Shea Family Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving Day was the first in a long time in which all of my immediate family celebrated together. It was also the first Thanksgivingthat Jon and I have spent in Memphis during our 6.5 years of marriage. We had a fabulous time hanging out with my family.

Emma and Bess came over on Tuesday to play with Shea.

Papa with Nash after dinner Wednesday night.

Some Rock Band on Wednesday night.

Papa reading to his granddaughters while Sara sings. :)

With my blessing, Jon played football Thursday morning while I cooked and watched the kids. (I would've played too if I hadn't broken my toe.) After an eventful morning, this is what Jon, Shea, Nash, and Leia did during the afternoon on Thanksgiving Day.

My family has some obsession with Rock Band.

They all love it. It's complete chaos when we get it out.

Nash wants them to stop playing the music at "Nini volume." He was trying to sleep.

Uncle Patrick came to say goodbye to the girls, and this is what happened. :)

Me with my baby brother.

After all the fun with her cousins Thanksgiving weekend, here's Shea on the way home from Nini and Papa's house on Sunday afternoon.

How do you want to spend your holiday weekend?

Today, I received an email that made me laugh out loud at my desk. Here's the first two sentences:

Do you want to stay at home during the holiday weekend and still be productive?
Try signing up for Online CLE and get that end of the year CLE credit out of the
way. . . .

What normal person is concerned about being productive during a holiday weekend? I understand that if you're a student and have exams to prepare for or projects due, then you need to be productive. However, if you're a normal non-student, then you probably need an actual holiday, an escape from work. At the end of Thanksgiving Day, who feels guilty about being "unproductive"? Perhaps some workaholic attorneys do, but not me. I am not at all concerned about being productive this holiday weekend. The only things that I really need to accomplish are spending time with my family and getting some rest.

By the way, in case you were wondering what CLE stood for, it's "continuing legal education." I have to have 15 hours of CLE every year to keep my license to practice law.

Nash: 7 months

Nash is seven months old now. He's sitting up, rolling around, and attempting to crawl. He really just scoots around on his belly, but I expect that he'll be crawling soon. He's cutting his first tooth. He's weighing in at 22 lbs, 12 oz. To those of you who think he's overfed (you know who you are, hehe), Nash is still primarily breastfed, but he is getting some baby food. He only eats about 6 or 7 bites of solids each day, so that's about 1/2 a jar of food each day. He normally doesn't eat any more than that. He's just a healthy size. :)

He really is a joy. He's gotten very expressive, and we can really tell when he's happy and excited. He recognizes people now, and he gets excited to see people he knows. He is crazy about his big sister. Shea still "reads" to him almost daily, and she's always trying to hug and hold him. It melts my heart to watch them interact.

Like Father, Like Son

No words are needed here.

Trick-or-Treat

Shea dressed up as Belle for Halloween. She was so tickled at how "princessy" she looked. Unfortunately, Nash had a fever that night, so he didn't get to dress up in his cute Tigger costume. My sweet parents watched him for us while we took Shea trick-or-treating.

We went to the Goforth's neighborhood so that Shea could enjoy trick-or-treating with some friends. Below is Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Belle, and Spider Man.

Above: Ella, Luke, and Shea are ready to go!

Below: Shea, Reese, and Ella in the wagon. Shea insisted on riding in the wagon most of the time.

Sugar High! Here's the kiddos digging into their goodies!

Zoo Boo

We went to Zoo Boo with my mom and our good friends, Steve, Annah Mary Summy, and Amelia. We had a good time. I think that Shea will enjoy it a little more when she's older. There's a costume contest and trick-or-treating tables set up. She loved getting candy and wanted to eat it all before we left. The highlight of the evening, however, was the dancing. In one pavilion, there was a DJ and an area to dance. She boogied with her Daddy to some classic dance songs. It was great!

Nash was out by the end of the evening.

Halloween Funny

I haven't made any political statements yet on my blog this election season. This is a light-hearted one. It made me laugh. I hope it does the same for you. :)

Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend, our family went with some friends to Cedar Hill Farms. I had no idea what an elaborate set up it was. Shea loved the petting zoo, the ponies, the hayride out to the Pumpkin Patch, and everything else that was there. We had a terrific time, and we came home with some pumpkins that we'll be carving sometime soon. I do believe that we'll be making this a family tradition. Here's some pictures of our time there.

From Pumpkin Patch

From Pumpkin Patch

From Pumpkin Patch

From Pumpkin Patch

From Pumpkin Patch

From Pumpkin Patch

From Pumpkin Patch

From Pumpkin Patch

From Pumpkin Patch

From Pumpkin Patch

Nash - Six Months

Nash is six months old now. He's pretty sturdy sitting up these days, and he LOVES his sister. Shea is crazy about him too. She's a great big sister. Nash lights up at people he recognizes when they enter the room, and he's rolling and scooting all over the place.

Oh, and by the way, he's HUGE! He's 22 pounds, and he's 29 inches long. He's in the 97th percentile in height and weight, and he's wearing size 12 month clothes. Shea lasted 11 months in her infant car seat, but Nash has already outgrown it. Yikes!

I'm happy to say that I'm still breastfeeding him. No formula for this little guy. He's not doing well with bottles at daycare (normally takes 1 to 3 oz. of each of his 3 bottles), but as you can see, he's not starving. That's because he's making up for it at night. He is still waking up at least twice during the night to eat. We started him on some solids. He doesn't eat much of them yet, but that's fine because I still want breastmilk to be his primary source of nutrition. We're just getting him used to some new textures and flavors and using solids as complementary feeding.

To Spank or Not to Spank - Part 2

My last installment on this issue (long ago) simply listed some scripture verses. I'm still not directly addressing the spanking issue, but I want to look at how God has interacted with the church after Christ.

The Bible teaches that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). For those in Christ, God's justice has been satisfied in Christ Jesus. Nevertheless, the New Testament still offers plenty of instruction regarding how to live our lives. God still cares about our deeds, and He disciplines those he loves. Thus, we have what might appear to be a dilemma.

In Romans 5 and 6, Pauls talks about grace at work in our lives and is careful to clarify that this grace is not a license to sin. In Acts 5, we learn about Ananias and Saphira, whom God struck dead for lying to the Holy Spirit. As a result, "Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events" (Acts 5:11).

Also, the Corinthian church was taking the Lord's supper in an unworthy manner, and consequently were eating and drinking judgment upon themselves (1 Cor. 11:27-29). "That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world" (1 Cor. 11:30-32). God judged believers within the Corinthian church and physically disciplined them.

Further, to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, God says over and over, "I know your deeds." They're pretty much told to shape up or their "lampstand" will be removed. There again is God's discipline.

How do we reconcile these facts: we have no condemnation in Christ, Jesus has paid for our sin, God cares about our deeds, God disciplines us, and God's discipline is sometimes physical? While believers don't experience condemnation and won't go to hell for our sin, God still cares what we do, and we experience his discipline in our lives for our disobedience. This discipline is sometimes physically painful and can even cause our death. I think that we mistakenly call all physical discipline "punishment," but I don't think that's biblical. God's discipline in the lives of believers seems to manifest itself in different ways--some physical and some not. Therefore, I think that our definition of discipline is sometimes too narrow. Perhaps we need to delve deeper into our definitions of punishment and discipline and look to see examples of each from the Bible.

I'm still trying to work out what I believe on this subject, but this is what I've been thinking about lately. I don't claim to have this all figured out, and I have not exhaustively covered this subject here. More coming sometime soon.

Nursing Homes Cited for Violations

As many of you know, I represent people who have been injured by abuse or neglect in nursing homes. Some nursing homes provide superior care and really care about their residents. Others provide poor care, are understaffed, and don't adequately protect residents from actual harm. I am way too familiar with these nursing homes. Even the "good" nursing homes will have isolated incidents where, for example. an employee makes a poor decision and injures a resident. A new report states that over 90% of nursing homes were cited for violating federal health and safety standards. The state of the nursing home industry is something that a lot of people don't pay attention to until it affects them. They have the view that personal injury attorneys are worthless scum benefitting from the bad luck of others. I hope that what I'm doing holds facilities responsible for their actions and ultimately improves the care that the elderly receive in these nursing homes. Here's the article:

Violations Reported at 94% of Nursing Homes
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: September 29, 2008

WASHINGTON — More than 90 percent of nursing homes were cited for violations of federal health and safety standards last year, and for-profit homes were more likely to have problems than other types of nursing homes, federal investigators say in a report issued on Monday.

About 17 percent of nursing homes had deficiencies that caused “actual harm or immediate jeopardy” to patients, said the report, by Daniel R. Levinson, the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Problems included infected bedsores, medication mix-ups, poor nutrition, and abuse and neglect of patients.

Inspectors received 37,150 complaints about conditions in nursing homes last year, and they substantiated 39 percent of them, the report said. About one-fifth of the complaints verified by federal and state authorities involved the abuse or neglect of patients.

About two-thirds of nursing homes are owned by for-profit companies, while 27 percent are owned by nonprofit organizations and 6 percent by government entities, the report said. The inspector general said 94 percent of for-profit nursing homes were cited for deficiencies last year, compared with 88 percent of nonprofit homes and 91 percent of government homes.

“For-profit nursing homes had a higher average number of deficiencies than the other types of nursing homes,” Mr. Levinson said. “In 2007, for-profit nursing homes averaged 7.6 deficiencies per home, while not-for-profit and government homes averaged 5.7 and 6.3, respectively.”

On Monday, Mr. Levinson issued a compliance guide for nursing homes that says some homes “have systematically failed to provide staff in sufficient numbers and with appropriate clinical expertise to serve their residents.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Guess what I found!

I meant to update everyone on my discovery last week, but I forgot. If you've read this blog for long, you might remember that sometime in July, I managed to lose both my entire set of keys and my fob for work. I thought that they might turn up when I cleaned my house. I really hadn't cleaned it up since then, but I had turned it upside down looking for both.

Well, I took a Friday off to get some stuff down around the house. Although I worked very hard that day, my house didn't look like I'd done a thing in it. It was that bad. Saturday, day two of cleaning, showed more progress. Sometime that day, I was picking up stuff from under the desk in the living room, and I noticed something shiny poking out from behind the desk. I investigated further and discovered my keys. They had fallen behind my desk, but not all the way to the ground. They were wedged between the desk and the wall about half-way down. That's why I couldn't find them! I'm so excited to have them again! Jon is thrilled that he has his front door key back. (I had refused to make another one b/c I just knew my keys would turn up.)

Later on that same Saturday, I was cleaning up Shea's room, and I saw something in her toy bin that didn't seem to fit. Low and behold, it was my long lost fob. Another wonderful discovery! I really should straighten up and clean more often. No telling what else I could discover buried in my house.

My Weekend

This weekend was busy/crazy, and I'm actually glad to be going to work on Monday. The first part of it was just busy. Nash didn't sleep well, but nothing else out of the ordinary. We didn't have any major meltdowns Sunday morning and actually got to church on time. Lunch was pretty uneventful. Then the pee incidents began.

Pee Incident #1

Shea actually fell asleep without a fuss when we got home. I even got a 30 minute nap, something I haven't been able to do in months. Before I left to run an errand (to get Shea's Halloween costume and do some early Christmas shopping), I tried to slip a waterproof "sheet" under Shea to protect her bed should she have an accident. I got it just barely under her enough, and I left Jon with both kids to run my errand. Apparently, Shea moved off of the protective sheet and wet the bed while I was gone. Jon was understandably upset. We had to strip her bed and wash everything. We remade her bed just in time for her to go to sleep in it.

Pee Incident #2

I was up late taking care of details and getting things ready for the week (lunches, etc.). I finally went to bed at about 11:30. About 30 seconds after I laid down, Nash woke up hungry. I fed him and tried to put him back in his crib. He would have none of it. I could let him cry it out, but that risks waking up Shea, which is not a risk worth taking. I finally put him back in bed with me to try to get him into deeper sleep before depositing him back in his crib again. At about 12:15am, I was convinced that he was in deep enough sleep to try it. With just a few whimpers, he was fine in his crib. I got back in my bed and felt a nice big wet spot. I had that sinking feeling. Nash's diaper had leaked. Now, I had not only to clean up my bed, but wake my sleeping baby and clean him up as well. He was not happy about being awakened and having his clothes changed. About 30 minutes later, he's all clean and back to sleep. A little while later, I'm finally able to drift back off to dreamland.

Pee Incident #3

About 2:30am, I awaken to Shea's screams. Jon and I hop up to find out what's wrong. We discover that she has again wet the bed. Then we have a minor argument about who forgot to put a pull up on her before she went to bed. Jon brushed her teeth, took her potty, and got her water. I read to her and prayed with her before she went to sleep. We both thought that the other one had put the pull up on her. We had to clean up the bed and Shea, who was incredibly upset. I finally got her calmed down and put her in bed with me. Jon retreated to the couch. Of couse, the commotion woke up Nash, who was ready to eat again.

Needless to say, it was a long and sleepless night. I hope that tonight is much better. I could use a good night's sleep.

(In case you're wondering, Shea is wearing her "princess" dress above. It's actually a flower girl dress I wore in 1984.)

Can you spot an attorney?

I watched the many, many people pouring into the courthouse this Friday motion morning, and I had my own bit of fun labeling them attorney, court reporter, or client. There's not really any other people heading into the courthouse at 9am on a Friday morning, and it's quite an entertaining game to play in your head. You should try it sometime.

Which leads me to my question, how do you know someone is an attorney just by looking at them?

I think that anyone in a black or gray suit within 3 blocks of the courthouse is automatically dubbed an attorney. It gets trickier the further away from the courthouse that you get. Funny thing is, that I've been asked whether I was an attorney at the Dollar Store and other various places I've frequented on my lunch break in East Memphis, nowhere near the courthouse. So, do you know how to spot an attorney? I'd love to hear your comments.

Just for fun, if you need some instruction in this area, you can try the Lawyer's Coloring Book.

Dinner with Kids

Before I tell this story, I must give you a little bit of background. Just over a week ago Shea had a short-lived biting problem. She bit two kids at daycare one day. The following weekend, she bit her cousins twice during the evening. I'm happy to report no biting since then. Now, on to the story.

On Monday night, we met my brother, Michael, and his family for dinner at Osaka in Cordova. Emma, Bess, and Shea were being a little rowdy, and Michael probably thought some conversation might calm them down. He instructed Emma to ask Shea what she did at daycare that day. Emma turned to Shea and genuinely asked in a friendly tone, "What did you do at daycare today, Shea? Did you bite anybody?" As the rest of us laughed, Emma got embarrassed. It was simply adorable. I love Emma's questions.

That incident was followed by multiple trips to the bathroom with multiple kids, and Shea repeatedly yelling in the middle of the restaurant, "I need to poo poo," when she really didn't. She just likes to say "poo poo." She inherited that from her dad. I hope that she grows out of it.

A trip to the zoo

Shea and Nash spent last Saturday afternoon at the zoo with Emma, Bess, Aunt Sara, and Nini. Emma wanted to see the flamingos, but she wanted to move on pretty fast because they smelled bad. We then headed to the butterflies. After spending some time trying to get butterflies to land on us, we walked over to see the week-old baby giraffe. On our way to the sea lion show, Emma, Bess, and Shea held hands and walked together chanting: "Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-choo-choo." It was adorable! I just love the Memphis zoo. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.

Matt Damon and Sarah Palin

I've written on sexism and politics with regard to Hilary Clinton. Now, I'm addressing the subject as it relates to Sarah Palin. I find this article rather disturbing:

Matt Damon: Sarah Palin Presidency Would Be Like a 'Really Bad Disney Movie'
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Actor Matt Damon said a Sarah Palin presidency would be like "a really bad
Disney movie.""I think there's a really good chance Sarah Palin could become
president, and I think that's a really scary thing," he told the Associated
Press, referring to the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Click here to see the Damon video

Damon suggested the odds are John McCain won't survive his first term."It's
like a really bad Disney movie," he said. "The hockey mom, you know, 'Oh, I'm
just a hockey mom'... and she's facing down [Russian] President Putin... It's
totally absurd... It's a really terrifying possibility."

Damon also said he believes she was chosen for "political purposes."

Last month, the actor told Conde Nast Traveler he fears putting his foot in
his mouth.

"For a lot of actors, our biggest fear is that we're going to start talking
about things we don't fully understand and sound like idiots," he said. "In the
long run, I'll do much more good if, when I open my mouth, I have something
worth saying."

Talk about putting his foot in his mouth! His statement implies that he thinks that because she's a "hockey mom," she can't handle herself in international politics. It's a sexist statement, but it probably reflects the thoughts of many regarding women in prominent positions. In my practice, I've been suprised at how often I encounter clients who think that a male attorney will be able to negotiate better with a tough defense attorney. These generalizations are incredibly sexist and flat out wrong. A hockey mom can be a strong person capable of handling herself in an international arena. If you decide to vote against her because you disagree with her politics, that's fine. However, if you decide to vote against her because you think that a "hockey mom" generally is not capable of handling herself in the office of President or Vice-President, then that is just sad. A hockey mom can be a strong and intelligent person who happens also to be a wife and a mother. Being a wife and a mother of kids who play sports should not disqualify a person from holding public office. The ability of a person should perform a job should depend on her strengths, training, experience, and personality and not on her sex. I once thought that we were past this issue, but my experience has taught me otherwise. GRRR!

Photoshoot

My friend, Elizabeth, took our pictures this weekend, and she did an absolutely phenomenal job! You can see some of them here.

I've been tagged!

Here's some juvenile fun.

My friend, Maribeth, tagged me, and so here you go . . .

Here are the rules as I understand them:
1. Include a link to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules.
3. Tell six unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag six bloggers by linking.
5. Leave a comment for each blogger.

1. I always make too much food. Whenever we attend a pot luck or party where we're supposed to bring food, rarely do I arrive with just one item. I think it's a hereditary trait. My aunt jokes about the church potlucks my mother's family attended when they were growing up because my grandmother would cook an entire meal instead of just one item. My mother and I don't normally go that far, but we both like to have plenty of food at any social gathering. For example, for our Labor Day party at the Kerrigan's, I brought homemade chocolate chip cookies, baked beans in a crock pot, and fruit w/ fruit dip. I love to make people happy with yummy food.

2. I'm a perfectionist, but not a normal one. You would never guess by looking at my house or my office that I'm a perfectionist, but I am. Things are normally a mess because I don't attempt to clean or straighten up unless I have time to do it perfectly. For example, I normally start to clean my room by organizing my closet. I can't put clothes in it until it looks perfect. If I don't have the time to do it perfectly right, I'd just rather not do it at all.

3. I LOVE grammar. While I don't always proofread my posts on my blog or get everything right when I first publish my post, I am still quite the grammar stickler and will correct previous posts when I see a grammar error. I do recognize that some grammar rules are ridiculous in informal writing, so I've matured to the point that I can occasionally break them. Although, even when I break them there had better be a darn good reason to do so. I'm also a master blue booker, but only my lawyer friends will have any idea what that means. Sadly, bluebooking is not as important in real practice as it was in law school. Sigh.

4. I have very clean ears. I normally clean them at least once a day. The doctor has actually remarked while looking in my ear, "Wow, your ears are clean!"

5. I love to argue. That's not really a surprise to anyone who knows me well. I enjoy a good discussion, and I've even been known to start arguments for fun. It drives Jon nuts, and I have to remember that not everyone enjoys "discussions" as much as I do.

6. I loathe two-door cars. When I was very little, we lived in Tallahassee, FL, and my mom drove a red station wagon. Then one day in 1985, Hurricane Kate was on her way to the Florida coast. It was raining when my dad got home from work, so he parked in my mother's parking spot in the driveway because it was closer to the front door. When my mom got home, she had to park where my dad usually parked. That night, the hurricane hit, and we had bad tornados in Tallahassee. Thankfully, we were alright, but a tree had fallen on my mom's station wagon. She was not happy because Daddy's Nova was just fine in her usual parking spot. :) That good 'ole station wagon was replaced with my grandmother's two door circa 1979 Cutlass Supreme. I endured many car trips crammed in the back seat with my two brothers. Finally, in December of 1993, my mom got a minivan. I was in heaven. I had my own bench for car trips. What could be better? To this day, I cringe at the thought of ever having a two-door car. I don't like any two door car, no matter how sporty or cool it is. God-willing, I will never own a two-door car. They're simply awful.

okay, tag you are it:
Tracy
Katie
Patrick
Angela
Michael
Tricia

Labor Day

We spent Labor Day with friends at Kyle and Elyssa's house. We had a fabulous time eating, swimming, and hanging out with good friends. Shea loved the pool, but she thought that it should have a slide. The other pool that Shea swam in during the summer had a slide, and this one didn't. Here's how the conversation about the slidewent:

Shea: Where the slide go, Daddy?

Jon: It's gone.

Shea: It's goooone?

Jon: Yeah, it's gone.

Shea: Where did it go?

Jon: Kyle broke it.

Shea: Kyle broke it?

Jon: Yeah.

Shea: Kyle broke the slide. It's gone. No, no, Kyle. Kyle go timeout.

Thanks to Jon, Shea was insistent that Kyle broke the slide and needed to go to timeout. Jon was quite tickled with himself over this one. Shea talked about it for days.