Friday, August 28, 2009

Do you text while driving?

This is a PSA, a very well done PSA. Please watch it then continue reading. Thanks...



The whole thing is pretty gripping. I lost it when the little girl was asking Mommy & Daddy to wake up and then again, when there was a shot of a baby (close to G-Man's age) and the voice over was saying that the baby is unresponsive. Please, if you have young drivers (or even 20-something drivers) in your life, watch this video with them. Please implore them not to text and drive, we are all at risk...sigh, I have to go dry my tears now. THIS is why I pray for safety everytime I am in the car with my baby and why I pray fervently when I know someone else is driving with him.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Has it really been four years?

Four years ago today my sweet hubby and I were married in our backyard. It was the wedding of my dreams, and now I am living in the marriage of my dreams. I am so blessed to have a husband who is my partner, best friend, lover, champion ~ my everything. It's cheesy and sounds so trite, but words truly cannot explain the depth of love I have for K. And since he's become the father of my son, that love which was so deep and unending has grown even stronger. The way K holds and comforts little G-Man, sings to him, reads books to him, snuggles me when I am so tired I cannot find the energy to roll over and kiss him goodnight...oh I am so blessed! Happy fourth anniversary my love, you are my Prince Charming! I love you!!!! XOXOXO!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Avocado Part II


I think it went much better the second time around! My little G-Man actually ate at least 6 small spoons of the fresh mashed (and slightly watered down) avocado this morning. He has been coughing a lot more than normal this afternoon, I am wondering if it's a more dramatic cough for fun or if his throat feels funny and there is a food sensitivity there. I had a brief period of my life where eating an avocado would cause my throat to swell and my lips too. It was funny until it got to be hard to breathe. So, we'll be carefully watching for any other food sensitivity signs.
The dear hubby and I were talking about food sensitivities, how the body reacts by engaging your immune system and things like that. Going by the list of physical symptoms of food sensitivities, and looking at childhood pictures of my hubby he had A LOT of food sensitivity issues. He says that looking back, he completely believes it too. Then, when K was 12 or 13 years old he was diagnosed with type I diabetes. Unlike Type II, type I is an autoimmune disorder. Basically, your body's immune system decides to attack the body and for him, the pancreas (which produces insulin) was attacked and killed. We were speculating about the relation to food sensitivities and how his immune system was already freaking out, then he got the flu and right after that, type I diabetes. The docs have thought for years that it was something related to the flu that caused his immune system to flip out and attack the pancreas. Now we are wondering if the food sensitivities contributed to that. For those reasons we are following a naturopathic doctor recommended hypoallergenic food introduction method. We are optimistic that G-Man will have a healthy relationship with food (soooo important!) and that his body will work optimally, providing him with a long, healthy life!

If you are wondering about food sensitivities, check out the Alcat test.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Avocado is NOT a hit.




My little G-Man tried his first food today. He is not thrilled with it, there was some gagging and spitting, but we did get him to at least try a few spoonfulls of pureed, fresh avocado. We'll try again on Tuesday. One food at a time, for a few days just to be sure there are no food sensitivities. Even gagging my baby is sooo cute!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Yes, I am alive!

Sorry, after I started to recover I started reading the 3rd book in the Twilight series, then I had to finish it and read the fourth and final book in the series. I am like a bulldog that way with books, NOTHING else happens until I get done reading. My days belong to my baby and the evenings with the books. Sigh, now that I am finally done with that series (and OH. MY. GOODNESS. was it great!) I can get on with life!


G-Man turned 7 months old yesterday! I cannot believe how fast this is flying by. I just want to reach out and stop time. I spent the day at work looking at the clock and reliving his birthday each hour. It was wonderful!!! I am thinking we'll start him on his first food tomorrow. Avocado pureed with breast milk. Yum! I picked up two books that will help us along the way with healthful eating: Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron and Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Between those two and the handouts from our Naturopath doctor I think we will do great. Of course, I won't be "following" each book exclusively, but I will be picking out the parts I feel are important and incorporating the information into what K and I have already researched for a healthy start to food for G-Man's growing little body. Speaking of which...here are some pictures I took last week. The last step G-Man had to achieve before starting on food was to be able to sit without assistance. Whaddya think?

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

This should frighten you!

The House of Representatives recently passed a "Food Safety Bill," sounds like a good bill to have, doesn't it? Unfortunately, like many things in government, only the title is pretty. There are some frightening things in this bill. It's expected to go to the Senate soon. I urge you to contact your Senators (click here to find out who they are and how to e-mail them) and I urge you to tell them to vote NO on this ridiculious bill. Please, please contact them today. Take just 5 minutes. Here are some of the insane things they are proposing as law:

CROP REGULATIONHR 2749 would empower FDA to regulate how crops are raised and harvested. It puts the federal government right on the farm, dictating to our farmers.WTO "good farming practices" will include the elimination of organic farming by eliminating manure, mandating GMO animal feed, imposing animal drugs, and ordering applications of petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides. Farmers, thus, will be locked not only into the industrialization of once normal and organic farms but into the forced purchase of industry's products. They will be slaves on the land, doing the work they are ordered to do - against their own best wisdom - and paying out to industry against their will. There will be no way to be frugal, to grow one’s own grain to feed the animals, to raise healthy animals without GMO grains or drugs, to work with nature at all. Grassfed cattle and poultry and hogs will be finished.
My comment - WHOA! That means that the FDA could *REQUIRE* certain pesticides, chemicals, irradiation or anything they want in our food! Doesn't this freak you out?????

GEOGRAPHIC QUARANTINEHR 2749 would give FDA the power to order a quarantine of a geographic area, including "prohibiting or restricting the movement of food or of any vehicle being used or that has been used to transport or hold such food within the geographic area." Under this provision, farmers markets and local food sources could be shut down, even if they are not the source of the contamination. The agency can halt all movement of all food in a geographic area.
My comment - ya, our local farmers markets generally provide the SAFEST food source, but now could potentially be shut down indefinately!

WARRANTLESS SEARCHES*HR 2749 would empower FDA to make warrantless searches of the business records of small farmers and local food producers, without any evidence whatsoever that there has been a violation. Even farmers selling direct to consumers would have to provide the federal government with records on where they buy supplies, how they raise their crops, and a list of customers.
My comment - I thought we lived in the United States of America, WARRENTLESS SEARCHES? This is a huge slide down a slippery slope! NO ONE in America should have the power to perform a warrantless search! This really angers me!

TRACING SYSTEMHR 2749 charges the Secretary of Health and Human Services with establishing a tracing system for food. Each "person who produces, manufactures, processes, packs, transports, or holds such food" would have to "maintain the full pedigree of the origin and previous distribution history of the food," and "establish and maintain a system for tracing the food that is interoperable with the systems established and maintained by other such persons." The bill does not explain how far the traceback will extend or how it will be done for multi-ingredient foods. With all these ambiguities, it's far from clear how much it will cost either the farmers or the taxpayers.
My comment - Again, our local farm stands and Farmers Markets would have to do this too, how insane, costly and ridiculious!

SEVERE PENALTIESHR 2749 creates severe criminal and civil penalties, including prison terms of up to 10 years and/or fines of up to a total of $100,000 for individuals.
My comment - I can already see the FDA making an example of a struggling local farmer with this one and leaving the huge corporations alone. Why? Well, you see the FDA is lobbyable. Yes, that's right. If you are a large corporation like Monsanto (produces GMO foods and pesticides) you can give loads of money and gifts to FDA members while you lobby them to support bills you favor. After the FDA takes money from these big interests do you really think they are going to then turn on them?

REGISTRATION FEEHR 2749 would impose an annual registration fee of $500 on any "facility" that holds, processes, or manufactures food. Although "farms" are exempt, the agency has defined "farm" narrowly. And people making foods such as lacto-fermented vegetables, cheeses, or breads would be required to register and pay the fee, which could drive beginning and small producers out of business during difficult economic times.
My comment - Once again, going after the small local farmers, the larger corporations don't blink at this amount.

Sources:
http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/docs/hr2749_talkingpoints.html
http://www.infowars.com/hr-2749-totalitarian-control-of-the-food-supply/

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I have the flu...

...and it hurts bad! I woke up sunday morning feeling like I had been hit by a fully loaded Mac truck ~ everything hurt! My throat is killing me, my ears hurt, and my temp has been consistently over 103. It only makes it worse that this is one of the busiest weeks we've ever seen and I had to work a full day yesterday. By the time I got home from work it was less painful to spit than to swallow and my temp was 103.5. Ya, this stinks! I am asking you to pray with me that my little G-Man and dear hubby K do not get this! I am glad that I am still exclusively nursing, all of the anitbodies that my body makes in response to this ick are passed directly to Little G. Hopefully that helps keep it away from him. I have to work a half day today too...pray for me that this passes quickly.

I do find the humor on how I blogged last about the flu and here I have it! I kinda do hope it's H1N1, then I will be immune to it and so will my little G! And, I'd rather have the flu than an unproved vaccination with possibly long-term effects. (see Guillian-Barre syndrome below)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillain-Barr%C3%A9_syndrome
"GBS is a rare side-effect of influenza vaccines, with an incidence of about one case per million vaccinations.[9] Other estimates suggest the incidence of GBS among those receiving the vaccine was one case per 105,000 and that the GBS was not directly due to the vaccine but to its being contaminated with a bacterium that triggers GBS.[10]

There were reports of GBS affecting some people who had received swine flu immunizations in the 1976 U.S. outbreak of swine flu. Overall, there were about 500 cases of GBS—25 of which resulted in death from severe pulmonary complications—which, according to Dr. P. Haber, were probably caused by an immunopathological reaction to the 1976 swine flu vaccine. Other influenza vaccines have not been linked to GBS, though caution is advised for certain individuals, particularly those with a history of GBS.[11][12]

Serum sickness can rarely manifest as the Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), one of its most serious complications. The most serious complications of serum sickness are nerve conditions and peripheral neuritis. Serum sickness is of itself a type of delayed allergic response.
GBS is a form of autoimmune disorder with a delayed hypersensitivity reaction, or a rare manifestation of serum sickness, or transient syndrome resembling serum sickness with loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain accompanied by weakness (tired feeling), chills, low grade fever and possible evidence of brain involvement, indicated by lethargy and migraine headaches, although one theory of the cause of migraine is a central nervous system (CNS) disorder, or Bickerstaff's brain stem encephalitis, a regional variant of GBS. Typical pain is occipital or in the back of the head. Alterations of consciousness go with this headache type affecting the brainstem implicated in the maintenance of arousal, but is a worrisome feature of this type of headache called a Bickerstaff migraine. Other features of Bickerstaff migraine go with involvement primarily of the brainstem including clumsiness and gait unsteadiness, e.g. "pulling to the right"."

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

H1N1~ Really people get a grip!

“A world health official said the first vaccines are expected in September and October. The United States expects to begin testing on some volunteers in August, with 160 million doses ready in October.” AP News 7-25-2009

“Following immunization, safety will be measured by assessment of adverse events... for 21 days following the last vaccination; serious adverse events (SAEs) and new-onset chronic medical conditions for 6 months post the final vaccination (Day 180 after second vaccination). http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT00944073

My note about the above paragraphs, yes, they will be monitoring for chronic conditions, but how many millions of people will have already taken this vaccine?!?! Will you? Will you give it to your children without knowing the potential for danger?

"CNN reports that drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on Wednesday announced how the company's antiviral drug Relenza experienced a major sales boost as "governments around the world stockpiled in preparation for a swine flu pandemic ... Glaxo also said that by the end of the year, it expects to have an annual production capacity for Relenza of 190 million treatment courses, more than a threefold increase to its previously announced maximum capacity," CNN writes (7/23).”
My note, convenient, that we are scared so easily. The big pharma companies are completely cashing in!

"Let's not beat around the bush on this issue: The swine flu vaccines now being prepared for mass injection into infants, children, teens and adults have never been tested and won't be tested before the injections begin. In Europe, where flu vaccines are typically tested on hundreds (or thousands) of people before being unleashed on the masses, the European Medicines Agency is allowing companies to skip the testing process entirely.And yet, amazingly, people are lining up to take the vaccine, absent any safety testing whatsoever. When the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. announced a swine flu vaccine trial beginning in early August, it was inundated with phone calls and emails from people desperate to play the role of human guinea pigs. The power of fear to herd sheeple (sheep-like people) into vaccine injections is simply amazing...” Naturalnews.com

My note: Let’s step back and think about this. Testing (albeit limited) will begin in the USA this month. Then by October there will be 160 million doses ready. That means that the vaccine is already in production. Do you really think there is going be a no-pass on this testing? And, obviously, we aren’t even going to know the long term effects of this vaccine if the testing is starting in August and they have announced its availability already. The FDA has already green-lit this vaccine. Doesn’t this scare you? Do you even know how many drugs have been approved by the FDA and later recalled? I do, since 2004 at least 21 drugs and 6 vaccines have been recalled. In 2007, Merck (a pharmaceutical manufacturer) had their infant vaccine pulled from the market (the HiB vaccine) for contamination issues. Read more here: http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/Recalls/ucm053289.htm and so far in 2009 Wyeth had their Prevnar Pneumococcal vaccine pulled and Novartis has has their FluVirin vaccine pulled off the market. (My source for the recalls: http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/Recalls/default.htm)
Are we getting any vaccines this fall? No. What ever will we do to try to maintain our health? Simple, eat whole foods, that means stuff the way God created it, not out of boxes or bags or with chemicals. We’ll be eating fresh and mostly organic fruits and veggies and LOTS of them. We’ll be eating meats that are from free-range, antibiotic and hormone free animals. We’ll be drinking water and herbal teas, not sodas with high fructose corn syrup. We’ll be taking our supplements (vitamins) and getting our vitamin D levels check in our blood so we can be sure we are getting enough vitamin D. It has been proven effective in the reduction of influenza, cancer, heart disease, strokes, autoimmune disorders, rickets…


“Vitamin D malnutrition may also be linked to an increased susceptibility to several chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, tuberculosis, cancer, periodontal disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, seasonal affective disorder [32][33], peripheral artery disease[34], cognitive impairment which includes memory loss and foggy brain,[35] and several autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes (see role in immunomodulation).[8][21] There is an association between low vitamin D levels and Parkinson's disease, but whether Parkinson's causes low vitamin D levels, or whether low vitamin D levels play a role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease has not been established.[36] A resurgence of interest in vitamin D deficiency has led to continued studies on the topic and a focus on educating the consumer on the prevalence and degree of deficiency among the general public.[ A 2006 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, reported evidence of a link between Vitamin D deficiency and the onset of multiple sclerosis; the authors posit that this is due to the immune-response suppression properties of Vitamin D.[58] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D

Check out the resource footnotes for more information on each of these items. And please folks, whatever you decide to do about vaccines, do it INFORMED! Research it yourself; you are your child’s only advocate!

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Another successful camping trip!

Baxter (such a stoic dog!), K, G-Man nursing and me along the shore of Lake Pepin.
K, G-Man, Me and the dog along the trail. Yes, that's 16# 13 oz of baby on front, and about 20# of diaper & camera bag on my back!

Little G and I enjoying the wind in our hair.


We spent the weekend at Frontenac State Park, along the shores of Lake Pepin (you may recall that lake if you read the Laura Ingalls Wilder series). It was a spectacular weekend with great company! We joined K's cousins for a relaxing, social time. There was just enough wind so we had no mosquito issues at all. However, this park is INFESTED with Daddy Long Legs spiders. They were everywhere and creeped me out. Other than that it was spectacular!