A vent about carseats!

This will probably be one of the most judgemental posts you will ever read of mine and I will go ahead and give the disclaimer now, but I absolutely will not apologize for it. I mean every word that I'm about to say.

Reading the discussions online regarding the recent AAP recommendation that parents rear-face their kids until two has really made me think. I rear-faced Jackson until he was a year and a half old. He was 19 months old when I turned him- it was actually around the time he self-weaned. I decided that with this baby, I would rear-face him until he hit the weight/height limit on his carseat and knowing how skinny my kiddos are, that will be when he is around 4 years old. This is why...

The science behind extended rear-facing is undeniable. Rear-facing kids in 5 point harnesses are 500% safer than their forward-facing counterparts. That is a HUGE number!

I turned Jackson because I felt happy with my decision to continue rear-facing him until he was 19 months old. I thought that him having the extra 7 months was GOOD! And it was! If I'd turned him earlier than a year, he very well could have died two days before Christmas in 2009 when we were rear-ended by an SUV (that put me in physical therapy for 6 weeks 6 times a day and still causes me back pain) at a red light by being internally decapitated (a major cause of car accident deaths in kids that forward face too early, because their spines are still in 3 separate "pieces" and their heads are sooo heavy compared to the rest of their bodies)- which is not a thing meant to cause doubt or fear- look up the YouTube videos! He was 11 months old at the time. If I'd turned him "a month early," I could have lost my son, so I am passionate and outspoken about this.

Do NOT turn your child forward-facing before 1 year. In my opinion, it is reckless and dangerous. Any excuse that a mother could come up with to do so is NOT good enough and she needs to have her head examined.

As far as the moms I know making fun of the recommendation to extend rear-facing until 2, saying that their kid screams or their legs are scrunched- turn up the music and let them cross their legs. A loud kid is better than a silent, dead kid. Yes, I said it. I don't like everything the American Academy of Pediatrics says (read: vaccines)- but this is good information that is undeniable, even for a crunchy skeptic like me.

I didn't rear-face Jackson until two, but if I knew then what I know now, I absolutely would have, at a minimum. Keelin is too tall and too heavy to rear-face in her Britax, but I am thankful that I kept her rear-facing for well over a year. And again, I thought I was doing pretty good, there.

You live and you learn. Don't hear the facts and mock them. Take the facts to heart, take the research in and make a positive change for your kids. With Keelin, I didn't even know people kept their kids rear-facing past a year. I felt like the odd man out! With Jackson, I felt like I was doing something good, but didn't realize how seriously he could be injured in an accident even up to the age of two. I thought that at 1 we were out of the "danger zone" and anything past that was just gravy on my safe baby!

With our third child, Little No-Name, I am ready to bring him into this world and rear-face him until the cows come home, nurse him until he stops- there is no amount of ridicule that will change my mind, no differing opinions that will make me choose popular opinion over the absolute best for my children.

Now, here is where I am going to get a little judgey.

I do judge moms that buckle their kids in with big coats on and don't listen when told it's dangerous. Your child is not in their seat tightly enough if they are wearing a coat.

I do judge moms that leave carseat straps loose, when the dang directions tell you how to buckle them and tighten the straps properly. Read. The. Directions. Please, no slack straps! And chest buckles go on the chest, not near their lap!

I judge moms that forward face before a year, because there is NO excuse for it. It's dangerous AND illegal. I only personally know two people that have done it and I was absolutely appalled.

I judge moms that carry their babies in bucket seats with their legs hanging out- get the kiddo a convertable carseat and HOLD your baby! Heck, I'll give you one of my extra baby carriers or wraps! Just pick up that child, please! And get them a carseat they fit in properly. Geez.

I judge my mom friends that put their kids in booster seats with seatbelts when they are NOT old enough (yes, manufacturers say they are, but not safety experts) to be in one. They aren't recommended by safety experts until kids are SIX and the manufacturers say FOUR and 40lbs. That is absurd! Put the child in a 5 point harness and potentially save his or her life.

If I offended someone, okay. But I think that when you have the right information about safety issues regarding your kids and choose to do what is cute, convenient, or cheapest- then you really just need to hear the facts one more time, I hope. I know there are a few mommies that read my blog and a lot of you have similar parenting mindsets to my own, so I doubt any of you are going to read this and be offended, but I offended some people on my Facebook earlier, so I figured I should put up a warning :)

Sunday, Chilly Sunday.

Saturday was spent playing and having our ultrasound done. Today, we had my 16 week appointment with our midwife (who is so amazing! and graciously comes to our house on Sundays so that Tim can be here for my appointments!) and everything looks good.

Our little one was kicking the daylights out of the fetoscope and doppler. I loved hearing that! I'm getting a bit more energy these days, now that I'm over the stomach bug and in my second trimester. Maybe I will start gaining back some of the weight I've lost.

I'm craving fresh fruits and veggies, seafood, and steak (of all things, considering I'm not a big red meat eater). So tonight, I went to Harper's (a local restaurant where my friend Kristin works) to get my second Steak House Salad in a week, since we went there last Sunday. It is a delicious salad. Like I mentioned last Sunday, lots of greens, bleu cheese, maters, portobello mushrooms, a little bit of steak on top- and tonight, I added avocado. Totally hit the spot!

Before we went out to eat, though, I went to a fabric store that I've never been to before. They had a lot of good stuff! I got 4 different kinds of fabric to make various items for the baby, a bunch of clearanced elastic (for making fitted sheets, tablecloths, pants, etc.) for $0.23/ package, and fell in love with the staff. I only spent $30, too!

Greensboro, NC people- the Hancock Fabrics on the corner of High Point Road and Groometown Road has incredible customer service, a really good selection, and wonderful prices. I haven't been to a craft store in Greensboro yet that has employees that are this cheerful, enjoyable, and on point. I highly recommend stopping by and visiting them! :)

On that note, I'm going to go take another few bites of my garlic noodles, watch the series finale of Big Love, and go to sleep. Barring chilly weather, I will be outside all day tomorrow working in the yard- because today was chilly and I wasn't about go to digging in the cold. It seemed like a much better idea to stay inside and read.

Giveaway at A Playful Day!

Kate at A Playful Day (http://aplayfulday.blogspot.com/) is giving away one of three bags from The Lollipop Stop (http://www.folksy.com/shops/lolabella)

They are ridiculously cute zippered project bags and all you have to do to have to chance to win one is to comment on her post from Friday that you'd like to win and which one of the three bags is your favorite (my favorite is the knitting bag!)'

For a second chance to win, follow her blog!

For a third chance to win, post about the giveaway on your own blog, like I'm doing now! :)

It's a baby...

BOY!!!! :)

And boy, was he being uncooperative! It took us forever and a day to get any decent pictures of him! But he was definitely not shy about showing us his little boy parts. I saw it almost immediately and blurted out, "Holy CRAP, it's a boy! It's a boy, isn't it?! I was WRONG! I could have sworn this baby was a girl!"

And yes, people. I was wrong!!!

We haven't quite decided on his full name, so I'll have to update with his name another day.

The last Saturday before it's officially Spring!

Today was such an amazing day. I don't even know where to start! I hope I can remember everything!

I planted daffodil bulbs all around my clothesline posts. My gift to myself :) I learned today that daffodils will come back AND multiply every year. Very exciting, since we had none on our property before today.

My brother jacked up the shed that will turn into a chicken coop soon and reinforced the floor. Thank goodness! He also started spreading a thin layer of concrete over the inside floor so that the chicken poo won't damage the wooden floor over time.

I spread our organic (i.e. super smelly) compost/ soil enricher onto my garden today and then my brother tilled it into short rows for me, so I can now start planting as soon as the weather is agreeable to various seedlings! I'm hoping to build some trellis structures for my beans to climb tomorrow with leftover bits of wooden pallets and chicken wire. We'll see how that turns out! :)

This afternoon, we drove an hour to a 3d/4d ultrasound place to find out the sex of our third baby bump. Tim said it was a boy. I said it was a girl. I'll tell you what we're having and post pictures as soon as my kids are in the bed :)

Oh, Happy Thursday!

While our friends spent the day wearing green and such, we didn't celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. We spent the. entire. day. outside! I have the pink shoulders (ouchie!) to prove it :)



Keelin at her finest and Jackson was climbing her chair. Wild ones!


This is how we spent our day! The kids got so muddy and messy that I changed their play clothes 3 times! That is how you can tell it was an awesome time!! :)

Jackson went mud puddle stomping, clearly. This is about the time we started going barefoot! ;)

Here is my 15 week and 4 day belly picture! I am starting to get a bump! Finally! This is just so exciting. :)

Oh, as for being productive today... I put diapers on the clothes line and took them off. Not productive, but I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed spending the day doing nothing but playing with my kids and enjoying the beautiful weather in my chair outside.

Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others, by Mark Bittman (one of my favorite NY Times contributors)

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/some-animals-are-more-equal-than-others/?smid=tw-bittman&seid=auto

This is an article that touched a nerve with me and I wanted to share it. The basic premise is that a girl in NY was sent to jail for killing her brother's pet hampster, while animals raised for food are tortured legally- and the double standard in that.

It absolutely tortures me to watch something like "Earthlings" (which will change your life), because it just makes no sense to me to harm a creature for any reason, much less justify it by saying that the animal is for food, leather, fur, etc.

Our chicks are absolutely pampered from day 1. The coop that they are going to move into when they are bigger is made to keep them happy and safe, from the height of the nesting boxes, to the type of materials on the floor, to the location of the run designed to keep them safe from predators while they forage, to the materials used for their perches.

Some of our chicks were purchased to be pets. We don't expect our bantams (our little guys) to be big egg producers or be big enough to eat. They're here because they're adorable and we wanted our kids to know that they were permanent and meant to be pets. Some of our pullets (female chickens) were purchased to be egg producers- the eggs will be eaten by us, our family and friends, some will be donated to those less fortunate should we have that kind of bounty. Some of our chicks, on the other hand, are going to be eaten. They will be killed humanely, processed in a clean and effective manner, and never once do we plan to lose sight of the sacrifice made by an animal that is to be eaten. The chickens meant for food will never be kept separately, treated with any less kindness, fed any less quality organic food, or spoken to less kindly than our pet chickens.

For this reason, I cannot understand the abuse of animals raised to be eaten. We know that some of our chickens will be eaten, but that does not change our treatment of them. It doesn't change the fact that just by living and being here on this planet, they deserve to be treated with kindness and not deprived of attention, food, water, proper living accomodations, or anything else that we consider important to give our pets.

I encourage everyone to keep that in mind when they shop for groceries. Grass fed, free range beef is the way to go. Preferrably from a local farmer that will let you visit his herd. Free range hens that are allowed to have sunlight, fresh air, and forage. Eggs produced by happy, well cared for hens. Cage free does not mean free range, either. A cage free chicken can live it's life in a hen house with no sunlight.

Just be aware. Be conscious of the decisions that you make when you buy groceries. It makes a world of difference to creatures that most people deem unworthy of such considerations.