Hallelujah!

Jake is sleeping in his toddler bed!!!!!

I'm not getting excited. I'm not going to jump up and down! I'm not I'm not I'm not!!!

But I can't help the excited butterflies in my tummy, which I'm trying so hard to contain!

See, we weren't going to attempt the crib-to-bed transition again until we get back from our trip (since any new sleep habits will most-likely be lost by the time we get back), but alas, both boys are in the midst of "sleep training" just a week before we leave. Brilliant, huh.

This morning in my sleepy-waking-up daze, I noticed that my alarm clock (aka Jake's cry) seemed to sound like it was moving. As I laid there, eyes tightly shut and fighting the early morning as I always do, I felt my heart drop as I suddenly sat up in bed. I said aloud, "It sounds like Jake is moving!" I listened intently again & confirmed that something wasn't right. The cry wasn't coming from the diagonal left, it was indeed coming from the diagonal right! What a start, what a shock, and what an unplanned can of worms he just opened- by discovering how to climb out of his crib!

Or so I thought.

Think.

I don't know. I'll have to tell you tomorrow. And in 2 weeks when we get back from vacation.

But the butterflies I have right now... that would be because I expected a fiasco. I read all day about this transition. (Trying to find ways to avoid what happened last time, trying to find positive methods, gentle methods, tricks, treats, bits & bops, anything!)

But it wasn't a fiasco. No sirree, Bob! (hat tip to my sissy.) I got a sleepy toddler who smiled a quiet smile at me, whispered his prayer (next topic & more happy butterflies), and who stayed in bed and slept when I left the room. WHAT!!??!!?? Are you kidding me!?!?! I am shocked!!! And so pleasantly surprised.

But like I said, I'll tell you tomorrow. The night is young!

The floor is padded. And I'm ready.

Okay, so about the prayer...
3 nights ago he said his first prayer!!! He whispers it, and it's so sweet!

"JeeJuh" (Jesus)
"DehDoo JeeJuh" (Thank you Jesus)
"IIIIIIIIII JeeJuh" (I love you Jesus)
"AhMn" (Amen)

(p.s. that's how he says I love you, just a long & endearing IIIIIIII, but you can see it all over his face & hear it in his voice. He really is a sweet-heart.) The first night he said his prayer, my smile was so big that he said "AhMn" 3 times! Aww!

The last thing I wanted to add to this post is something I just read online that I didn't know. Thought I'd share. It's about organics & purely informational.

We try our best to eat organic fruits & veggies (especially those without hard skins or those known to be more pesticide-laden) and always organic milk & eggs. I've been doing this a while, for as long as I can remember buying food, & don't talk much about it just because I think people should do whatever they want & I don't want anybody to ever think I'm being hoity-toity or anything. I have my own reasons, I am just doing what I think is best for my family & situation.

Which is why I don't bring it up! Even that sentence could sound bad if it's said to someone who doesn't buy organic! A few months ago, a close friend of mine randomly bombarded me & started spewing all these facts about hormone-free milk and organics and feeding cows, etc, trying to prove that organic wasn't 'that' important and (I think) to justify her decision to not buy organic. I didn't bring the topic up. I definitely would never want her (or anyone) to feel a need to justify anything or compare. I love talking about stuff, learning from others, sharing information, whatever. But this was a bombardment! I have reasons, and I had answers to all of her points! But I sorta bit my tongue because I was afraid if I "defended" my reasons, that she would think I was saying that her way was wrong or bad for her child or something. I didn't want to play into the competition she seems to have started between the two of us. Whose way is right? This is just one of the many 'competitions' she's created: whose child does what first, who loses baby weight first, whose house is cleaner, ahh! Why would this cross her mind- why is there a need to compare anything!? It absolutely makes me crazy! Let's just BE. Be friends, hang out, live it together (no matter who weighs what or whose kid is happiest, what does that matter?) Wooh, venting! Sorry!

So back to the organics, I've always felt that mine is an informed decision, an educated decision even. I've read in accredited medical journals and educational material (CEUs: continuing education units), and have weighed the pros & cons (hello, cost!), and I still feel that it's worth it to me. Anyways, I'm absolutely not strict about it. I just get what is available & if we're eating somewhere else (which is not often) I honestly don't even think about it. Never crosses my mind unless we're eating strawberries, eek! (Someone said you might as well drink pesticides if you eat non-0rganic strawberries, and I can't get that image out of my head now! LOL)

But here's my point: my way of sparing costs is that I don't buy organic meat (because that's ridiculously expensive & some thing's gotta give!) I want to! I've thought about it a lot. If I can't be vegetarian, then I want to buy free-range, organic-fed. But meat is so expensive (to me) as it is. Every time I buy meat (without fail), I always hesitate. It's too expensive. Regular stuff, the cheapest stuff. It's hard for me to swallow. So I haven't taken the step to add the "organic" cost on top of the already high cost of meat. But tonight I read this:

"Non-organic meats have far higher concentrations of pesticides than all of the fruits and vegetables. And the highest concentration of pesticides is actually in non-organic butter.
So if you can only buy one organic food item, it should be butter. Next priority would be meats and once those are addressed, you will want to focus on the fruit and vegetable list above."

This was from Dr Mercola's website, and HERE's a link to the article. It's really good because it says which veggies/fruit are highest & lowest in pesticide concentration so you can prioritize which are more worth the 'splurge'.

Kinda puts perspective on my thinking, though. I guess I had it backwards, even though I think I've got such an informed decision! Next trip, butter & meat it is. Maybe I'll sacrifice some ice cream or some other non-essential grocery item to make up for the cost.

Something that freaked me out big-time when I was pregnant with Jake was when a study was done on human milk & there were substantial levels of pesticides in it.

It's the same kind of freak-out I had when I learned about the cancerous tumors that had the African monkey virus in them (on autopsy) in people who had never been anywhere near an African brown monkey. It was from a vaccine (given decades prior), as vaccines are grown in serum & organs of other animals!!! And this particular vaccine was grown in African brown monkey plasma... and now found in tumors... Wrap your mind around that!

(Inoculated with an unknown virus, {how do we know if there are any other unknown viruses, we'll never know, because they're unknown!}, protected from {fill in the blank}, culminated in cancer.) Oh vaccines... I could go on forever. It's the toughest decision I've encountered TO DATE in my whole TWO YEARS of motherhood. I've been reading statistics, case studies, ingredients & processing procedures... let me tell you, no amount of information makes this issue any clearer.

I have rambled SO much in this post that I'm cutting myself off!!! Sorry!!! Just wanted to share that organic info because I had no idea about the butter & meat!

Next post will be shorter & sweeter! :)

This month is BREAST CANCER AWARENESS month! I have so many thoughts and feelings on the subject, but not much time to write! (Jake is watching TV, which I *hate*, so I want to go turn it off!)


FACT: There are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.


Both my grandmas (one living in NY, and one passed) are/were breast cancer survivors. I don't know many people whose lives haven't been touched by breast cancer in some way or another.




FACT: 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer.

I was watching a speaker on Martha Stewart yesterday who said that if detected early, there is a 98% survival rate. AMAZING! We've come so far!!! And the best way for early detection is monthly breast self-exams. We need to do them! One person who spoke at last years Survivor Crop said that she sets a date that she'll remember... for example the first of the month, every month... or if your birthday is on the 28th, then do it on the 28th of every month. (above link is an online BSE tool.) Still, with all our advances in breast cancer awareness, research and treatment, it's still a devastating disease (see below).


FACT: In 2007, about 40,460 women will die from breast cancer in the United States.


I was working on my Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for my RN license renewal, and there were two really good chapters on breast cancer. There were quite a few intriguing points... I want to expand upon them in another post since I don't have time now, but I was surprised to read this in a medical education manual. Many people assume that the chemical-free, organic movement is for fanatics, but it's actually health driven and medically supported! My pediatrician feeds his children all organic and recommends it whenever possible. Anyways, there are links between toxins/chemicals and breast cancer. Pesticides act on our bodies as an estrogen, which speeds the growth of breast cancer. Animals fed grains grown with pesticides harbor all those chemicals in their fat cells, so if you eat animal fat, you are getting all of those pesticides, plus the hormones they give the animals as well. (Which are even more powerful in growing the cancer). Now this is all in my own words after reading this two days ago, so I may not be saying it right, but basically... animal fat contains pesticides and hormones, which is linked to breast cancer. If you eat meat, it is best to eat organic meat (pesticide & hormone free.) I'll post a link to some information in another post... gotta rescue my baby from the TV, he's fussing!

P.S. I'm not doing Survivor Crop this year. If you still want to make a donation to Susan G Koman Foundation, let me know and I can help facilitate it. I decided I'll be term and it would be just my luck that the one day I stay up 24-hours, I'd go into labor the second my head (finally) hit the pillow! I'm sad, but I'll go next year.




Visit The Pink Ribbon!

Breast Cancer Fundraising (Survivor Crop... it's almost time again!!!)

As most of you know, I participate in a yearly Scrapbooking Breast Cancer Charity (with Ever After Scrapbooks and Susan G Koman Breast Cancer Foundation). I am always down-to-the-wire with my fundraising, and consequently, never meeting my lofty goals. Each year I've collected $100, but this year my goal is to raise $100 per month for the next 5 months. ($500 total, but hopefully more!) So I have to be creative.

Just want to put this out there. In the month of June I will be cleaning out our closets & garage and trying to sell stuff. 100% of what I make will go to the charity. I want to ask my friends/family if they have any items that they want to get rid of (donate)... I will pick them up and sell them for you on ebay/craigs list (and if it doesn't sell, then swap meet). I will give you a tax record slip & their tax i.d. so you can claim the deduction. {Anyone whose items total $250 or more will get a printed receipt from Susan G Koman Foundation.} If you live in another state, we can still talk about it and we might be able to work something out.

This cause is very close to my heart and I really want to feel like I'm making a difference this year. P.S. If you want to, I will also most definitely accept monetary donations (paypal to me, or personal check to SGKBCF). I just want to be creative this year because I don't like asking my friends/family for money & I want to raise funds on the largest scale possible for one person. And then those who can't attend the event or give monetary donations can still feel like they are involved and supporting the cause! I think that clutter is something that is pretty universal, we all have to own things that we can get rid of! So there's fundraising month 1! Wish me luck!

Stay tuned for next months creative idea... I already have some brainstorming going on! (I'm thinking poker parties, scrap supply raffles...) If anybody has any ideas, let me know!

OH! AND, if you want to join us, please do! I'll give you all the details. Basically, it's 24-hours long, 10/20-21. You can see my post about last-years event below if you scroll down. (or click on the label: Survivor Crop, and it will retrieve the post for you).

Thank you for anything you can do to help out or ideas you can put forth! :)

~*~**~*~**~**~*~**~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~*~**~ Over $47,000 raised for Breast Cancer!!!

I think I'm finally rested, after yet another amazing event put on by Ever After Scrapbooks Store in collaboration with Susan G Koman Breast Cancer Foundation. 24 hours of scrapbooking fun, with the goal of raising funds for breast cancer research, supporting those affected, and raising awareness. Every year I leave the event feeling pumped... it's just so awe-some what a difference a small group of people can do. (170 participants). I just learned that the most recent statistics say that 47,000 women per year will lose their battle with breast cancer each year. How bazaar is that, that we raised $47,100. Each year I also say I'm going to step up my fundraising. I already have ideas for next year...

P.S. About the event... we had a wonderful group of gals on our "island". Group picture (L-R): Gaby, Annie, Anna, Me, Colleen, Jaime, & Dede. Our island theme was "Survivor Scouts", for which we won third place! I had to include a picture of the footprints that I snuck from Jake while he was sleeping (during one of his visits). It was the perfect finishing touch for my footsie layout!

We had a local expert come speak about a very rare, aggressive type of breast cancer called Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Many people have never heard of this type... if you aren't familar with it, please read on! (Link to webpage at the bottom of this post). One of the biggest differences is that the symptoms and detection are *completely* different from what we all think. There are no lumps with this type of breast cancer, and it can't be detected by mammograms or ultrasound. Check out this website for more information on symptoms, detection & treatment: http://www.IBCResearch.org