Tid Bits of Uselessness

I am sick! Although it is obviously just a normal cold, I'm still trying to be extra careful to not spread it to the kids with all this press about the Swine Flu. Which is virtually impossible, but I'm still trying. I had a stomach flu over the weekend... don't know if the two are related, but now I've come down with a regular ol' cold. Austin has a runny nose, but Jake is symptom-free. (Amazing!) Anyways, I've been using hand sanitizer and hand-washing like you wouldn't believe, being that I blow my nose every few minutes! And during the few in-between, I'm usually doing something else requiring hand washing, such as diapering, wiping toddlers noses, cleaning, or preparing food... this is more handwashing than I do at work!

Currently, the kids are enjoying wreaking havoc in a usually off-limits area... the kitchen. I've gated them in instead of gating them out! There are smashed chips & goldfish scattered on the floor, along with many pots & pans, wooden spoons, and misc papers from drawers. I can't believe I'm not stopping this nonsense. But it's a good little "quarantine" method. Feel free to take notes on my excellent mothering skills!

And, honestly, I don't care about the mess-- I'm actually happy!! (Don't tell them that!) This is the longest stretch of time that they've ever played together without having any tiffs or getting bored... maybe I should do it more often! And I can sit here & be miserable with my kleenex & chamomile and, ummm, have fun (window) shopping online.

Speaking of which...

Look at these darling bags! This company (Fleurville) makes products out of earth-friendly materials... all kinds of bags & totes, for example their diaper bags are made from recycled bottles! (Did you know that it takes 1,000 years for a plastic bottle to biodegrade!?!? I don't know how accurate that is... but crazy anyways. Maybe it's true, being it takes 500 years for a single disposable diaper!) Anyways, here are my 3 favorite (small) diaperbags... it's too bad that small doesn't really fit my 2-to-3-in-diapers life!

The Escape Pod:

The MicroPod:

The Re-Run Messenger Diaper Bag

SO CUTE!!!

Well, I just thought I'd just share! Have a great day & stay well!

G Diapers

G Diapers ... have you tried them? What do you think?

Today was my first day, and... well I love them... but personally, I think "real" cloth diapers are easier, and way cheaper! But, they are easy to put on, comfy (I think), and totally effective. I was impressed that they got soaked, but never leaked.

I was a little shocked to see that gel-like material in the liner (when saturated), though. It doesn't seem 'natural' and I've always wondered what it is and how healthy it is to have against the skin... I just read that it's called Polyacrylate gel... I think I'll look into it a little more.

The thing I like most about these diapers, though, is that they appeal to people who are turned-off by the idea of cloth diapering. They have become quite "trendy", as has "going green", and I don't think that they have the negative stigma that "cloth diapering" seems to have with some people. But they're earth-friendly! Check out this video of these vs. disposables breaking down.

I have two friends who told me cloth is too "hard" or "messy", both who use (or plan on using) these. Cloth is *way* less labor intensive in my opinion, (unless you use pockets.) I just think I'm a cloth diaperer at heart. But these are nice; good for outings and vacations. And despite the extra steps, they are a bit "cleaner" when you have poopy messes. A bit. I'm still new at them, though, so I'll keep you posted- maybe when I get the routine down it'll even the score a bit!

BTW, I love the swizzle stick! (And aren't they cute!?!) Oh, and this is HUGE for me... they're NOT BULKY!! That is my biggest bonus, because I like to dress my boys in jeans and shorts and, well, cloth-butts just don't fit! But gdiaper butts do. So I think I'll add them to the rotation, but my newborn will mostly be in cloth because it'll be way too much of a pain with that breastfed-poop! Cloth is SO easy with newborns!!

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! :)

Home Birthing = Child Abuse ???

ETA: LINKS HAVE BEEN FIXED

I have a post that I never finished or proof-read. It's done a whole lot of good in my drafts folder all this time! So I'm not sure what the most recent developments in this issue are, but I figured I might as well just post it AS IS in case anybody is interested. (Far better than not posting it at all!) Okay, here's the MONTH OLD post!

Written 6/25/08: I just got an email from my hypnobabies birth educator yesterday. I'm just going to copy/paste it here. (Because my children only sleep for so long, because she knows more about it than I, and because I have a to-do list that's about a zillion miles long so maybe I'll check something off in the saved time instead of trying to paraphrase what she wrote...)


For the record, here is my opinion on the matter: BIRTH IS NATURAL. It's not a medical procedure. It's not an intervention. Our doctors don't 'deliver' our babies, we birth them (with or without a doctor present). So anyways, even though I chose to give birth at a hospital (for my own reasons), and I LOVE my doctor, I do not support any legislation or movements that will take away our right to choose a home birth or birthing center. Absolutely not!

Here is a link to CABO (Community Alliance for Birth Options.)

Here's a copy of the email she sent. I haven't read the news story that it references, but I did make sure that the link was 'legit'. Hope you find this interesting:


The AMA is actually trying to instigate legislation that would make birthing at home or in birth centers outside of hospitals (parent's choices in childbirth) illegal...tantamount to child abuse. Have an opinion?

The AMA has accepted a resolution to develop model legislation that will name hospitals as the safest place to have a baby (i.e. tantamount to child abuse if a couple chooses to give birth elsewhere...in birth centers, or homes).

Please go to THIS Huffington Post link (address posted below) and click on the article called "Docs to Women", which is an article about ACOG's decision to push for legislation making birthing outside of a hospital a potentially prosecutable offense; this in response to the public's attention paid to Rikki Lake's movie, "The Business of Birth", and recent press coverage of celebrities giving birth outside of hospitals.

Please click or "BUZZ" (vote to put this article on the front page of YAHOO) by hitting the 'buzz' button) on the article, and/or post comments in order to keep up the media attention on ACOG's resolution.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ricki-lake-jennifer-block-and-abby-epstein/docs-to-women-pay-no-atte_b_107845.html

Please pass this on to everyone you know who supports parents' rights to decide what's best for their families!
Carole
Yours in gentle, natural birthings...
494 sweet babies and counting (at least half of those in couples' homes or birth centers)

Immersion

We've been majorly busy lately. Thank you for the sweet comments, emails, phonecalls, and prayers. It has really meant a lot to me/us. We're doing great-- back into the swing of things. I have been so busy, in fact, that my house looks like a tornado hit. Which is why I'm just going to post a few pictures (again) so that I can do a little cleaning before bed. These are too much fun to not share! :)



The boys in the pool with Grandma & Grandpa today. (That's cousin R on the left.) It was Austin's first time holding his breath *while* going under water. (We started teaching the kids to hold their breath at ~3-4 months, and practice during bathtime while pouring water... but the first immersion is always a bit sketchy. Something about a mom dunking her baby under water just goes against the mama instinct!) Anyways, Austin did great. So did Jake, but he was a bit out of practice since last summer's swim lessons so he didn't love the immersion part. He'll get used to it again hopefully this summer.

And just a few pictures from yesterday's trip to the fair.

Jake & I snuggling next to a pig




Austin with a cow-- and a nasty piece of hay in his hand (promptly removed and hands sanitized...) Yes, I was the freak with the hand sanitzer and baby wipes... the one who mentioned facts about e.coli and petting zoos more than once in justification... I promise you I do love animals. I did raise 2 pigs, 2 sheep, along with numerous rabbits, chickens, doves & pigeons. And, of course, the regular pets- the cats, dogs, fish, parakeets & turtles. BUT-- now that it's my babies little hands (and mouths), I wasn't so "hands-on" and close with the animals.

To be honest, all I could think about was poop and microscopic organisms! And more poop! Poop on the hay, poop in the dirt, poop on the cages, poop on the animals... seriously! And today I took the kids out in the stroller, and guess what was in the tire tread... poop! I can't escape it!



But I was peer-pressured to let Jake sit on a pig (which, as you can tell, he loved about as much as I did) and Austin to sit in the nasty cow hay. Don't worry. I anihilated those microscopic organisms immediately after the photo op, and before any hands went anywhere near any mouths too! Maybe I'll lighten up a bit with #3. Or when they're a little older. I can't deprive them of all that fun forever, but for now I'm going to indulge my neurotic little microorganism-fixated mind by providing my children with limited germ exposure and over-protection in the form of frequent hand washing &/or sanitizing events (all-natural, alcohol-free, of course). LOL

I promise I'm not a priss! I'm just a momma now, and I was even shocked by my own reaction to the animals & their germs! (I didn't touch one animal, not one!) Don't hate me!!! I LOVE animals!!! And farms!

We were talking today about how we might be too inundated with theories.

The sentiment was that maybe it was better when plastics couldn't kill you, vaccines were a no-brainer, wine had nothing to do with heart health and animals were for hugging (not transmitting deadly diseases!) That maybe what we don't know really can't hurt us. We did all turn out fine (I think.)

But I don't completely buy that theory either. I'm still drinking it all in, all this information. (Though I do think animals are for hugging. Well, maybe by an older child *and* after all the poop has been hosed off of them.)

Dropps Laundry Detergent

I'm not writing this so I'll have an extra entry in the giveaway (though it's a cool bonus!) I'm really excited about it. I've heard such great things about this laundry detergent (Dropps), and the contest is to win a years supply. (I currently use Charlie's Soap, and *love* it! This detergent is also earth-friendly, enzyme free, etc...) So I definitely entered and wanted to share the opportunity with all of yous!!! {{ Head over HERE to enter! }}

I found it!
Remember when I mentioned the chemicals that compose the "gel" in disposable diapers that make them SUPER-absorbant? I had been concerned and wondering what that was for years!! I found it! It's just obvious that it's chemicals- nothing like that occurs naturally that I know of! So here's the info.

I don't think I'm over-the-top in any of my lifestyle choices (organics, eliminating chemicals, etc)... I think I'm being prudent and actually getting back to the way things should be, and used to be. And I'm not 100% successful at any of these feats, but I try! The most common sentiment I encounter is that we all consumed/used these products and we're all fine. I'm not negating that, but some products have also evolved as companies try to "improve" their effectiveness... cleansers that work faster with less scrubbing, etc. In this case, the diapers *have* changed. We were all either cloth-diapered or put in disposables that may have been bleached (?) but they didn't have the gel crystals for absorbancy. Those are fairly new. And they sit, soaked, against our babies skin in the most vulnerable of places. Have you ever changed a diaper that was so wet that the get had come out and is all over the baby? I don't like it!!
Sorry for all the "informational" posts lately! I'm just getting my home ready for baby a bit, and having fun doing research- finding more natural cleaning products, etc. I LOVE the Charlie's Soap All-purpose cleaner, we use it for EVERYthing! (Also love the laundry detergent.) Trying different things to get rid of ants. Haven't found anything great yet, any ideas? (I'm using Dr Bronner's Peppermint Soap right now... works for a few days but not much longer.)
Okay, I better get going. I really want to get to church today- even though Jake has been fussy for THREE days!!! I hope he feels better today. We're going to head to the farmers market afterward- he loves going there. (Well, I DO! And he likes looking around and trying to sneak produce into his stroller! lol I can pretend that I'm going for him, but mommy really wants to go!)

Jake Walked!!!
I was working & Kevin had court, so he was with Grandma yesterday and she video taped it for me... so cute!!! I loved getting all the excited calls and text messages throughout my day at work, I was telling *everybody*!!! He took his first steps a few months ago, but this was the first time that he "took off" and walked almost across the room. Woo Hoo! My baby is getting so big!!!!


Jake and his buddies! Above is Jake and his cousin Robby (4-mo) with Kevin's parents. And below is Jake and his friend, Will (8.5-mo)... {son of my friend, Julie}. Jake had so much fun playing with all of Will's cool toys! :) We need to continue socializing with other babies so we can continue to teach him about sharing! He was easy to redirect and 'teach' about sharing, but he still tried to take toys out of Wills hands a few times.

And below is a picture I took today. Jake and Kevin were cracking me up, they were having so much fun & laughing together- so cute! He loves his daddy so much!!!


Here's a little blurb about sugar... a little informational post, so please skip it if it's going to be boring for you! I do a lot of "research" on things- random stuff... since I have a blog and nothing interesting to say most of the time, I thought I'd share it once in a while in case anybody is interested.
So I have a major sweet tooth lately, but try to avoid artificial sweeteners. Sugar isn't great for our bodies, but my feeling is that if I'm going to eat it, I'd rather eat the real stuff as opposed to the chemicals. During my 'refresher' meeting today with the doula, we reviewed all the material from last years full-course. We ran across some information that made an impact on me last time I read it (1st pregnancy), when I stopped eating artificial sweeteners. Here are a few little tidbits from my reading.

Sodas- though I don't drink soda (once in a blue moon), but it's shocking- it has 12-16 tsp of sugar in it!! UGH! And diet sodas are completely OFF LIMITS because they're loaded with artificial sweeteners!

Sugar substitutes
NutraSweet (Aspartame)- converts in the body to formaldehyde & formic acid - both poisons! (a neurotoxin & class A carcinogen) For more info: http://www.icnr.com/nutrasw.html
In pregnancy the effects of aspartame can be passed directly to the fetus even in very small doses. It's one of the 'illegal' foods during pregnancy. 80% of all complaints to the FDA about foods/additives are about aspartame!

NutraSweet/Equal/Spoonful are all toxins, & even present in kids medications, toothpaste, & vitamins. Oooh! Need to check those labels!

Splenda (sucralose) - it does start as a sugar molecule, but they add 3 chlorine molecules to it (see the 5-step chemical process to making splenda here), which causes it to be transformed to a different chemical all-together. There have been 6 human trials, the longest of which lasted only 3 months. I just don't trust it!

Okay, that's my health blurb for the day! P.S. I'm not that healthy! In fact, quite the opposite lately! I avoid the unnatural sugar substitutes, but eat a lot of regular sugar these days! I was sooo good during the 1st pregnancy, but this time I'm almost out of control! Eating some sort of sugar-food almost every day! It's terrible!!! My poor baby is probably bouncing off the walls in there!

P.S. Some info is from www.mercola.com as well

Natural Living~~~
I try so hard!!!
What are those 'crystals' in diapers that make them so unnaturally super-absorbant that a baby can pee in them a zillion times and they'll expand to four times their usual size before even feeling wet or leaking? I always wonder. What chemicals am I putting against my son's skin? (I've tried Seventh Generation diapers, no bleach or crystals... better than the others but not as absorbant!) I try so hard to cloth diaper most of the time, but still use disposables sometimes out of convenience. Anyways, every time I throw a disposable out, I think, "that'll take 500 years to biodegrade"... is it worth it? {{Not to mention that nagging question about the chemicals in them!}} Each child creates 2 tons of diaper landfill, which will remain there for 500 years! What am I contributing to the earth, and who will my actions affect and for how long? Long before I'm gone, and my children too. Anyways, I don't consider myself a super crazy environmentalist, but I try so hard to be ecofriendly and... my driving factor is actually the health of my family. And I do get sad about what we do to the earth!

So we've been trying to eat whole organic foods for a while, not always totally successful, but we do alright! I also try to avoid chemicals in the house/yard, but since my veggie garden died, I've actually let some pesticides & fertilizers creep into the garage shelves.

Here's the point of my post! No matter how hard I try, there is so much out of our control! I promise I'm not neurotic or stressed out about this, but it gets to me when I think of it... and I have nothing against China, but I am not buying anything from there for a LONG time because it seems that all of the (MANY) recalls lately have been from there. Like I said, nothing against the country, but there is something lacking in the inspection process or the safety guidelines. So anyways, besides the millions of childrens toys that were just recalled (from China, due to lead as well)... some of the vinyl bibs that we've been using on Jake for the past 6 months were recalled because they *just* found out that they have LEAD in them! Three times the safe levels! (Lead, can cause neurological damage & death!) I'm not afraid, I know Jake is fine, but it really irks me that I bought them here on the shelves of Babies R Us and they are just now finding this out.

Okay, so I'm getting rid of the bibs... feeding him naked & hosing him off afterward :) lol No big deal. But then yesterday I read that plastic baby bottles have toxic chemicals (bisphenol A: BPA), which are released into the bottles contents. BPA can lead to cancer, impaired immune function, hyperactivity & other problems. If your bottles are heated in any way (microwave, sterilizer, dishwasher), then the plastic degrades quicker, releasing more chemicals into the contents. Lovely! Hard polycarbonate BPA containing plastics are the worst, so we should try to use safer, softer plastics, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or polyamide. Better yet, is glass, or an alltogether BPA-free bottle. So I'm off to Babies R Us to get new bottles/sippy cups. If you are going to do the same, go for either glass or the following brands make BPA-free bottles: Born Free (ALL theirs are BPA-free), Gerber, Sassy, and Medela. Make sure you read the labels, and that they say BPA-free.

P.S. The comment I've gotten from many... we all consumed these chemicals and we're fine. I KNOW! But does that mean I should feed them to my children!?! With cancer and especially autism rates rising to strikingly high numbers... (both with unknown causes)... why not try to live more naturally and healthily?

P.S. I'm not over-protective or controlling or neurotic- I am pretty laid back with Jake, especially when he's out with other people, because I know that things in moderation are good and a little junk food or whatever won't kill him-- but when I can help it, when he's home with me and/or I'm feeding him or changing his diapers or maintaining the home we live in, I am doing so in the most natural, healthy & earth-friendly way that I can. (And I am glad that I am the one doing most of that stuff most of the time!!!) So there's my crazy blog rant #2... hopefully this one was a bit more useful than my last! I am afraid this note will present me as a little high-strung, but oh well. I'm not. (Maybe a little more than usual when I'm pregnant, but not usually!) lol