BPA? It's Not What The Media Wants You To Think

I'll admit, I'm a news junkie. Baby Harry sleeps in the bouncer while I work and all of the commercials he hears on Fox News during the day, I'm pretty sure he's going to be an attorney for women who've had a bad experience with vaginal mesh or those with Mesothelioma....and then he'll take his earnings to buy gold. I only hope he never has to use a catheter (even if it does lubricate itself in the package).

So when news breaks on something that can effect my kids, of course I research it. While I'm nursing Baby Harry and he has yet to have a bottle, I'll admit, I got a little swept up in the BPA scare. But me being me, I did the research. And guess what...it's not bad for you or your kids.

Shocker, right? After all of the media scare, after tossing bottles and buying new ones, you could have saved quite a chunk of change by doing your own research. And with three (yes, three) in diapers, I'm all about saving money where I can.

Canada, one of the first Nations to ban BPA are now saying there's no real direct link between BPA and health issues. But that's not what the media would have you believe. I suppose on a slow news day they have to run something, but it is important to know the facts as parents.

Do your research, you could save a lot of money (and sleepless nights) by reading the actual reports instead of just believing the reports from the media.

My First Grounding...

It's official. I'm a mean mom. Or so I've been told. Because I just grounded my oldest child for the first time. Why, you ask? Oh, there's a good reason.

When Liam (our 6 year old), gets off of the bus, most days (unless we have Faith Formation), his Grandpa is there to pick him up. If Grandpa isn't there, he knows to walk home (less than 1/2 of a block).

On Monday, I get a panicked call from Grandma. Grandpa had called her and Liam didn't get off of the bus. I called the school, who radioed the bus, and said yes, "William" (which is what he goes by at school cause he's a 'big boy') got off of the bus. Panic.

I immediately ran two houses down to his friend Kaiden's house. Kaiden's sister answered the door and said, "Yeah, William got off of the bus with us. And then he went to play with Kaiden. But Kaiden is here. I don't know where William is."

PANIC.

I turn around to walk home, tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. And then I see him. Sauntering down the sidewalk, kicking a rock, on his way home. I screamed "WILLIAM!" Somehow I managed to hug and spank him at the same time. We went inside, I called Grandma to have her call Grandpa (who was already on his way back to the school) and let him know that Liam was safe. In trouble, but safe. Grandpa came by to give Liam a talk...and then it was back to his room.

And yes, I used the "Just wait until your father gets home" line. 

For the rest of the week, he's not allowed to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Except for dinner, showers and school, he's in his room. And I'm a "mean mom".

I couldn't help but find the irony in the fact that this all happened the same day I gave Grandma the free "If your child is lost, use this card as a photo for authorities".

Maybe I shouldn't have given her the card?? What I do know is he won't run off again. So, do you think I'm a "mean mom"??

Last Day of Kindergarten!

It's been awhile since I updated the blog, but today's post is a good one to start blogging again.

Today is Liam's last day of Kindergarten. I found the same outfit he wore on his first day and thought it would make a great bookend of pictures.

I can't believe he's going to be in first grade this fall. I can't believe all of the changes we went through this year. We moved, they all got bigger and I'm expecting baby boy #4. What a crazy couple of months! Here's the blog about his first day of kindergarten.

As promised for comparison, here's the first and last day pictures.

First day!

 And last day!

 He's so big!!! This fall, FIRST GRADE!!!

Power of Prayer

I won't go into the messy details of why, but the last few days I've found myself praying a lot more than normal. Of course I pray every night with my boys before they go to bed, we always make sure to pray before meals, but over the last few days I've been turning to God more often, praying for guidance. Praying for understanding, both for me and others, and praying for strength.

Today was different. After I took my youngest two to visit with Grandma so I could work, rather than going straight home, I took a detour. I went to our Church. I needed to refill my holy water, but I also knew I wanted to pray. Maybe along with the holy water, I also realized I needed to refill my spirit.

As I entered the Church, something told me that the appropriate prayer for my situation would be the prayer of St. Francis. Having been brought up in the Catholic Church and being a singer, it's a hymn I know by heart. I filled my holy water, made the sign of the cross and knelt in the pew. I began to pray.

Make me a channel of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love,
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,
And where there's doubt true faith in you.

Make me a channel of your peace:
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there's sadness, ever joy.

O Master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved, as to love with all my soul!

Make me a channel of your peace:
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving of ourselves that we receive,
And in dying that we are born to eternal life.

 "To be understood as to understand" and "It is in pardoning that we are pardoned" really struck a chord with me.  And yes, I cried. But I felt better.

I tweeted that I had just been to Church and said the Prayer of St. Francis. A former co-worker responded, "Thanks for sharing that. I just looked it up online and said it at my desk. Great to stay grounded throughout the day."

It was nice knowing that my tweet helped someone. So I shared the prayer on my facebook wall when I got home. I thought I would share it on the blog too. If it helped one person by tweeting it, maybe others would be helped by the blog.

It's about helping others.

I hope the power of prayer helps everyone.

Listening to your body...

Originally posted over at Mommy's Recess.

I know, I know. This should be a no brainer. But for moms, it's not. We often put ourselves (and our health) on the back burner. And we shouldn't. I have to remind myself of the instructions on a airplane. "In case of a lack of cabin pressure, put on YOUR oxygen mask first, and then help others." But I failed to do that.

As you know, I'm involved in politics. And the Iowa Caucus? That's like the Superbowl for us Iowans...and it only comes once every four years. Between moving in November, hosting my six year old's birthday party and Thanksgiving, a house warming party, preparing for Christmas and the caucus, I've been busy...and been having low back pain. But I put it off. "I'll get it checked out after the caucus" I kept telling myself. And being tough, I refused to take anything for it. That was probably a good call on my behalf.

On New Years Eve, an Uncle of mine unexpectedly passed away. They scheduled the funeral for the day after the caucus. On caucus day, we had the Huffington Post follow us around and get the point of view of caucus attendees. You can watch our caucus experience here.

It was a whirlwind day. Interviews, caucus, victory party...and I was named a Washington Post Reader Favorite Top Iowa Political Tweeter (you can follow me on twitter @bowmama, and our blog is also on twitter @mommysrecess). At our caucus location I spoke on behalf of Rick Santorum...in front of about 1200 people and a slew of reporters. Did I mention I had to follow Rick Perry (himself) and Ann Romney (wife of Mitt)? Yeah, no pressure there.  All the while, I had to mentally prep myself as I was doing the readings at my Uncle's funeral mass the next day.

Our boys spent the night at Grandma and Grandpas (thankfully) because we didn't get to bed until after 1AM and had to get up at 6AM in order to make it back to the funeral in time.

I made it through the readings without crying, but after I read, I saw my mom crying and, well, you know how it is when your mom cries...you cry. So I cried. At the luncheon after the cemetary, we learned that my great aunt had been in a car accident and was being life-flighted to Omaha. She had two collapsed lungs, broke her C2 and C3, compressed disks, etc etc. The remainder of the week was spent checking in with mom to see how my Great Aunt was doing, and trying to get back into a normal routine.

And then Saturday night happened. My husband worked on Saturday. When he got home, we had dinner. At dinner, I stood up to get a napkin and started bleeding. Heavy. Fast. I raced to the bathroom and even my medic husband was concerned. I called Mercy Nurse and she told me to come in. I explained the back pain and we both thought an ovarian cyst had ruptured (I have a history of cysts). My husband dressed the boys and called his parents. We rushed them over and went to the ER. The nurse took my vitals, asked for a urine sample and took blood. They hooked me up to an IV because I was dizzy from all of the blood I lost. And then it was time for an ultrasound to see where the cyst had ruptured.

But there was no cyst. There was, however, a strong heart beat. And a 7 week 5 day baby inside. Surprise.

The first thing I said? "Holy CRAP! There's a baby in there!" Not the most eloquent thing I've ever said but I was in shock!

My husband and I were both so surprised. And so was the ultrasound tech. And the nurse. And the Doctor. The amount of blood I lost, we had prepped ourselves for the possibility of a miscarriage. But like his/her mom, "Noodle" (what my oldest has nicknamed the baby) is strong.

They did find a bleed and called it a subchorianic hemorrhage. My instructions were to take it easy and monitor the bleeding. I go to the doctor today for a check up. 

Long story short? Listen to your body. Had I gone to the Doctor when I had the pain weeks ago, this probably couldn't have been avoided but at least I would have known.

I've had enough drama in 2012 to write a whole Christmas letter. You hear that 2012? No more drama. And I've learned to listen to my body. Don't put your health off. And be sure to put on the oxygen mask first, and then assist others.

2011...A Look At What I've Learned and Done

2011 was a crazy year.

I continued my work with Mommy's Recess.
I continued my work with The SoapBoxers.
I made new friends.
I made new enemies.
I started using my twitter account more.
I spoke in front of a school board (for the first time).
I continued to speak in front of the school board.
I spoke at a City Council meeting (for the first time).
I continued to speak at the City Council meetings.
I made even more friends.
I made even more enemies.
I helped save a barn.
I did the readings at my husband's Grandfather's funeral.
I read a letter from my mother in law to her dad at the funeral, and I publicly cried.
I used my writing talent to write Conservative articles and was promoted to Communications Director of a National Political Action Committee, all while working at home.
I attended my first Conservative Writers Conference (and made more new friends).
I learned more about couponing and started my stockpile.
I followed a passion of mine and joined a Ghost Hunting group.
I made even more new friends.
I went Ghost Hunting.
I had a physical paranormal experience (was scratched on a Ghost Hunt).
I didn't pee my pants after said experience.
I learned how to do audio review after a Ghost Hunt.
I went to my first Iowa State Homecoming Football game.
I learned how to fill out form upon form to get us into a home that not only saved us money but is much bigger and much nicer than what we had.
I learned how to throw things away (I had to--we had too much stuff).
I learned how to get a kid transferred from one school district to another.
I learned how good it felt to have all of our credit cards paid off.
I learned I shouldn't have closed the accounts after paying the credit cards off.
I started writing even more for Yahoo! News...and made even more enemies.
I had an anti-me tweet hastag created about me. 
I was on THREE radio shows, twice about the barn, once about a Yahoo! News article (and Ghost Hunting).
I learned how to bless a home with the traditional Catholic blessing and Holy Water.
I met A LOT of Presidential Candidates.
I re-learned how to be comfortable in TV interviews.
I learned how to wrap Christmas presents---fast.
I attended my first Iowa State Basketball game....Court side.

I did a lot in 2011. But overall, I learned  more about myself. What my limits are and what they are not. What I thought was something I couldn't do, I did. I surprised even myself.

Here's looking forward to an even happier 2012.

My latest Yahoo Article!

Yes, I've made a decision. I'm supporting Santorum. Gasp. Read more about it here and how I met Senator Santorum here.