiet way, I thank him and curse him in equal measure.
10 years ago, I picked up a copy of Naomi Klein’s No Logo. At the time, Jack was a baby, my life was about 1 cause after another, and No Logo fitted in to my personal politik.
I’d never been in a Starbucks, I hate Disney (it really freaks me out).
Radiohead recommended the book to their fans, and thousands upon thousands of mindless sheep went out and bought it on Thom Yorke’s recommendation. the ideas laid before them caused explosions in little minds. But that was a long time ago now.
The 10th anniversary edition of the book is out on the shelves now, and I picked up a copy today.
It feels like spending time with an old friend, but is making me reassess how I’ve spent my life this past decade.
What ideas am I instilling into my children? What world will they grow up in?
My copies of No Logo will be passed on to my children, for them to read and makeup their own minds.
24 hours to go to enter at http://expectnet.com/games/cavadinoarmy2.
If the site won’t load for you, email me at katrina@thekatcave.com with your guesses for Birth Date, Birth Time, Weight and Length for Baby A and Baby B. If you’ve already entered, your guesses can be amended up until closing time – either on the site…
This last year has been one of the most difficult of my life. Adjusting to life with new born twins and I notice my son is fading away before my eyes. My 5 year old was diagnosed with leukemia; our world fell apart.
We started treatments, he got better, I got married, my new husband applied to adopt my two older boys from my previous marriage, I got pregnant with twins again.
And then my boy took a turn for the worse and the leukemia was back, and coming back strong.
Thanks to stem cell transfusions, Barney returns home to us today, officially in remission.
It may seem like a big victory. We see it as a step on a long long road. The objective now is to keep him in remission, which requires a further 2 years of regular treatments. It’s not something that we can say – yes, he’s cured – hurrah! Because while we have beaten the cancer back, and his new bone marrow is developing and making healthy blood, it’s not something we can take for granted.
Every degree of a temperature change, every bruise, every minor sniffle will have our hearts in our mouths. We’re playing russian roulette. But we don’t know if there are any bullets in the gun.
Only when he has the 2 year all clear can we go out and party.
For now, we’ll settle for a quiet afternoon with banana ice cream and big hugs.
I can’t thank all my friends enough for all the support – you’ve been incredible. You’ve helped me through some of the darkest days – and there have been more of those than you may ever know.
The new crib arrived today, it’s still in pieces and will be for a while.
I’m nearly 29 weeks pregnant, and the first 2 trimesters have been a breeze.
This week, in trimester 3, the elastic has snapped and it’s kicked my arse. I can’t walk without wheezing. My ribs are SORE. I swear one of them has broken a rib. Or popped it out.
I tried to get in the car the other day, and I couldn’t fit behind the wheel. It’s depressing.
But, I’ve gotten this far, and haven’t stabbed my husband or thrown anything at him. It’s a big win.
I haven’t packed a bag yet for the hospital yet. I think I’m going to be pregnant forever. 
I opened the notes program on my iPhone, for what I thought was the first time.
I attach screenshots of what I found. Written on Jan 5, at 1:37 a.m.
Should I be scared?
I’m disappointed. Steve has let me down. (Punishment for me putting him on my Death List last year? I still maintain that having a liver transplant is cheating…).
Yesterday saw the launch of the highly anticipated iPad, a new shiny device that isn’t the game changer that people were hoping for. In fact, the new piece of Apple gear has seemingly been met with a universal “meh”.
No one – including me – seems to get what it’s for. It’s ultimately a giant sized iPod touch.
It allegedly fills the gap between the smart phone (iphone) and the laptop.
Is that gap actually there? For me, possibly.
I own an iPhone and a Mac Book Pro.
For music on the go, I have my iPhone.
For video, I have youtube on the iPhone for watching quick vids on the go. For DVDs, TV shows, movies… well I watch those on the Mac at home. I don’t feel the need to sit and watch movies on the go.
If I’m out and about and need to jot down ideas… that’s where I could see the use of a tablet. Or for taking down notes in a meeting. I don’t want to sit and type while someone else is talking. I want to write notes on a screen, making them searchable later. I don’t want to lug my laptop around. I can’t make notes on my iPhone because the touch keys are terrible.
I had a row with it yesterday, because I wanted to press X and it kept displaying Z or C. I hate touch keys. HATE them. So I can’t see me sitting down typing anything at length on an iPad. I want to write.
But it does iBooks! I still have an original iBook at home… you know, one of the first white ones. I also have lots of real books. And when I don’t want to carry a hardback around with me, I use my Sony e-Reader. It’s not perfect. But I dont see the iPad as a threat to that or to the Kindle either. The advantage existing ereaders have is the e-ink technology. Without backlighting or refresh rates, my Sony is actually very comfortable to read. I couldn’t read for long on my laptop, iphone or even an iPad.
I’m possibly a publishers dream. I’ll buy the hardback of a book. And if there’s a limited edition out there I’ll buy that too. And then I’ll buy the paperback when it comes out. And then I’ll also buy the audio book. And then I’ll buy the ebook too. But even I think buying an iBook version on top of all that would be pushing it. Sorry.
So far, I haven’t seen anything about the device that I’d actually want. In the mean time, I’ll use my other gadgets for making notes on the go – a pen and a Moleskine notebook!
It’s been a while since I added to the blog, things have been busy.
I’m 27 weeks pregnant today, and to the shock and horror of a lot of people, I went ice skating.
Now, yes, I accept this is risky. But it’s not like it’s only the 5th time in my life that I’ve been skating. I was a competition level skater in my youth, and so I can actually skate. I know how to skate and – more importantly – unlike most amateur skaters, I KNOW HOW TO FALL. Which sounds scary. Surely, everyone knows how to fall on ice. And yet, there are ways to fall to protect yourself, to fall and not injure yourself. Without this knowledge, I certainly would have not stepped onto the ice.
I introduced my daughter to the ice this morning. She has her very first skates, and took to it like the proverbial duck to water. She was cautious at first, and then picked up speed. Yes, she took a few tumbles, but she loved every second.
Indigo will be skating every Saturday now, and with ballet on a Monday, my little baby girl is developing her very own social life.
Barney continues to make progress, he’s allowed out of the hospital for short periods; we use it for going on “dates” for banana milkshakes in a diner. He’s getting a little stronger each day, and his medical team are increasingly positive – not only about his short term health, but also for his long term recovery.
My to do list is growing by the day, like my stomach. Last pregnancy, I took it super easy after the mid-term scares, and so had a lot of time, sat on my ass, not doing very much.
This time, it feels like I’ll be on the go right up until I spawn.
Is carrying twins easier this time round? Yes – for sure. I still feel just as tired and achy as the last time, but I’m not as… scared. I’m not as worried, I don’t question every symptom and wonder whether it’s normal. I have an acceptance that very little about a twin pregnancy is normal, and so I don’t fixate on the little things.
And in the meantime, while I’m still on the go, my reading pile is growing…
After 5 kids, baby showers get kinda tedious. And people start to resent the idea of going to yet another shower.
The fact is, Noah and Phoebe will come into this world, and will have everything they ever need.
Thankfully, they have older twin siblings, so there’s very little we need to buy. We have diaper service, so we get diapers brought to us weekly.
Other children are not so lucky.
We’d like to take this opportunity to announce that we’re putting our baby shower online, and should anyone with to contribute, any donations made will be split between 3 charities.
One charity is Leukemia Research, a cause close to our hearts right now.
Another charity will be for children who aren’t lucky enough to be born into families who can provide everything they need.
The third charity will be selected by the winner of our online Baby Shower Game – Baby Birthday Betting Pool!
If you wish to donate, via PayPal, click the button below.
Baby Birthday Betting Pool!
Yes, it’s the KatCave’s First Ever Giveaway!
I’m now 26 weeks pregnant, with twins. While they are officially due around April 23, they could actually arrive at any time!
And so, we’ve set up a betting pool… when will they arrive? What will they weigh?
Whoever is closest will win TWO IPOD NANOS.
Second place gets 2 x iPod Shuffles.
Click below to enter your guesses!
Can’t see the banner? Go to: http://www.expectnet.com/games/CavadinoArmy2 to record your guesses!
Closing date will be March 1 2010.
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Kat’s Online Baby Shower! Donate to Kat's Online Baby Shower - all donations will be directed to charities to help others.
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