Starting Babies on Solids

Starting solids is one of the first great milestones in raising a baby. And the build-up for us parents is so intense! I remember my son watching me with huge eyes at about five months old as I ate my food. He started moving his lips up and down as he imitated my chewing pattern. It was one of the cutest things ever! However, in all my research, I learned that babies, although they may be socially ready for food at five months, don't have adequate digestive enzymes to handle solids. I was just reading, coincidentally, that new research is showing that formula-fed babies who get solids before four months have a significant increase in their risk of obesity. There are many parts of the country where parents are still instructed to give babies rice cereal at three months old, but this advice is out-dated. There is also no research that supports the theory that starting solids will help babies sleep through the night (although  my mother swears this worked with my brother, who practically lived at her breast). So I strongly advocate for parents to wait until babies are at least six months old. 

A first great food is avocado. Not rice cereal you ask? NO. Now, I know why pediatricians recommend it. It's low on the allergy scale and it's easily digestible. However, there are a lot of doctors and moms who will tell you that grains are hard on babies digestive systems and can lead to constipation. In our house, we waited to introduce grains until eight months. I wanted to wait until a year, but for daycare meals, it's required by law that he have several servings of grains a day (do not get me started on how it's possible that the government can tell me what to feed my child), so we wanted to get him started on them, in case we had trouble with constipation, which we did. So, back to avocado...even Dr. Sears from The Doctors agrees with me! It has everything you need to survive and it's smooth so babies like the texture (and you don't have to puree it, which, if you are lazy like me, is great!). If you do decide to do rice cereal, I highly recommend using brown rice. All you do is grind it up in the food processor until it's a very fine consistency. Then combine in a saucepan with the appropriate water for the amount of rice you ground up. Cook as you would regular rice and voila! Homemade rice cereal in minutes and at a fraction of the cost. And you can make a big batch and freeze it in ice cube trays. This makes the perfect portion serving for babies 6-9 months old. When you defrost it, warm it up and mix in a little breast milk and it's perfect. 

After avocado, banana is great next food. I was worried about introducing fruit, because I had heard that if you introduce fruit early, your baby will prefer sweet foods. But in my research, I found that babies early taste buds are not fully developed and so everything tastes sweet. So, bananas were the second try in our house. 

It is important with new foods, to introduce one at a time and consistently feed that one food for 3-5 days before trying a new one. I swear, those three days will drag on forever, but it's really the smart thing to do. Okay, a few more things on solid food...I feel strongly about homemade baby food. Not only is it easy and cheap, but I have found, just in my work with little ones, that the families that have made their food, have had an easier time transitioning to chunkier purees and then whole foods. There is something about that perfect store bought puree that is hard to wean babies away from. Now this may not be true of all babies, but it is what I have seen consistently throughout my career. The other important thing I have observed, is that there is a perfect window from 10-14 months (although we started at nine months) to start real pieces of whole foods, like cheese, banana pieces, ground meat, pea halves, and small pieces of bread. Scary as it is, it is really important to let babies be able to practice moving the food around in their mouths. They will figure it out. As babies get closer to 11 months, they can be working on taking bites of bread, pasta, and should be able to grind up soft foods like whole peas and cooked carrots, regardless of how many teeth they have. Also, letting babies start to experiment with using their own utensil can be totally fun to watch. It'll be a play toy at first, but after they've seen you eat with a fork or spoon, they'll want to try to. 

One more thing...sippy cups are not a developmental stage. They are super handy when you are out and about because of the no-spill factor, but starting a straw cup and an open cup at the same time as starting solid foods will make so an easier transition to these developmental steps, compared to if only a sippy cup is introduced. Also, at age one, the transition begins away from bottles to cups for drinking milk. We are trying this one this week, so I'll let you know how it goes...

Here's a couple excellent websites for baby food and more...

www.weelicious.com this website had healthy food ideas for the whole family 

www.wholesomebabyfood.com in addition to early foods for baby, this website also address the appropriate ages to introduce certain foods (i.e. spinach has such a high level of nitrates that babies should be 10 months old before eating).

Vaccines

I apologize ahead of time for the length of this post, but this is such a hot topic and I wanted to try to do it justice (to do it full justice would have required another couple of pages). This topic will bring supporters on both sides to the front lines with their boxing gloves on. My opinion, even before I was pregnant, was that my generation survived with only a few vaccines, why should subsequent generations need more? Now keep in mind that I'm a cynic when it comes to how vaccine and drug companies (and food companies) make their money. If the vaccine industry can scare millions of people into fearing certain deadly diseases, then they will see their stock and profits rise exponentially. And of course nothing scares parents more than the fear that something might lead to their child's death. Needless to say, I was skeptical. Now when I had my son, I had decided to follow Dr. Sears' vaccine schedule and complete the vaccinations recommended, but just spread them out. However, from the moment I met my pediatrician (at the time), I felt somewhat pressured into keeping my son on the standard schedule. I was sleep deprived and a new mom and completely second guessed myself.  So we started on the standard schedule, but at the 6 months appointment, I began to feel very guilty and had done even more reading and made the definitive decision to space out the vaccines. Again, the pediatrician gave me a hard time, but we proceeded. Our next appointment was at 7.5 months and, long story short, the nurses gave my son a duplicate dose of the vaccines he had already received at 6 months, specifically the shot with the polio virus in it. My son, crawling at 5.5 months, couldn't crawl or even put weight through his legs that night and the next day. He only wanted to be held and seemed to be in incredible pain. That was it. After being dismissed by the doctor's office, we switched to a naturopathic pediatrician and decided to only do one vaccine at a time (which is different than one shot at a time, so be careful here).

So that's my personal history with the subject. Now for the research. I'm mostly quoting the articles I've copied below, which are a compilation of other research. What is important to remember is that the greatest brain development occurs between the 3rd trimester and age 2; at that point the brain is 80% complete. It is proven that vaccines get into the CSF that surrounds the brain, so why are we exposing our babies to these chemicals? I want to make it clear that I'm not necessarily anti-vaccine, but I want to put the word out there that it's okay to question the status quo, that it's okay to challenge the current medical system, and that it's okay to trust your instinct as a parent. That said, there is literally so much out there questioning the safety of vaccines that I could never do it justice, so I'll try to highlight a few key points so that you don't have to read the articles if you don't have the time. However, they are very interesting, so I do recommend reading them if you do. For those of you reading without children or with older children, there's a few stats on the HPV vaccine that are also interesting. They are now trying to require boys to get it as well, but as I learned YEARS ago, it is a unnecessary vaccine that again (that cynic in me) makes me believe it's just a ploy for profit.

1.  Your brain has its own specialized immune system, separate from that of the rest of your body. When you are vaccinated, specialized immune cells in your brain, the microglia, become activated. Multiple vaccinations spaced close together over-stimulate the microglia, causing them to release a variety of toxic elements -- cytokines, chemokines, excitotoxins, proteases, complement, free radicals -- that damage brain cells and their synaptic connections.
2. In 1983, before the autism epidemic began, children received 10 vaccinations before attending school and the autism incidence was 1 in 10,000. Today they are receiving 24 vaccines before 1 year and 36 by the time they attend school and the autism rate is now 1 in 150 births.  Medical “experts” have provided no other explanation for this dramatic and sudden rise in autism cases. It has been claimed that it's genetic, but geneticists were quick to respond that genetic disorders do not suddenly increase in such astronomical proportions. It has been claimed that it's because of better diagnosis, despite the fact that the diagnosis is obvious in virtually every case and that the criteria officially accepted for diagnosis has become more restrictive not less.  
3. It has also been demonstrated that methylmercury (from fish) and ethylmercury (in thimerosal) are both powerful immunosuppressants and are associated with a high incidence of autoimmunity.¹¹ In this study, researchers found that thimerosal (ethylmercury) initially caused immune suppression and then strong autoimmunity.
4. A recent study looked at the immune reaction in newborn infants up to the age of one year who had received the HepB vaccine to see if their immune reaction differed from adults getting the same vaccine.²⁷ What they found was that the infant, even after age one year, did react differently. Their antibody levels were substantially higher than adults (3-fold higher) and it remained higher throughout the study. In essence, they found that the babies responded to the vaccine by having an intense Th2 (immune) response that persisted long after it should have disappeared, a completely abnormal response.  
5. The MMR vaccine contains live measles viruses and recent studies have shown that immune suppression after vaccination with this virus suppresses immunity in a profound way that last as long as six months.^36-41 The CDC recommends separating this vaccine from other live virus vaccines to prevent viral overgrowth (Yet, they combine it with two other live viruses-rubella and mumps viruses). They never address the obvious question – wouldn’t this vaccine also make the child more susceptible to other naturally occurring infections such as influenza, measles, chicken pox, etc?  This has been strongly suggested by a number of studies.⁴²  
6. Studies have also shown that vaccines that cover only a few strains of a virus or bacteria that naturally have a great number of strains (some have over a hundred strains), can cause a shift in strain dominance so that the strain not included in the vaccine then becomes the dominant disease causing strain. We see this with the meningiococcal and pneumococcal vaccines.^43-45  (my note: this has also been seen with the flu vaccines)
7. When combined with mercury, which is also an immune suppressing substance, the effect is compounded. Fluoroaluminum, formed in fluoridated drinking water, also interferes with immune function, as do many insecticides and herbicides used around the home.⁴⁶ 
8. It has now become obvious that the vaccine injury compensation program is so fatally flawed and broken it should be repealed – something Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is strongly advocating. During the program’s 22-year history, two out of three individuals applying for federal vaccine injury compensation have been denied. Despite that, the program has still paid out about $1.8 billion in damages. But it didn’t cost the vaccine makers anything.The system is funded by a surcharge on each dose of vaccine sold. The doctors pay the tax initially when they purchase the vaccines, which is then passed right down to the parents of the child. So not only are the vaccine manufacturers shielded from potential lawsuits, they are not even responsible for paying one cent of the claims filed against them -- you are.
9. Dr. Donald Miller, a cardiac surgeon and professor of surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle, came up with this user-friendly vaccination schedule back in 2004, and it is leaps and bounds ahead of the CDC’s “one-size-fits-all” schedule: 1. No vaccinations until your child is two years old 2. No vaccines that contain thimerosal (mercury) 3. No live virus vaccines 4. The following vaccines should be given one at a time (not as a combination vaccine), every six months, beginning at age 2: Pertussis (acellular, not whole cell), Diphtheria, Tetanus, Polio (the Salk vaccine, cultured in human cells). This schedule takes the best interests of the individual into consideration rather than what the government judges best for society.
10. In the case of the HPV vaccine (Gardasil and Cervarix) the choice is clear. It has a high rate of risk and the potential benefits are unproven: In more than 70 percent of cases, HPV clears up on its own within a few weeks or months. In over 90 percent of cases, it's gone within two years, causing no symptoms or disease. Only about 26 percent of girls and women ages 14 to 59 have been exposed to any HPV strain at all; and only 2 percent have been exposed to strains 16 or 18 – the two that Gardasil and Cervarix protect against – meaning this vaccine is completely unnecessary because HPV infection very rarely leads to cancer. Women whose partners wore condoms during vaginal intercourse are 70 percent less likely to become infected with HPV. That's a FAR greater level of protection than you can get from this vaccine!
11. There are still outstanding questions about whether HPV is or is not the direct cause of cervical cancer. The FDA knows there are many other co-factors involved with the development of cervical cancer, and as of 2003 acknowledged that "most infections (by HPV) are short-lived and not associated with cervical cancer." The same news release also states that "with proper screening, cervical cancer is avoidable, and if caught early, curable." And according to the National Vaccine Information Center, the incidents of miscarriage and still birth events from Gardasil supersede the same event from all other vaccinations. 
12. For years, researchers suggested that millions of vials of polio vaccine, contaminated with SV40, infected individuals between 1953 and 1963 and caused human tumors, and by 1999, molecular evidence of SV40 infections were showing up in children born after 1982. Some experts now suggest the virus may have remained in the polio vaccine until as late as 1999. This research was unrecognized by the FDA.
13. Just like Gardasil may well increase your risk of cervical cancer rather than reduce it, the live polio vaccine has also been found to cause polio. And, in rare instances the virus in the vaccine has even been known to mutate into a much deadlier version.  As reported by MSN News in 2009, genetic analysis has proven such mutated viruses have caused at least seven separate outbreaks in Nigeria. 
14. According to the CDC the last case of wild polio in the US—meaning polio caused naturally and not due to the live polio vaccine—occurred in 1979. From 1980 through 1999, there were NO wild polio cases in the US. Instead we had 144 cases of vaccine-associated paralytic polio (VAPP) caused by live oral polio vaccine.
15. Published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in April 2005, that looked at the health outcomes of children who are fully vaccinated, who are partially vaccinated, and who are not vaccinated at all. All the investigators asked the parents to do was to report atopic illness. Atopic illness means allergies, asthma, eczema, hay fever. The investigators were blinded, meaning they didn’t know which category the participants belonged to. When they assessed the data, they found that the largest number of reports by parents of children with atopic illness were in the kids who were fully vaccinated. The second highest reports were in the families who are partially vaccinated. And the lowest number of reports was in the children who were unvaccinated.
16. One issue that is frequently ignored is the potential harm from the synergy of combinations of vaccines, which have never been studied. No one knows whether there’s interaction between the bacteria and the viruses in the vaccines administered as part of the childhood vaccination schedule, or if there is interaction in the trace thimerosal (which is still in some of the multi-vials of certain vaccines), or the large amount of aluminum that is in many of them.

This article is VERY interesting as it quotes a medical doctor who changed his stance on vaccines:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/14/Expert-Pediatrician-Exposes-Vaccine-Myths.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/04/01/the-dangers-of-excessive-childhood-vaccinations.aspx 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/03/17/Case-Not-Yet-Closed-on-Vaccines-and-Autism.aspx
Let me know if you have questions on vaccines that I can research for you...I learn more and more about this subject every time I look into it.

Food Dyes

Ah, the crap they put in our food....I will try to limit my ranting to food dyes alone in this post, and save my opinions on other food additives and processed foods for another day. Europe, as it was with BPA and other chemicals, is leaps ahead of our country. They have recently put regulations on companies to make sure they disclose the use of food dyes and require a statement identifying the risks of consuming dyes. Food dyes are in everything. It's incredible. Another reason to make sure you are reading the labels--always! Food dyes are linked to everything from hyperactivity in children to cancer. After several studies have shown the risks of food dyes, the FDA continues to state that they are safe (another reason why the FDA is a joke, but more on them later). If that's not enough, a scientist in the 1970s realized the connection between behavior, concentration and high consumption of food dyes. These outcomes improved when food containing preservatives and food dyes were removed from their diets. As always, just be a smart consumer and know what goes into your body.

I found this blog interesting, so much so that I'm copying it here for you: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/food-dyes-and-childrens-behavior/. What I found so interesting was this:
Most multinational food companies are already phasing these dyes out of foods in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe, but American versions of the same products continue to get their colors from synthetic dyes. The syrup in a strawberry sundae from a McDonald’s in the U.K. gets its red color from strawberries, but in the U.S., the red color comes from Red 40. Similarly, a Betty Crocker yellow cake mix is colored in Britain with safe natural colorings, but with Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 in the United States.

Read more: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/food-dyes-and-childrens-behavior/#ixzz1F8524ip0


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7965420 this one is a study that shows the correlation. 

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500803_162-4151130-500803.html
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/24/are-you-or-your-family-eating-toxic-food-dyes.aspx

Dryer Sheets

At the request of my mother, I'm addressing dryer sheets. I found out several months ago that dryer sheets are full of chemicals. Like the kind that can cause asthma in children, etc. An alternative is throwing a damp cloth into the dryer when drying your clothes. I have front loaders and have actually found that if I use a lower setting like medium-low with a shorter dry time, such as 40 min, I eliminate almost all static without a dryer sheet. Think of all the money saved! And of course in the summer, I have the most fabulous laundry line so I can dry outside...there is nothing that smells sweeter!

http://safemama.com/2008/08/27/dear-safemama-dryer-sheets-and-vaseline/
http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/172/1/Toxic-dryer-sheets.html

Pregnancy and Chemicals

When I discovered I was pregnant, I became a woman on a mission. I spent countless hours pouring over books and online articles to find out what was safe and what wasn't. Some information is easy to find: don't eat processed lunch meats or unpasteurized cheeses, avoid alcohol. Some information was more controversial and less clear cut: avoid phthlates, parabens, pesticides, BPA. It is only recently that the data has begun to show that it is imperative to avoid these chemicals (and many more!) throughout the nine months you carry your child (and longer if you are nursing). My life changed when I became pregnant. And not in the typical, "holy crap I'm going to be a mom" type of way. But in an "oh my god what I put in/on my body gets into the system of my tiny developing baby." I cleaned out all products ending in -paraben, got rid of all cleaning chemicals, changed our laundry detergent, switched facial and hair products, and now ALWAYS choose organic foods, instead of the 75% rule that I used to abide by. It's not a perfect system, I seem to keep finding out that ingredients that seemed harmless in certain products are actually unsafe, so my journey to a healthy home keeps evolving. But if I can pronounce it and know where it comes from, typically I'm okay with it being in my home; not a hard and fast rule, but it works for the most part. I could go on and on about this topic but I won't. Just know that more and more research is finding that unhealthy habits can start before the baby is born.

Dr. Greene is possibly one of my favorite pediatricians. He's written two fabulous books about raising children "green" and has been on Dr. Oz several times. He is impressive and incredibly smart, but the best part is he has research to back him up.

http://www.drgreene.com/blogs/drgreene
http://www.drgreene.com/blog/2011/02/08/toothpaste-matters
http://www.drgreene.com/ewgreport/cord-blood-part-one

Hand Sanitizers

I am outing myself today....I hate hand sanitizers! I'm probably one of the few who is a mom and an employee in the healthcare industry who feels this way. I am going to go one more step and say that I also hate anti-bacterial soaps. I'm going to make a huge leap (supported by research) and claim that the increased use of these products has led to the increase in drug-resistent MRSA and bacterial infections. Infant thrush, a yeast infection on babies' mouths and mothers' nipples, has recently started to become resistant to antibiotics. MRSA is on the rise and not responding to antibiotics. Recent evidence has shown that ear infections heal the same if not faster without antibiotics.  Additionally, research is indicating that Triclosan, an ingredient in most antibacterial soaps, is actually dangerous to our health. http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm205999.htm, http://www.nrdc.org/media/2010/100408.asp. Getting rid of bacteria is not keeping us healthier.

On a related note, as a mom (and former germaphobe), I cannot understate the importance of being exposed to germs as babies and toddlers. If our children are never exposed to germs, they never have the chance to build up antibodies. Those early runny noses and coughs can actually help them to be healthier when they are older. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070905174501.htm. I feel very strongly that our need to keep everything sanitized and abnormally clean is hurting our children.

Here are a few more good reads on the subject:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/25/myths-about-hand-hygiene.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/01/warning--antibacterial-soap-linked-to-altered-hormones-and-antibiotic-resistance.aspx

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14996673?dopt=Abstract

Vitamin D

Years ago when I converted to seeing a naturopath (ND) over a more traditional doctor, one of the most important pieces of information I gathered in that first appointment was the importance of vitamin D. I remember him telling me that traditional medicine was so far behind in prescribing vitamin and hadn't acknowledged the tons of research done by NDs to show how effective it was in treating a variety of ailments. When he tested my levels (in the middle of the summer, mind you), they were at levels seen in his cancer patients (vitamin D is also a very important component of our immune system). That was enough to scare me! I began taking 5,000 IUs a day. I remember the shock of certain family members who (diagnosed with osteoporosis) couldn't believe I was taking that much and thought I was being reckless with my health. Having complete confidence in my doctor, I asked about this. He said the research was clear and that if you were deficient, it was safe to take up to 10,000 IUs (what is considered deficient is different in natural medicine than traditional). He also commented that one of the reason osteoporosis is so prevalent is because calcium is over-prescribed and vitamin D is under-prescribed. So I have never doubted the importance of vitamin D in my life...until I was pregnant. I received different (anecdotal) reasoning that I should decrease my intake and also that I should increase. I was completely confused and so nervous. I wanted to choose whatever was best for my child. In the end, after consulting my ND (who was concerned about my low levels that were reportedly within normal according to my OB--NDs are much more stringent when it comes to lab results), I decided to remain on my higher dose. Thank goodness, because today I was reading just how important vitamin D is during pregnancy. And recently, pediatricians have begun recommending vitamin D supplementation to newborns and older. There is a theory floating around out there that the reason the Pacific Northwest has such high levels of Multiple sclerosis is because of chronically low vitamin D levels in this area. Anyway, here's our family's choice for this vitamin because it is pure vitamin D, no additives (you'd be surprised--read your labels!) There is a 400 IU that I give to my son and my husband and I take the higher dose.

There were many, many things wrong with me at that first naturopathic appointment, all of which have been resolved, including my low vitamin D levels. I can truly say that I've never felt healthier. I rarely get sick and my son has had only two colds in one year (and he goes to daycare...germs, germs, germs)! Even when he had a recent cold, our naturopathic pediatrician had me increase his daily vitamin D temporarily and he was better within a few days...although you could argue that is the typical duration of the cold, but I swear it helped!

I still get a good chuckle when I hear reports on the news about the importance of vitamin D, which is relatively new to mainstream news (in the 1-2 years), because it was seven years ago that I learned of this amazing vitamin. Incredible how far behind traditional medicine is...here's to your health!!

My Favorite Stain Remover

So I try to keep my house as chemical-free as possible: we only have soy candles, I clean with baking soda and white vinegar, we use cloth diapers...but my one exception is OxyClean. It is the BEST stain remover! It removes old and set in stains and is my own little miracle worker. I have saved many a onesie with this fabulous invention. Get the spray version and stain-remove away! Happy Cleaning!

Fire Retardant Chemicals in our Homes

Here's a link from one of my favorite websites, healthychild.org. The website stemmed from the book Healthy Child, Healthy World, again, one of my favorite books and a must read for all parents.

http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/what_do_you_know_about_toxic_fire_retardants_in_mattresses_and_couches/

This article deals with chemicals in our homes that are unnecessary. While chemical-free furniture is very expensive and out of many of our budgets, it is good to recognize what is our there and to be aware...

Water Fluoridation

I recently began to read about how water fluoridation may be affecting our children. Anything that might affect my child's health becomes a top priority. So I began to dig...turns out fluoride is a neurotoxin that affects our brains (and our babies!) which is why formula feeding parents are encouraged to use fluoride-free water to mix with the formula. Why are those parents encouraged to make this decision, but no other parents? I've been giving my son tap water to drink since he was 6 months old and had no idea! So now I am on a one-woman crusade to make sure other parents and non-parents aren't caught off guard. Please look at the videos on the links. The first video is from the medical community, including dentists and toxicologists, who argue, without a doubt, that fluoridation is unnecessary and harmful. One highlight: we are one of the few countries in the world to fluoridate the water, which is touted by dentist to have reduced dental cavities in our kids, however, the rest of the world (which doesn't fluoridate), saw the same decrease in cavities. The first video has lots of research and stats to back it up and is worth a watch. It is 15 minutes, so make sure you have the time. The second video is 5 minutes from Fox News (sorry to all my liberal friends-but they do cover good stories sometimes :) ) and talks about a recent story affecting our country's fluoridation policy.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/23/fluorides-deadly-secret.aspx

Here is another link for all my evidenced-driven friends that outlines 100 articles arguing against fluoridation. http://fluoridealert.org/caseagainstfluoride.appendices.html

So what to do? I know that Costco's brand of bottled water has no fluoride in it but you do have worry about plastic and Bpa. I have fallen in love with PCC's water at 0.45 a gallon, it's a bargain for my family's health.

Happy Drinking!

Dinner Tonight

 Okay busy moms! 20 minutes...that's how long dinner took tonight...chopped chicken cooking on the stove top while the pasta cooked...added chopped kalmata olives, chopped drained tomatoes (from a Bpa free can of course!), with chopped broccolini (from Costco!) tossed into the pasta water for two minutes, and homemade (pre-made) pesto added at the end. It was all organic and ~$4/plate...we have TONS of leftovers for lunches for the week.

Jackson enjoyed using his fork tonight!

Cranio-Sacral Therapy

I've always known how wonderful CST is and what good it can do for our bodies, but I learned yesterday that it can help infants learn to latch properly!!! Who knew!! Just had to share... If any mom's out there have questions about who to go see, I've got your man!

Slow Cooker Meals

So, slow cooker meals are my favorite! So easy to put together and always taste fabulous! Rachael Ray is offering a week of recipes, here's her first: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/slow-cooker-meal-chicken-and-biscuits/

Enjoy!!

Outraged!

I have many strong opinions about a lot of things, but nothing angers me more than when a parent's right to make a decision they believe to be in the best interest of their child, is stripped. It may seem like a small change in our state's vaccination policy (right now we can choose to exempt our children, but we do not need medical approval), but the implications may potentially be huge. One of the reasons I left our old pediatrician is because I felt judged regarding my decision to slow down the vaccination schedule. No parent should feel that way. I have felt very lucky to live in a state where I can choose the rate at which to vaccinate my son. However, our state government seems to want to tell us how to do it their way. (Political beliefs aside, please read on...)

Most parents have strong feelings on vaccines, but even if you don't, keep yourself informed on your rights.  Please read the information in the article below. Dr. Mercola is a very well-respected "naturally-oriented" doctor and I love his information.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/22/wa-state-vaccine-law-threatens-exemptions-and-violates-privacy.aspx

First Day...Will I have any followers?

Okay, well, I may be doing this only for myself, but I recently have been feeling like I have so much to talk about (and my husband is getting sick of pretending to listen), so I wanted a venue to speak my mind :) Voila! Here's the blog! I never thought I'd venture into the world of blogging, but after years of teasing my friends who have gone before me, I guess it's time. I hope that you get useful information to help your family function at its healthiest,  or at least enjoy looking at the photos I hope to post of the family. If there is info you want to know about, ask! I love researching and asking questions about stuff I don't know about...here's to Healthy Hearts and Healthy Homes!!!