Travels to Michigan followed by a busy week

It's been awhile since I updated, but I promise I do have a good excuse! Last week I had rehearsals every night except Tuesday and then last night Ryan and I just HAD to watch The Bourne Ultimatum because it was due today! We really enjoyed all three of the Bourne movies; that genre is one that both of us enjoy. The next movie we're waiting for is Dan in Real Life. We put them on hold at the library but sometimes it takes a couple months for them to show up.

My last post was before our adventure to Michigan so I haven't posted that Ryan's audition at Michigan State went well, despite being up most of the night with a nasty stomach bug. I did the drive from Kalamazoo to Lansing, and he didn't spend too much time warming up. Stephen was also a little sick with a cold, and and he really struggled as I had him take a nap in the lounge at the music building. Once the audition was over, we drove to Saginaw for a visit with Tom, Laura, Cody, Hadley, and Kassy. Stephen had a great time, and frequently just followed the two girls around saying "guls guls" (girls). He also got to eat pancakes. It was a short visit because we had to get back to Illinois Sunday night, so we took off and stopped for dinner in Indiana with Grandma and Grandpa Leatherman. It was a good thing we went that way; I found out on Monday that I-94 had been closed due to bad weather and we would have been stuck!

Stephen surprised me this week and decided on his own that he was ready to start eating with a fork and spoon by himself! Hooray! I was really hoping for this before the baby comes. I have been trying to coach him to do it, and I've known that he is capable, but had decided that what he eats is more important than how he eats it.

Last Wednesday I had my first lobbying experience in Springfield. There is a bill that is in the House that would allow for licensure of lay midwives. Currently the state does not recognize Certified Professional Midwives as care providers, and that limits women's abilities to make choices regarding their birthing experiences. There are a lot of issues surrounding this that I won't go into here, but from the statistics I've seen, I have come to believe that for a low-risk birth, using an MD is not always the safest option. So a friend and I loaded up our 3 kids and drove almost 2 hours to talk with our rep. Supposedly, reps are supposed to be glad to see their constituents. Not ours. She acted busy and annoyed that we had stopped by to talk about the bill. It was really very discouraging. Even if she completely disagreed with our point of view, I think she should have been welcoming and given us a chance to tell her what we thought! At least some of the other parents who were there for the same issue received warmer welcomes and even gathered more support for the bill.

Well, Stephen is waking up (much too soon, might I add?) from his nap and I should go say hello! More posting later ... I'm not done yet!