Easter Celebrations *Pic Heavy!*

I hope everyone had a great Easter/weekend!

The girls had a lot of fun. We decorated our easter eggs Saturday night and sent the girls to bed. The Mermaid was soooo excited when she woke up in the morning and saw what the Easter bunny had left her!

Ready to decorate eggs!

The Mermaid's first egg, with Daddy's help

The Guppy looks on patiently

Okay, the Guppy's turn!

All done coloring!

Now it's sticker time!

Drawing a picture for the Easter bunnyShe drew a bunny and then wrote her name

We put out the picture with some carrots and water and we were all set!

After our basket openings and easter egg hunt, we dressed the girls up and headed over to my IL's where we had dinner, then headed to my mother's where we had supper and dessert. I was stuffed! All in all, a great Easter.

Holidays are so much more fun when you get to look at the wonder on your child's face!

Easter Celebrations *Pic Heavy!*

Where in the World Have I Been?

Well, it has been a while! This month has been crazy!

The day after I wrote my last post my client went into labor. It was a long labor that resulted in an absolutely beautiful 9lb 15oz baby boy! They are such a wonderful family and I felt so honored to be present at the birth.

I have one client who is due next week but I have a feeling she will be "early" (third baby, both prior babies were born "early").

I've done another belly cast and I am looking into doing henna body art and Mother Blessing ceremonies.

My SIL's wedding is coming up in three weeks (gulp) and I've been running around to prepare. I got my shoes ordered last night but I still have to get my dress hemmed and set up appointments for my hair, etc.

The girls have been sick a little this month as well, which keep me busy all in itself. Plus I've been running around with the other board members of Blackstone Valley WomenAid, trying to get the proper paperwork filed and community verifiers lined up. Add on to all of this the fact that my Arbonne business has been doing really well and keeping me busy, and with all this I am trying to make sure I find time to sleep, and so my poor blog has been neglected.

I find that the busier I get, the more organized I must become or else I get all stressed. So, I'm going to start doing FlyLady again, because when I actually follow her program my life is so.much. easier. I'm also going to set aside time in my calendar at least every other day to post on this blog, because really I love posting here and I could never stop.

What else? Oh, yeah, we got the girls guinea pigs. It was not my idea and I wanted nothing to do with it, but now that we have them, I'm glad we did. We got them for free from wonderful woman that the Knight works with and both girls adore them. The Mermaid has impressed me with her willingness to take responsibility for them, such as helping to feed them and clean their cages and make sure they "come out to play" every day.

Oh, yeah, and I'm also going to the MA/RI/VT LLL area conference at the end of the month (unless my client goes into labor then) and I am so excited! I'm taking the Guppy with me because she still nurses at night. I'll be sharing a room with a dear friend and doula client, so it should be fun!

Remember how I told you that the Knight had broken my camera on Thanksgiving? Well my SIL was kind enough to lend us her camera so I am able to take pictures again (Thank Heavens! Withdrawal is not fun!). Prepared to be shocked at how big they have gotten....

Where in the World Have I Been?

U.S. Government Concedes Vaccines Cause Autism

This article, published on March 3rd, states:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the federal agency that oversees the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recently conceded the first vaccine-autism case.
This case was filed in the no-fault National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program as part of the Autism Omnibus proceedings in the U.S. Federal Court of Claims.
It was one of the first three cases chosen that alleged Thimerosal in childhood vaccines significantly contributed to a child developing autism.

It continues on to say:

Furthermore, in 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Government Reform Committee, after a 3.5-year investigation, concluded that Thimerosal caused the autism epidemic and that the FDA and health authorities were guilty of “institutional malfeasance” in covering it up.

Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while now knows my stance on vaccines. Please, please, be a responsible parent and research vaccines before bringing your child into the doctor's office. Come prepared. The time to start asking questions is not when the nurse is getting the vaccine ready: it's before the appointment. Educate yourself and know exactly what is going into your child's body.

You can read the full text of the article here.

U.S. Government Concedes Vaccines Cause Autism

WomenAid

In my past few posts I've mentioned a few times that my dear friend and business partner and I are starting up a new project. Well we've finally been able to take the first steps in getting this project started, so I thought I would share.

We're in the process of starting up a non-profit organization called WomenAid. WomenAid is a small group of women who have come together to raise money in order to provide short-term financial assistance to people who need it most in our community. We rely on community leaders such as school nurses, social workers, health care practitioners and clergy members to identify and validate requests. These requests remain totally anonymous. If the request is approved by the board of WomenAid, the money is paid directly to the service provider. Our goal is to make the payment within 48 hours of request. Examples of requests that we would cover include: a starter for a car of a single working mother; a month of prescriptions for a child who fell ill and isn't covered by insurance; a deposit on an apartment that a family needs in order to get out of a shelter.

Right now we are focusing on filing the proper paperwork and brainstorming for fundraising ideas.

Can I tell you, I am so incredibly excited. I feel so blessed to be able to have the time and freedom to reach out into the community in this way. I will keep you updated on our progress as we bring our dream to life.

WomenAid