Adventures in Baby Food

Its been a while since I have blogged, things have just been super busy around the Finogle household. Chad will be going on deployment soon, so we are squeezing in lots of family time before he heads out.

As soon as Chase was able to start eating solid foods, I decided that I wanted to attempt to make my own. I was very nervous because I didn't know if I would have the patience even though I have been told that I have the patience of a saint. Plus I didn't know how complicated it was and we travel alot so I didn't know how I would travel w/ the food. But I took a leap of faith and thoroughly enjoyed the ride!

I first started w/ the basics: Apples, Prunes (which by the way don't freeze well or travel well) Bananas (don't travel well either), Pears, Carrots, Green Beans, and Peas. All of those were a hit and Chase had no reaction to them, so I tested him w/ Peaches, Squash, Avacado, Swt Potatoes, all of which became an instant hit! He especially like Avacado mixed w/ Swt Potato. So then I went into uncharted territory and experimented w/ Mangos, Blueberries, Necterines, and Plums. Once again, to my surprise, a big hit! I recently attempted Rutabaga and Broccoli. Broccoli has been accepted but the Rutabaga still gets a funny look from Chase. I think its an acquired taste and totally takes me back to my childhood when my mom use to force us kids to eat it. She would say, just add some butter and salt and pepper and it tastes good. LOL!

I kind of cheat though. I go to some of these homemade baby food websites and steal recipes or I go to some of the websites of the jar foods you find on store shelves and steal recipes from them. But I must say that its been easier than I thought and I actually can't believe I didn't do it for my other 2 children. Having to go back to work 5 weeks postpartum w/ my first didn't help but my second I was already staying at home. Just was lazy I suppose.

I have seen so many gadgets out there for how to make and prepare the food, but I am perfectly comfortable w/ my trusty steamer and food processor. Yes, they are clunky, and yes they take up alot of kitchen counter space. But I really can't bring myself to purchase one of those gadgets when I already have the basics.

So as I sit here and type this the bell has gone off for the Apples, time to puree and freeze!

Halloween 2010

Chase's 1st Halloween



Troy @ the Pumpkin Patch @ Hunt Club Farm


Em @ Hunt Club Farm



Em as a bumble bee and Troy as a race car driver



Em as a bumble bee



Troy as a race car driver



Our pumpkin family



Troy painting his pumpkin




Chad carving his



Em tracing a pattern to carve hers

Military Hospitals should be a form of Birth Control!!

My husband and I welcomed our 3rd child to world on September 21, 2010. Chase Michael Finogle was born at 7:02pm weighing 7lbs, 1oz and 19 in long. It was a pretty fast birth I must say and pretty painful one. This was the longest pregnancy so far for me. I made it 39 plus 5, almost term. I had been sitting at 4 cm's dilated for a week and 50% efaced w/ braxton hicks contractions coming off and on for the last couple of weeks. We talked w/ my MIL and she decided to come down that wknd in hopes of being there for the birth and we did make a trip to the hospital that Saturday night she was there. I had walked around Mt. Trashmore (local park) earlier in the day w/ my MIL and husband and had even taken some Castor Oil to get some contractions started. Finally around 9pm the contractions were coming every 2-3 mins. After being ck'd I was told that I was 4cm and 80% efaced they told me to go walk for 2 hrs. So my husband and i walked the grounds of the hospital. The contractions were now at the point where i had to actually stop in my tracks and focus on getting through them. Finally we returned @ 1am after 2 hours of walking, they ck'd me again and said there was no progress and to go home. I was so frustrated and was at the point of crying. They prescribed me a sleeping pill, which i took and it stopped the contractions. My husband was suppose to go underway w/ his ship that monday but informed them that this baby was coming and soon and needed to stay behind. Thankfully he made that call, had he not, i would have had this baby by myself. Monday came and my MIL had to head back for a doctor appt, but she took our 3 yo w/ her. Tuesday morning i awoke to more contractions and a little blood on my tissue after using the bathroom. So we sent my 13yo off to school and we decided to head to the hospital once again. I was praying that i had progressed so they would keep me but fearfully thought that i was still at 4cm and they would once again turn me away. I was ck'd in triage and disappointingly was still at 4cm but she said she was able to stretch me to 5cm. That nurse said that most likely i will be admitted and sure enough i was. Around noon is when they started my first round of antibiotics for the GBS and she also started a small pitocin drip. Contractions were coming but nothing i couldn't breath through. Then came the second dose of antibiotics. That ended around 4pm. The nurse said once that was done they would go and break my water and have this baby. In between this time, the anesthesiologist had come in twice offering the epidural and said that i could have it any time that they were there waiting for me. I said that the contractions were manageable for now but wanted to see how they progressed after my water broke. So 5pm rolled around and in came the nurse w/ the sewing needle to break my water. That's when all hell broke loose!!!!! Literally the min she broke my water my contractions went from a 4 out of 10 to a 100 out of 10!!!! I felt the baby slide down into my birth canal and i felt like i was dying!!! I screamed and she asked what was wrong and i tried to catch my breath from the contraction to tell her but was having a hard time because the contractions were right on top of each other giving me no time to breath or even function. My husband was trying to tell me to breath but i couldn't the pain was soooo intense! She helped me sit up which made the baby slide even more into my va-jj and pushing the river Nile out of me and down my leg! I swear i had to have the equivalent of an Olympic size swimming pool inside me! I couldn't imagine if my water had broken out in public... how embarrassing would that be! So I was able to finally get the word epidural out and in rushed the doctor. It felt like an eternity had passed until he finally got the epidural in. The nurse ck'd me and i had gone from 4cm to 9cm in a matter of sec's. Finally feeling some relief from the pain, i could still feel the pressure and felt the need to push even though i wasn't 10cm. So she let me. I think i pushed for 10-15 mins when the nurse said that i needed to stop and take a break because the baby's heart rate keeps dropping when i do push. So we took a break for a few mins. Then there are about 5 other doc's rushing in and looking at the monitor and asking me to push some more. So i did. I briefly glanced at the monitor when i did push and i remember seeing his HR down in the 60's. Some of the doc's were telling me that if his HR keeps dropping that i would have to have a C-section and then one of the doc's mentioned getting the vacuum out to help. I was so afraid of the "C" word that i went balls to the walls pushing. Finally Chase was delivered @ 7:02pm. I did not immediately hear him cry so i thought something was wrong w/ him. When i saw my husband's face he had a look of worry on it and was crying. I asked what was wrong and he said nothing that he was just scared from what all had just happened. I asked about the baby and he went over to ck on him and finally i heard him cry for the first time. So then it was time to deliver the placenta. Well... that never happened cause they turned the pitocin off and i had stopped contracting. So i had a nurse pushing on my belly and the doc pulling on the cord and then all of a sudden it snapped off. I hear her telling the time and telling another doc to come in and it was this huge rush to get this placenta out of me. Next thing i know i hear her tell me that she has to go in and pull it out. And she literally did that... she reached inside me, full fisted and was pulling out chunks of the placenta all the while saying: "yes momma its gonna hurt". That was just as painful as the contractions i had before the epidural because at this point the epidural had worn off. No one happened to mention that i had a button i could have pushed to get another dose of the epidural before she started ripping my insides out!!! Luckily she got all of it out otherwise it could have caused some serious issues w/ infection and stuff. So after being in delivery for a few hours till 10pm, my husband left w/ our 13yo (she had school the next day) and i was wheeled to my room. We roll up to the door and i see a curtain pulled on half the room and soon discover that.... I AM SHARING A ROOM W/ SOMEONE!! OMG!! You are kidding me right. I not only will get no sleep from my own crying infant but now i have to hear someone else and her crying infant. So i sucked it up and slowly climbed in bed and tried to settle in for the night. That didn't last long as i quickly discovered that for the next 6 hours every 2 hours i would be awoken w/ a nurse and an intern... MILITARY MALE INTERNS!!!! OMG AGAIN!!! You are kidding right?? And we aren't just talking the intern standing there and taking notes, they are having to ck my bleeding and push on my belly, etc!! The whole nine yards!!! I again quickly sucked it up because what else was i suppose to do... protest... yeah right. Needless to say night #1 was rough. Day #2 was much more exciting because i found out my neighbors were being released that afternoon... YEAH!!!!!! I also found out that before we could be released we had to take a mandatory class on shaken baby and swaddling. Not sure why its mandatory but we were not allowed to leave until we took it. Night #2 was the straw that broke you know what though.... after my visitors left and it was just me and the baby... it was time to settle in for the night and i went to change the baby's diaper and you know how boys are when their little thingy hits cold air.... a stream of pee went flying into the air!!! I of course had nothing to catch it w/ and it seemed like he had held his pee all day just for this moment because it flooded my sheets and himself for that matter. So i buzzed the nurse and asked if they could come change the sheets because they were soaked. She said she would send in sheets w/ the nurse. Well in walks the male intern and places the sheets on the table and says: "here is a fitted and flat sheet and a blanket". And proceeds to walk out. I HAD TO CHANGE MY OWN BED SHEETS!!!!!!!!!!! OMG AGAIN!!!!!!! Here i am w/ a crying newborn who is hungry and i have to change my own bed sheets.... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! Needless to say that when day #3 came I couldn't get out of the hospital fast enough!! I guess i had gotten a little pampered in the civilian hospitals the 2 times i delivered before this. I actually had nurses help me in the civilian hospitals. My experience w/ the military hospital was quite different. No help!! It was cold (and not temperature cold either) and awkward w/ the male interns and never have i had to share a room w/ another patient! Looking back, i really feel sorry for these first time mom's who come in there w/ nothing else to compare it too. They must really be in shock after they leave. Military hospitals could really be used as a form of birth control! My husband and i are not planning on having any more, but if the good Lord decides to bless us w/ another one.... we will be checking out civilian hospitals!!

Is it that time of year again???

Is it really that time of year again?? I swear it seems just like yesterday that my 6th grader was coming home from her last day of school - ready to start her summer vacation. Virginia Beach schools don't technically go back till Sept 7th but already the stores have their school supplies out. So we have stocked up on the basics such as paper, pencils, crayons, markers, folders, etc. My soon to be 7th graders is anxiously awaiting her school schedule to see what new teachers she will have this year. The one thing that will be different this year is she won't have her 2 BFF's w/ her due to moving away or military transfers. As I have always told her.... That's the military life for you. Friends come and friends go, its the way it is living in a military family. I have also reminded her that she needs to cherish every friendship she has because at one point or another they will either end up moving or she will. Life for school age children who have a parent in the military can be difficult. Always moving, always being the new kid, always making new friends. So w/ the start of this new year I have encouraged her to befriend the "new kid" and let them know that they aren't alone and that she too has "been there - done that".

Not only do I have a upcoming 7th grader in the house... but this year we have a preschooler starting school. Yep... Troy is 3 and will be starting preschool 2 days a week at our local church. I thought I would start him out w/ just 2 days a week so as not to traumatize him too much. He has been home w/ me since the day he was born. Unfortunately he hasn't always had other kid interaction like most kids his age that attend daycare. I have tried to teach him the fundamentals... you know.... how to share toys, how to be polite, how to have manners. I have taken him places where he would get some interaction w/ other kids, like the mall playground or the children's museum, or story time at the library. All of which are nice but I think the first week of Preschool will be an eye opening event for him. I have been checking out books from the library that talk about preschool and how fun it is. He has even gotten ok w/ walking into sunday school like a big boy and not crying. So maybe he will surprise me and be the big boy on the first day leaving me in a puddle of tears in the parking lot.

The waiting game...

So here we are almost 30 weeks pregnant w/ our 3rd child and no nursery ready. All because we are on the waiting list w/ military housing to go from a 3 bdrm to a 4 bdrm. As soon as we found out we were expecting, we immediately contacted housing to go on the waiting list to be transfered. We had to refill out paperwork and I had to get confirmation from the doctor that I was expecting. After all was done we decided to go on 2 waiting lists to increase our chances of being moved before the baby was born. Not only is it newer housing but its also in the school district that we want our daughter to attend high school. The one we are zoned for now has a reputation and is nick-named Gang Run! Would you want your kid going to a HS nick named that?? I didn't think so.

When we originally decided on base housing 2 years ago when my husband received orders to transfer, we were given 2 options in the Virginia Beach area and 24 hours to make a decision based on what the outside appearance looked like. All we were told was that Virginia Beach had the nicer schools out of the Hampton Roads area. We were not allowed to see inside and there were no models that we could check out. Basically all we had was a generic floor plan w/ no dimensions and had to make a decision in 24 hours or we would fall further back on the list. So, we drove through both complexes and went w/ the nicer, newer ones. We knew the Elementary was good and the Middle was ok but had no idea about the HS. So, not knowing how long we would be here and if we would decide to stay in this area we chose the complex we did. Afterall, Em was in the 5th grade and if we received orders to move it would be before HS.

So aside from the HS being an issue, we now have crime creeping into our lovely development. The first incident was during the winter after we first moved here re: break in's in the middle of the day. Thats pretty darn scary if you ask me. People were being robbed in the middle of the day regardless if they were home or not. Things like TV's, gaming systems, jewelry, etc were being taken. Finally things settled down a little w/ the break ins. Come that March/April while Chad was underway, I truly believe we were the next targets. I was sitting in the living room w/ the shades up letting the sunlight come in when i noticed 2 black men w/ orange construction vests, bandanas, and sunglasses approach our backyard. Before i go on, i need to make it very clear that the housing office made it very clear to us when we first moved in that the backyard was our responsibility to maintain. Their lawn service did not mow the backyards or do any maintenance to the backyard. I took note of the orange vests because i remember the housing's lawn maintenance people always wore neon green. Not only that but i took note of the fact that it was March/April and lawn maintenance had not restarted from the winter break they take. It was close but no one had come out yet. Next thing i notice is the one guy open my gate and enter my backyard. He did have a weedwhacker in his hand and the other guy who stayed just outside the gate had something else but i could not tell what it was. As the first guy started to make his way through my very small yard, attempting to weed whack dead grass in random spots, i stood up from my chair and stared out the window at him. I think he finally noticed me once he had gotten closer to the window and proceeded to leave. After discussing this incident w/ our neighbors, no one else had one come in their backyards that day. I truly think that we were the next ones to be robbed and had i not stood up or not been there, i think it would have happened. Thank GOD i had my angels watching over us that day!!

So another weird incident w/ crime was a HS boy on a couple streets over had been shot dead at the convenient store around the corner. A few days later, his house where his dad and step mom lived had a drive by shooting happen. No one was hurt but for weeks, there was a security guard that stood at the beginning of the street and would not allow anyone who did not live on that street down it.

So here I am 30 wks pregnant and more than 1 reason to move out of here. We are #14 on the list. I call housing every month to see if we move up and keep getting the same response. This is the summer months when most families move and things open up. But for some reason, no one is wanting to move this summer. I also throw out my husbands rank of Chief when i talk w/ the housing office, thinking that might encourage the housing office to move us up the list, but so far that hasn't worked either. I also mentioned that he will be underway the entire month of October and can they do something about that, again... no is the answer. There is also an 8 mo deployment coming up at the first of the year and I have a sneaky feeling that we will receive the call that our number is up and a 4 bdrm is available. Leaving me w/ the responsibility to completely move all by myself w/ 2 children and a newborn! I am sure this has been done before.... right??

Afterall..... I am a Navy wife... i can handle this... i think?? :)

YOU'RE LATE

So I have to vent about this before I explode!! Made an appt for Emily weeks ago for this morning at the Naval Clinic. Appt time 7:15am.

Morning of the appt, I wake up @ 5:30am to make sure that I am ready and that the kids are ready in time to leave. We arrive @ the clinic @ 7:08am and wait in line to be ckd in. Lady tells us to have a seat and wait to be called. So we wait; and wait; and wait some more. Finally around 7:55am we are called back and escorted into a little triage room for the nurse to take Em's bp and all the other vital stuff they have to do before sending us to a room to be seen. We sit down and start getting 20 questions as to why we are here. My first thought is; well doesn't it say on the paperwork or in the computer why we are here. So I explain again what it is we are there for. Then I start getting questioned as to why I want certain things done during this appt. I am really starting to get annoyed at this point so my answers turn from sweet and polite to aggitated and frustrated. The nurse then proceeds to tell me that the reason for all the questions is we were late to the appt. She pointed to a stamp on the top paper that said 7:20am and our appt was 7:15am.

On a side note: I take great pride in myself for always being on time and generally 10-15 mins early for EVERYTHING!!!! I have always been like that and when I married my husband - active duty Navy - it was second nature to be on time for things. In fact the military has a saying.... if you are on time.... YOU ARE LATE!! There is also another saying associated w/ the military.... Hurry up and wait.

So back to the nurse..... she said that they try to find out what exactly it is we are there for to determine whether we really need to be seen or reschedule. I asked what her point was and do we need to reschedule. She said yes. My blood began to boil at this point. I raised my voice and told her that we were in the clinic and waiting to be checked in @ 7:08am. She said that the stamp said 7:20am. I am thinking to myself - well thats just fine and dandy but we were here on time. I can't help it if the lady that ckd us in decided to take her sweet time to stamp our paper @ 7:20. Not only that but if we were late.... WHY WERE WE EVEN CKD IN AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

So the nurse sees that I am pretty pissed at this point, Troy's starting to act up (he plays this game of wanting something and then when I hand it to him he says no and when I go to put it back he freaks out and says yes and he keeps repeating this) and Em of course is in her own world probably hoping I dont' punch this lady out - which is secretly what i wanted to do. The nurse starts to bring up the schedule for another doc and points out that there are appt's tomorrow or next week. She then starts small talk w/ Em asking her about what grade she is and what the last week of school is going to be like - are there any parties that week. What kind of advice she has for someone in 6th grade, etc. As I am sitting there clinching my teeth she turns around and notices that I am super annoyed at this point. Being that we were 5 mins late and have to reschedule - just give me the damn appt and let me be on my way!!!! So I snap at her tell her that I am pretty pissed because its ok for me to sit and wait HOURS to see a doctor but god forbid I am 5 mins late (which in my opinion we weren't late). She is trying to talk over me at this point and says that they get that all the time. But there is nothing she can do about. She then tries to explain to me that the clinic is really trying to get patients in the rooms at the exact time of their appt.

So at this point I (as politely as I could muster) tell her to book the 11:10am appt for the very next day. She plugs in the info and prints out a form confirming our appt for tomorrow and says she is sorry.

BULLSHIT you are sorry!! I was sooo pissed when I left! So my plan for tomorrow is to arrive @ 10:30am even though our appt isn't till 11:10am and I plan to ck in and go where I am directed and I plan to keep an eye on my watch. The minute it turns 11:10am and we are not waiting in the room for the doc, I plan to get up, find the nurse that assisted us this morning and tell her that its our appt time we would like a room. Depending on her response, I may go back to the counter of the lady that cks us in and demand a new appt time that our appt time is 11:10am and reiterate that I was informed that the clinic policy now is to have patients in their room at their appt time and since I am not in our room....the doctor is LATE!!!! Its too bad that this isn't a civilian doctor because I would even go as far as having a fake invoice charging them a $50 late fee!!

So we will see how tomorrow goes..........

AMERICA - The Story of Us

We recently watched a special on The History Channel entitled "America - The Story of Us". It made me start to think about how this country has evolved into what it is now. I see the headlines in today's news and what our Government/President is doing to "change" this country. I personally don't feel that its for the better and for lack of better words, it scares the shit out of me. It reminds me alot of the events leading up to The Revolutionary War.

When one looks back at the Declaration of Independence, in the very beginning one will read:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Its hard to just sit back and watch our Government destroy the very foundations of this country. But who am I? I am just a simple military housewife who stays at home w/ her 2 and 1/2 kids. Who is going to listen to me? Who is going to take the time to listen to my concerns? Not only that but my husband is active duty Navy and I feel sometimes that I am not allowed to speak up about views that I have on our Government and President. Afterall, he is my husbands boss and he is the Commander and Chief. I say this w/ all due respect but I have a hard time calling him the Commander and Chief when he has only a fews years experience (total) serving in our Government before he became President.

I think this is why the "Tea Party" movement has begun. They remind me of The Patriots. I think there is a new revolution starting in this country and I think that some people have had enough.


Below is the entire Declaration of Independence:

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.