MamaGrizzly

There is a good reason that formula manufacturers are putting DHA into formula. The more we find out about docosahexaenoic acid, or commonly known to us as DHA, the more we realize it is good for us. It naturally occurs in fish and mothers breastmilk.

MSN has an article about the benefits of fish and DHA. In the article they talk about how they treated Randal McCloy. He was the 27-year-old coal miner who was buried for 41 hours in a coal mine but survived. Here’s an excerpt from the article.

While McCloy was being given oxygen infusions in a hyperbaric chamber, Dr. Bailes was struck by inspiration: He ordered a daily dose of 15,000 milligrams (mg) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) for the miner. In layman’s terms?

“Fish oil,” says Dr. Bailes.

Several weeks passed. Then, unexpectedly, McCloy emerged from his coma. This in itself was amazing, but he wasn’t done. In the weeks that followed, he stunned even the most optimistic experts by recovering his memory and gradually regaining his ability to walk, talk, and see, a turnaround that many in the medical field called miraculous.

Although Dr. Bailes believes the hyperbaric chamber may have worked some magic on the myelin, he thinks much of the credit belongs elsewhere. “The omega-3s helped rebuild the damaged gray and white matter of his brain,” says Dr. Bailes, who now takes his own medicine, swallowing a fish-oil supplement each morning. On his orders, McCloy, still recuperating at home, continues to take fish oil daily. “I would say he should be on it for a lifetime,” says Dr. Bailes. “But then, I think everybody should.”

Our pediatrician is a big fan of breastfeeding for a number of reasons but he always talks about how much the brain grows in the first 2 years of life and how incredibly important the omega-3s are. And, it’s always better to get ANY vitamin naturally as it occurs - in this case, as it occurs in breastmilk.

We try to eat fish in our family and we also take omega-3 supplements. This article just reinforces our belief that omega-3’s are incredibly important. Looking for an omega-3 supplement? Here is some advice from the article:

Dosage

Ignore the total milligrams (mg) of fish oil, and focus instead on the combined eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). You want a supplement that contains at least 500 mg per dose or serving. If you’re on blood thinners, talk to your doctor about the best dosage.

Form

Your choice is basically capsules or a liquid. They’re equally effective at delivering omega-3s to your bloodstream, so go with the form you think you’ll take on a daily basis.

I’m always one to try and learn something new and find homeopathic remedies.  I have another eye infection - I think that’s what it is.  I’m going to the eye doctor later today.  It’s like pink eye and it’s in an eye that I hurt pretty badly about 5 years ago.  I was hurt so badly that the emergency room thought I was going to have to have surgery on my eye but fortunately I did not need it.

Anyway, so I was talking to a lady that runs a coffee shop and she recommended colloidal silver.  She suggested that I dilute it with water just a little bit and put a few drops in my eye.   She also said that it used to be used as an antibiotic in the old days but that it got to be too expensive to produce the colloidal silver.  I am not a fan of antibiotics.  We need them and I am very thankful that we have them - but I think that they are needlessly prescribed.  It’s the “solution” to everything when you visit the doctors office.

I’m going to visit my eye doctor and then do a little more research.  I’ll ask him about the colloidal silver but he may not have ever heard of it.   My pediatrician had never heard of Gentian Violet when my daughter had thrush but it was the ONLY thing that cleared that up!

Anyone have experience with colloidal silver?

Time Magazine just did a piece on the Five Websites to Avoid.  So, I’ll sum up the websites and their reasonings:

1.  eHarmony.com - Since I’m happily married, you can imagine that this is not a site I have ever visited.  But, what I’ve heard about the site is that they have a scientific way of matching up couples.  Interesting…. Here’s what Time Magazine says:

Our main beef with this online dating site is its power to cause utter despair. eHarmony claims its more “scientific” approach to matchmaking differentiates it from competitors — its users complete extensive personality questionnaires, in order to connect them to others based on compatibility.

Can you imagine if you filled out the survey and it matched you up with NO ONE?? 

2. Evite.com - I can relate to this because I have received many invitations from evite - I’m not a fan - maybe because I’m just a little old fashioned?  I still like to receive an invitation via snail mail.  Time Magazine actually likes evite.com saying:

We’re only mad at Evite because we need it so much, and we know it could be so much better. The site, in short, is crying out for an overhaul. With more and more sites emphasizing flexibility and user control over content, Evite’s fill-in-the-blanks approach feels clumsy and dated.

3.  Meez.com - OK - I’ve never heard of this site so I quickly visited the website and it had 3 steps:  1.  Create a digital persona, 2.  Animate with one click and 3.  Export to web profiles, blogs and more.  Interesting!  I’ve participated in something like this but it created a very small graphic of “me” that I could then use on a bulletin board I participate in.  I have a feeling Meez.com is more for kids?   Here is what Time Magazine had to say about Meez.com:

We understand that digital signatures have a practical use, particularly when they provide the kind of info you’d see on a business card. And we don’t doubt that, for some people, a U2 lyric can express how they feel better than they could. But the 3-D animations and other digital doodads created with the help of Meez and other sites of its ilk — Blingee, Iconator — are just plain annoying. They also clog the recipient’s inbox with unnecessary bits.

4.  Myspace.com - If you haven’t heard of myspace.com, then you MUST live under a rock!  It’s a popular place and has been for awhile - especially for kids.  But the joke I’ve heard about myspace lately with kids is that they left myspace for another site (not sure where?) because there were too many adults hanging out at myspace!!!  Here is what Time Magazine had to say about Myspace:

It seems the community has become infested with marketers and other opportunists who create false profiles and essentially spam other users, all under the guise of “making friends.” Of course, there have always been loads of MySpace profiles of fictional characters, created to help market a movie or promote some other brand. But it’s the bait-and-switch tactics from these leeches (Want to be my friend? Buy a ring tone! Fill out this survey!) that have taken things to a whole new—and sad—level.

5.  Secondlife.com - Alright - I haven’t heard of this and when I asked my geeky co-workers, they said I must live under a rock!  It looks like an online reality virtual game.  Looks like fun - but I really don’t have time to play games these days.  Here is what Time Magazine had to say about Secondlife.com:

We’re sure that somebody out there is enjoying Second Life, but why? Visually, this vast virtual world can be quite impressive, but it’s notoriously slow to load (it runs on free software you have to download) and difficult to navigate, even with a broadband connection. You interact in the space through an avatar, but creating and personalizing this animated representation of yourself is tedious. Movements feel clunky and there can be a terrible lag.

I took some more pictures of our spider but I haven’t had a chance to post them yet.  Others and Frank Starmer helped us identify the spider as an Argiope aurantia.  He is commonly referred to as a “Golden Orb”.  There are some really good pictures at this site of the spider in various stages.

My 3.5 year old son actually spotted the male spider last night and he is a fraction of the size of the female.  When we got home yesterday, the female had 1 giant beetle in her web and 2 smaller bugs that had been wrapped up and looked like small flies.  She was eating the large beetle when we got home and we got to watch her eat the beetle completely and then throw it off of her web!

And, if you really want to read up more on this very cool spider, Rose Paul found a site on wikipedia as well. 

I just found out about a company called Blurb that allows you to do your own self-publishing!  According to their website, you download their Blurb software and create what it is that you want to publish.  Then you are ready to share it on Blurb and purchase a copy yourself. 

This is really exciting to me because I maintain a private blog of my children and I’m keeping it for 2 reasons:
1.  Keep family and friends updated about the children
2.  Keep a diary that I eventually intend to print out for the children to keep

Blurb gives me a fantastic way to print this out and create it in either a soft cover or hard cover book.  This is the first I’ve heard of a company doing this so I’m anxious to see if there are others out there. 

We have a cool spider living at our house and we’re looking for help in positively identifying it. We’ve actually seen him molt! He’s a very fascinating spider with a pretty interesting web. Below are pictures. Anyone know what he is?

I am SO impressed by not only the quality of toys, but also of puzzles that Melissa and Doug have created. Their products are always so rugged and top notch quality.

My 3.5 year old son has the following puzzle completely mastered:

And now, he’s working diligently to do this puzzle - it is a BEAUTIFUL puzzle when put together. It’s 100 pieces and at 3.5, my son will sit with us patiently for over an hour doing this puzzle!

Stop by Amazon and purchase some of these puzzles for your children. They are awesome!

This is a note to all of you bloggers out there in blogland - PLEASE make sure you have a will!  It’s tragic enough that the we lost nine firefighters here in Charleston.  But did you know that they think only one of them had a will?

Generally, law dictates that assets will be split between surviving spouses and children. Half goes to the spouse, and the other half is divided equally among any children, Lee said.

Property, bank accounts and possessions would be distributed through probate. However, Lee said, funds that have a designated beneficiary, such as retirement and insurance plans, wouldn’t be passed out through the courts.

Hayes said there is no telling what a court might ultimately decide. A will leaves less wiggle room when legal arguments crop up, and, unfortunately, the Wills for Heroes Foundation never was brought to Charleston, he said.

“Without a will, nothing is clear,” Hayes said. “You’ve left people with potentially lots to fight over.”

This leaves a mess for those that are already grieving the loss of their loved ones.  Please let this serve as a lesson to the rest of us - make sure that you have a will and that someone knows where to find it!

Photo by Ryan Castle

Have you heard of the Fair Tax? 

Below is a list of convicted criminals and their crime. What do they all have in common?

ALLEN, Verla Jean - False statements to agency of United States
ALTIERE, Nicholas M. - Importation of cocaine
ALTSCHUL, Bernice Ruth - Conspiracy to commit money laundering
ANDERSON, Joe, Jr. - Income tax evasion
ANDERSON, William Sterling - Conspiracy to defraud a federally insured financial institution, false statements to a federally insured financial institution, wire fraud
AZIZKHANI, Mansour T. - Conspiracy and making false statements in bank loan applications

BABIN, Cleveland Victor, Jr. - Conspiracy to commit offense against the United States by utilizing the U.S. mail in furtherance of a scheme to defraud
BAGLEY, Chris Harmon - Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine
BHATKA, Tansukhlal - Income tax evasion
BORDERS, William Arthur, Jr. - Conspiracy to corruptly solicit and accept money in return for influencing the official acts of a federal district court judge (Alcee L. Hastings), and to defraud the United States in connection with the performance of lawful government functions; corruptly influencing, obstructing, impeding and endeavoring to influence, obstruct and impede the due administration of justice, and aiding and abetting therein; traveling interstate with intent to commit bribery
BRABHAM, George Thomas - Making a false statement or report to a federally insured bank

CHAVEZ, Francisco Larios - Aiding and abetting illegal entry of aliens
COX, Ernest Harley, Jr. - Conspiracy to defraud a federally insured savings and loan, misapplication of bank funds, false statements

DE LABIO, Richard Anthony - Mail fraud, aiding and abetting
DOWNE, Edward Reynolds - Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and tax evasion; securities fraud

FAIN, Robert Clinton - Aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false corporate tax return
FERROUILLET, Alvarez - Interstate transport of stolen property, money laundering, false statements

GORDON, Rubye Lee - Forgery of U.S. Treasury checks

LEWIS, June Louise - Embezzlement by a bank employee
LEWIS, Salim Bonnor - Securities fraud, record keeping violations, margin violations
LODWICK, John Leighton - Income tax evasion
LOPEZ, Hildebrando - Distribution of cocaine

MARTINEZ, Frank Ayala - Conspiracy to supply false documents to the Immigration and Naturalization Service
MARTINEZ, Silvia Leticia Beltran - Conspiracy to supply false documents to the Immigration and Naturalization Service
MORISON, Samuel Loring - Willful transmission of defense information, unauthorized possession and retention of defense information, theft of government property

NAZZARO, Richard Anthony - Perjury and conspiracy to commit mail fraud
NOSENKO, Charlene Ann - Conspiracy to defraud the United States, and influencing or injuring an officer or juror generally

OBERMEIER, Vernon Raymond - Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, distribution of cocaine, and using a communications facility to facilitate distribution of cocaine

POLING, Vinson Stewart, Jr. - Making a false bank entry, and aiding and abetting
PROUSE, Norman Lyle - Operating or directing the operation of a common carrier while under the influence of alcohol
PURSLEY, Danny Martin, Sr. - Aiding and abetting the conduct of an illegal gambling business, and obstruction of state laws to facilitate illegal gambling

REGALADO, Alfredo Luna - Failure to report the transportation of currency in excess of $10,000 into the United States
RICAFORT, Ildefonso Reynes - Submission of false claims to Veterans Administration

SANDS, Gregory Lee - Conspiracy to distribute cocaine
SMITH, Gerald Owen - Armed bank robbery
SPEAKE, Jimmie Lee - Conspiracy to possess and utter counterfeit $20 Federal Reserve notes
STEWART, Charles Bernard - Illegally destroying U.S. Mail
STEWART-ROLLINS, Marlena Francisca - Conspiracy to distribute cocaine

WATSON, Jack Kenneth - Making false statements of material facts to the U.S. Forest Service
WEBB, Donna Lynn - False entry in savings and loan record by employee
WENDT, Robert H. - Conspiracy to effectuate the escape of a federal prisoner
WOOD, Warren Stannard - Conspiracy to defraud the United States by filing a false document with the Securities and Exchange Commission

YASAK, Joseph A. - Knowingly making under oath a false declaration regarding a material fact before a grand jury
YINGLING, William Stanley - Interstate transportation of stolen vehicle
They were ALL pardoned (along with many others) by Bill Clinton in January 2001.

This is from William Federer’s American Minute today:

American Minute for July 4th:The Declaration of Independence was approved JULY 4, 1776. John Hancock signed first, saying “the price on my head has just doubled.” Benjamin Franklin said “We must hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately.”

Of the 56 signers: 17 lost their fortunes, 12 had their homes destroyed, 5 became prisoners of war, 1 had two sons imprisoned on the British starving ship Jersey, 1 had a son killed in battle, 1 had his wife die from harsh prison treatment and 9 signers died during the War.

As Samuel Adams signed the Declaration, he said: “We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come.”

John Adams said: “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”

Adams continued: “I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration…Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory…Posterity will triumph in that day’s transaction, even though we [may regret] it, which I trust in God we shall not.”

 I had the opportunity to see Norma L. McCorvey several months ago - she is “Roe” from the famous abortion case Roe vs. Wade.  She was speaking at a local church that a friend of mine attends and my friend called me at the last minute and so my daughter and I went (she was 8 months at the time).  I wish my daughter had been old enough to understand what was going on.  I don’t know if you know this or not but she is now a Christian and against abortion.  She did, by the way, have the child that she was seeking the abortion for.  From what I gathered from her speech, she really wasn’t interested in an abortion - some attorneys just approached her at the time because they knew she was pro-abortion and asked her if they could sign her up for the lawsuit.  She now dedicates her entire life to fighting against abortion and has a ministry called Crossing Over Ministry (www.crossingoverministry.org )

The poem below is off of her website….

Empty Playgrounds
A poem by Miss Norma McCorvey

I sit across from a playground that I visited this eve with a small child.
I know of such places where children play.
I know that I am the cause of them not being here today.
These playgrounds for “innocent children” now dead because of sins I helped do.
I hope, Lord, that the wonderful playground is well guarded with angels.
Angels who will protect them keep them happy and safe.
Angels who will make them smile and laugh.
So that when that glorious day comes; the children will not hold “the sin” against me.
For every time I see a playground empty, I will know that yours will be full.
The sun is now setting, and my heart hurts, Lord.
For the numbers who from abortion have been torn apart.
I pray you can put them back together and make them whole.
If you like, Lord, use my body to make your precious children whole again.
I ask you to do this not only for them, Lord, but also for the love I have for each of them.
Lord, God, you gave your only Son, and He died and shed His blood for us.
All I did was give my baby away so that “women could tear theirs apart.”
For this I will never be able to look in your face out of shame.

Photo by Melissa Haneline

My daughter is at a very exciting age at 14 months where she has learned how to throw.  It’s a great milestone developmentally as it actually takes fine motor skills to open the fingers and actually let go of an object.  Hand-eye coordination is also actually required to throw and object.  In addition, the child learns all about gravity because they observe that what goes up, must come down.

So, we’re at that stage developmentally with my daughter and we highly encourage it.  It’s incredibly important for her development.  Of course, WITH that ability  to throw comes the desire to throw EVERYTHING - including the food on her tray.  I think that it’s critical for parents to understand exactly what is going on developmentally for children so they know how to deal with not only the good things that they do, but also the “fun” things they do.  I also know that at 14 months, my daughter isn’t capable of understanding “NOT” logic.  So, if I say to her “Do not throw your food” all she hears is “throw food” - which is exactly what I don’t want and can explain why the situation could be extremely exacerbating for many parents.  When my son was at this stage, I read a great article that suggested that when your child starts throwing food, you say, “Food is for eating!  Balls are for throwing!”  That way the child knows that it’s not right to throw food.  I give her one or two warnings and if she doesn’t stop throwing her food, then I take her tray off and feed her.  She absolutely hates being fed - she wants to feed herself which is another fabulous developmental milestone.  Allowing babies to feed themselves as soon as possible helps them with hand eye coordination, colors, textures, smells, etc.  I’ve let both of my children start feeding themselves just as soon as possible and I now have 2 kids that are great eaters that feed themselves - well, one child is a little messier than the other but you understand what I’m saying! 

And for those people that don’t think children are intelligent, my daughter (at 14 months) has already learned that her diapers are thrown into the trash can.  As a matter of fact, I can give her anything and tell her to “Throw it in the trash” and she marches to the trash can, puts the object in it and then we all clap hands…. it’s really quite sweet. 

I guess my point is that it is incredibly important to understand developmentally where your child is and exactly what they are capable of.  It’s really helped me as a parent to understand these milestones because it has taken out a lot of frustration.  For example, would you get mad at your 5 month old because they pick up everything and place it in their mouth?  Of course not!  It’s developmental - we KNOW that that is what babies do to experience their world.  Now, if my 4 year old was doing that, I would have them at the doctors to be evaluated because developmentally, that’s not normal.  I’ll be back in a week with some great book recommendations for understanding different developmental milestones.

I’m sitting here remembering my Camp Happy Days experience from several years ago as I realize that today, a large group of kids, young and old, all affected by cancer in one way or another have gathered together for an entire week of fun and frolicking and hopefully a chance to escape this dreadful disease.  What I like most about Camp Happy Days is that it is not only for children with cancer, but also for their siblings.  And for those children who have lost a sibling to cancer, they can attend too. 

My husband volunteered at Camp Happy Days for a couple of years before I met him.  I took a week off from work the year we were dating to be a Counselor and I can honestly say it greatly affected my life.  At the time, of course, I had no children.  It was so impossible for me to imagine at that time could possibly face the news that their child had a life threatening disease.  Now, with my own children, it’s even more unimaginable.  You really don’t know what unconditional love is until you’ve experienced the miracle of having a child. 

But, more about my camp experience.  The whole day is centered around FUN FUN FUN and the one thing you discover as a counselor is that the more fun YOU are having, the more fun your CAMPERS are having.  It’s pretty simple!  The kids have opportunities to go swimming, climb rock walls, go to dances, sock hops, sleep overs, lots of singing…. it’s just delightful.  One rule as a counselor is that you not bring up the topic of cancer.  If the child brings it up and wants to talk to you, then that’s ok.  But, the goal is to give those chidlren a break for the week and let them feel as “normal” as they possibly can.  Everyday, I witnessed something with the children that would make me have to find a quiet corner just to cry.  But, I’ll never ever forget my first night at camp.  A little girl in my room name Alana (she was 5) had a little sister who was 3 going through chemo.  I met her sister and her parents before camp and her little sister had lost all of her hair.  Well, the first night of camp, we (all the counselors in the room) were tucking the little girls into their beds.  It’s not a Christian camp so we don’t force children to pray but we DO go around the room, tuck them in and ask them if they say prayers at night before bed.  If they do, then we pray with them.  Well, thankfully, Alana was the last girl I had to tuck in.  I got to her and asked her if she said prayers at bedtime.  She said, “Yes!  Would you please say a very special prayer for my baby sister with cancer?”  How do you respond?  My eyes welled up with tears and it’s only by the grace of God that I got through that prayer and then I tucked her in and looked at one of the other counselors and politely excused myself from the room - she understood.  It wasn’t her first year at camp.  I had a long and hard cry after that. 

Since my time at camp, I know that one of the young girls in our group has since died - I know that Jamie is in a much better place.  She was a sweet young girl affected by brain cancer and she had had so many operations to remove the cancer from her brain that she had trouble with memory and motor skills.  The newspaper here did a big article about her and I’ve seen her picture on advertisements for Ascend Foundation here in Charleston.  I hope that her brother has a chance to go to Camp Happy Days every year and release a balloon in her memory.

If you can volunteer with Happy Days and Special Times, they have many other events throughout the year to help the families and to raise money.  They also always need volunteers for Camp Happy Days.  It’s a wonderful opportunity to do something special for someone.