For the mothers......

A sweet friend of mine wrote this poem. It really encouraged me so I asked her if I could share....

I’d rather hear you all trying to speak to me at once,Than to hear absolute silence.

I’d rather find a stuffed doggy “drinking” milky water out of a cereal bowl, Than to never feel that warming in my heart when I see your special stuffed friend.

I’d rather stay up all night comforting your fears, or easing your sicknesses,Than to sleep all night and wake up to an empty house.

I’d rather be distracted from something “important” a million times, Than to get everything on my list done, and look around... seeing that I am alone.

I’d rather clean mud off of your face, arms, out of your ears, and in between your toes, Than to be without you and have spotless clothes and floors.

I’d rather hold on tight when your sticky hand reaches for mine, Than to never have a little hand to hold.

I’d rather you put finger prints all over the window I JUST cleaned,than to never be able to see you watching out the window for Daddy to come home.

I’d rather trip over and stub my toe on your toys in the night, Than to never hear your squeals and laughter as you play.

I’d rather give you every moment of my day, every bit of me, Than to have a life full of my self.

I’d rather hurt when you hurt, Than to never know the blessing of carrying your burdens.

I’d rather bear the criticism of the world, Than to turn away the blessings a mighty Creater designed with His own Hand!

I’d rather lay in bed weary at night, physically and emotionally exhausted from all the things that went “wrong”, Than to never know your big blue eyes and precocious smile.

My precious children, yes, I would rather do all that I am doing to raise you, train you, love you, than to have never known what it feels like to have you crawl into my lap, wrap your arms around my neck and whisper in my ear, “I love you mama.”

My precious ones in Heaven,I’d rather know you were created in my womb, and have to say goodbye long before I ever imagined, Than to have never known you, loved you at all.

You are ALL worth it ALL.

A Woman's Journey Home

HPV vaccine

(this is my 100th post - yay!!!)

I just read this article today. Eleven girls have died after receiving the HPV vaccine. Thousands had experienced adverse effects. Almost half the pregnant women who received it experienced complications, including spontaneous abortion :(
Article

On message boards I read posts from moms who are saying they'll do anything to avoid HPV and cancer for their daughters. Of course we all want that. But vaccinating with a new vaccine, for which we have no idea the side effects OR the efficiency is not the answer. If its given after a girl has HPV it can cause more harm then good - how many girls do you think are lying to their moms when they ask them if they are virgins before taking them to get vaccinated???

The answer is not trusting in this vaccine, its teaching our young daughters to respect their bodies and not have premarital sex (and in the very least, have protected sex). I dont want my daughter to ever have cancer or suffer infertility due to HPV but I also wouldnt risk her life for the *possibility* of preventing it.

Its just not worth it. Our family will be staying FAR away from this vaccine for sure. I hope that many girls arent killed or injured over this. (a vaccine for boys is in the works!)

Chemicals in our Children's bodies

Read this article from CNN:
Test reveal High levels of Chemicals in Childrens bodies

The kids in the article were tested in 2004. So three years later we are hearing about this. Of course its probably not a big surprise to any of you that have read this blog before (or done research on your own of course). And the idea that any amount of toxic chemicals in a developing child's body could NOT be harmful is ridiculous. You may not see the results now, but our kids will see it eventually.

We cant get rid of all the chemicals because we breathe them, sleep on them, sit on them, etc. We cant live in a concrete house with concrete furniture and gas masks on. But we can do our best, to step-by-step, make our homes safer for our kids. Is the only hope we have to fight this clear neglect by the big companies and our government in caring for our children and our environment.

MSG

MSG = monosodium glutamate. Its a flavor enhancer derived from seaweed, and although it comes from nature (technically), its NOT good for you. It is toxic - especially for children :( Many people have severe reactions such as asthma, headaches, behavioral problems, etc.

If you've read my blog before than you will not be shocked to read that the FDA does a HORRIBLE job regulating the labeling of products containing MSG. Many, many, many foods contain it and they are not required to label it. (and its added to shampoos, conditioners, cosmetics live vaccines according to article 3 below and even formula!!!)

If a product says "No MSG added" its kind of like saying "Zero Trans Fat per serving". It just means they didnt ADD any MSG, not that the product is MSG-Free. Its a loophole - a big one.

Check the labels on your food - especially the processed stuff.

If the food has any of these ingredients then it DOES contain MSG
Monosodium Glutamate
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
Hydrolyzed Protein
Hydrolyzed Plant Protein
Plant Protein Extract
Sodium Caseinate
Calcium Caseinate
Yeast Extract
Textured Protein
Autolyzed Yeast
Hydrolyzed Oat Flour

If the ingredient list uses these terms it *often* contains MSG
Malt extract
Bouillon
Broth
Stock
Flavoring
Natural Flavoring
Natural Beef or Chicken Flavoring
Rice Syrup or Brown Rice Syrup
Seasoning
Spices
Carrageenan
Enzymes
Soy Protein Concentrate
Soy Protein Isolate
Soy sauce or extract
Whey Protein Concentrate
Pectin
Spice
Gums
Dough conditioners
Yeast nutrients
Milk powder
Dry milk solids
Annatto
Citric Acid (from corn)
*Modified Corn Starch
anything Ultra-pastuerized
Wheat, rice or oat protein

MSG is "natural" but it is not healthy to eat (and most of the foods its added to arent healthy anyways!). So read labels and avoid it as much as you can :)

Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4 (detailed list again)
Article 5 - Mercola

MILK

someone in Africa read my blog today - how cool is THAT?!?!? I love the internet :) Hello out there to everyone reading, wherever you are :)

Milk. Well Ive always personally thought it was nasty - I called it cow pee when I was little LOL. So Ive always had a problem with it. I was allergic as a child and still dont handle it well straight, like on cereal, although I eat a lot of (too much) cheese.

Non-organic cow milk is full of hormones, antibiotics and devoid of the natural enzymes God created it with to aid in digestion and improve health. Basically they pump the poor cows with hormones so they make many times more milk than they are designed to. This leads to a lot of infections which leads to antibiotics. Ive even read that there is a lot of pus in the milk - gross!!!!!! Check out the site if you really want to know this stuff. warning: its sad :( MilkSucks.com

Its seriously worth it to buy organic although read my friend Green Republican's post about that - its actually best to buy local if you can.

Raw Milk is another option. People are scared to death of it and I admit I was too but Im coming around (I still pray a lot when I give it to my kids!). Basically they dont heat up the milk and pasteurize it. This means they dont kill the good bacteria that comes along with the bad and those handy enzymes are still there - which means many people allergic to mik can handle raw milk just fine (my son for example). The people we buy raw milk from are local and have a Grade A Raw Milk liscence. If you are fortunate to live in a state like Ca then you may find it in a store but some states, like TX, it is illegal. (dont even get me started!!!!) Check out RealMilk.com

Note: Its safest to give your kids raw milk if they eat a healthy diet and have a strong immune system. Its possible there is bad bacteria and if they cant handle it they can get sick (As you can from many foods of course!) Although I read somewhere once that if you dropped a Tsp of E.coli into pastuerized milk it would live but if you dropped it into Raw Milk the good bacteria would kill it right away. Pretty cool :)

Most of the time my allergic-to-dairy son drinks almond milk (we dont drink a lot of milk though). I usually buy him the unsweetened vanilla almond milk from the store. But I came across this cool YouTube video of how to make it yourself and Im definitely going to try it! (you need a milk bag) Im hoping my little one will like the homemade stuff because she doesnt like the commercial stuff.

Its interesting to me that no other mammal drinks milk after its weaned. I believe that we are not just "animals", we are made in God's image, however its an interesting thought. I truly dont believe babies "need" milk after they wean, its really a cultural thing (and a result of MILLIONS of dollars of marketing) that makes us think we do. I know I eat way too much dairy and Id like to cut it out completely ...I just LOVE cheese LOL (and no I dont buy raw or even organic cheese, cant afford it!) But Im going to work on it! :)

Great Article "Milk:It Does a Body Good?"

Is Raw Milk Safe for Babies?

Cod Liver Oil

Cod liver oil is an excellent source of Vitamin A, Vitamin D, essential fatty acids EPA and DHA and Omega 3 oils. These are essential to proper function of the brain and nervous system.

check out this article from WestonAPrice.org - there are some really impressive claims about how cod liver oil helps with arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure, etc.

I bought some originally for C since he has some speech delays and many speech therapists prescribe cod liver oil to add the brain. I just went to the health food store and picked up the common brand Nordic Naturals.

BUT. Turns out this is kind of like buying a "diamond ring" from Target LOL. The nutrients in NN arent even comparable to a real, quality, cod live oil. NN gets their oil from sardines and anchovies - vs. um, COD (go figure). The brands Ill list below get theirs from deep-sea Noregian cod. NN uses Vitamin E derived from SOY (I was really not happy to find this out) wherease a quality brand will use natural preservative like rosemary oil (also an antioxidant).

So. I am going to buy some more soon and really the good stuff is not that much more expensive. Generally adults take 1/2 tsp (its good for us too!) and children take 1/4 tsp so its lasts for quite awile.

Dr. Ron's Blue Ice Cod Liver Oil
(in cinammon, orange and mint)
$23.95 for 8 oz

Quantam Cod Liver Oil $15 for 8 oz

Weston Price recommended taking your Cod Liver Oil with a butter oil blend form pastured cows. Dr. Ron's site offers that choice as well. For a family of 4 it will last 45 days so thats $1 a day.

Ill write more later specifically on Vit D but from what Ive been reading, it is VERY important and MOST of us are not getting enough.

.

Genetically Modified Food

Ferbit over at the Green Republican lent me Dr. Mercolas book, Take Control of your Health. There is a lot of interesting information in the book but the chapter on Genetically Modified food really got to me. I am far from being able to explain it all to you but let me just say it is DISTURBING.


45% of corn in the US and 80% of soy is GM. Some of you know how I feel about soy already, so my vote is for not eating it at all anyways. But if you buy organic corn (costco sells a big bag of organic sweet corn that is super yummy and cheap!) then you know you are not eating something GM.

Id heard "genetically modified" but I never really knew how scary it is getting. They arent just trying to breed bigger, prettier foods. They have actually created food that is resistant to antibiotics and some that has its own pesticide INSIDE its DNA ...... um, thats totally freaky. And they are doing it to animals too - like breeding super pigs that have human growth hormones.

I dont know about you, but my instinct tells me that tweaking things at the DNA level "just aint right". We cant avoid GM foods 100% but no more non-organic corn products are coming into this house anymore! (corn chips are something the boys can have because they dont have soy. organic chips are so much more expensive but its ok, they dont need them anyways and neither do I!)

Avoiding processed foods is a great place to start. Anything with HFCS is guaranteed to have GM corn. Its estimated over 75% of processed foods contain GM food. Just another reason to eat real food!

Article from The Center for Food Safety

Dishwashing Detergent - 2

Ok. So I wanted to know exactly which toxic chemicals are in standard dishwashing detergent. I did some searching and didnt find too much but.......

Sodium Lauryl Sulfite (SLS)
DEA
Chlorine Bleach (sodium hypochlorite)
DMDM hydaritoin
Triciosan
Fragrance
(source)

Next time you are at the grocery store check out the main brands. The Palmolive I have is 3.3% phosphorus. Avoid tablets or packs which will be higher, like 8 or 9%. So if you cant find or cant afford a non-toxic option, at least you can choose something healther from the standard detergent.

I have three bottles left (2 from Costco, 1 Palmolive). But I am still going to try and find something better. Ill report back if I find something that works in our hard water!

Dishwashing Soap

I want a healthier dishwashing detergent. We have super hard water here so the Seventh Generation stuff didnt cut it at all in my washer.

The "green" issue is with phosphorus. It is horrible for the environment As far as our health, common sense tells us that smelly whatever-it-is-made-of cant be good for us to eat off of.

Like with other household products, the manufactuers dont have to be too specific on the labels about what exactly is in the detergent. I personally get so creeped out if I think of those chemicals all over our dishes. I wash a lot by hand (with seventh generations handwashing dish soap which works well) but Im not ready to give up the dishwasher.

SO. Anyone know of a good, phosphorus-free dishwashing detergent that actually works???

*In 2006 Washington passed a bill prohibiting detergent with more than 0.5% phosphorus. Most detergents are at least 3-4% and can be as high as 9% - the same level as fertilizers such as Miracle Grow!!!!!!!

ick. there has to be a better choice! HERE is a chart listing the phosphorus levels in different detergents and it offers many phosphorus-free choices. I am definitely going to try some of these out - Ill let you know!

Meat

We are now getting our meat from a local ranch, Paidom Meats.

Many places that claim to sell "grass-fed" beef, actually finish the cows on corn to fatten them up and make more money. This decreases the nutritional value and of course introduces corn - the #1 genetically modified food (more on that later) and can be a problem for those with allergies.

Paidom cows ONLY eat grass - birth to slaughterhouse. The freely roam the pastures like cows should. Their chickens are pastured and eat lots of yummy bugs which gives them tremendous nutrition. They are fed a healthy diet which inclues NO soy (this was important to us).

The meat is more expensive than what you'd get at Walmart - but the reasons are obvious. So we eat less of it, spread it out thinner, mix it with some organic brown rice, etc. But we'd never go back. I buy the cheaper cuts - ground beef, chuck steaks, pork chops, etc. Its all super delicious. The whole chickens are expensive but fabulous and we make them last for two meals.

He comes through every 2 months so we are learning to work this into our budget. Ive also purchased their raw milk and its very good!

I highly recommend them. :)