perfect day at the beach

Jorge, Betsey & I went on a spur of the moment trip to Oceanside yesterday! It was sooo fun. We brought plenty of food, my iphone for pictures, the jogging stroller and we were set! We spent hours walking up and down the beach collecting shells and rocks, mostly shells.. We're going to try to make a shell windchime type thing. :)

 

 

I adore my family. ♥ I can't wait until #2 is here. I feel bad calling her #2, but we just can't agree on a name yet!! Jorge keeps calling her Sor Juana.... annoying haha.
While I'm thinking of names, these are some I have on my mind lately.. (no middle name ideas yet)
-Berlyn
-Beverly
-Jane
& of course Jorge doesn't approve of any.. but we'll see what happens!! :)



Also, the other day I had the best time creating my first Treasury List on Etsy. I am kind of using this as list of things I'll need for the new baby since I already have basically everything I will need and for the things I do need to get, I want to get mostly natural & organic products. Check out my treasury list and some of the awesome sellers!

 click!

Is nursing longer than a year beneficial?

I'm pretty sure by now everyone has seen the new Time Magazine cover with the mom breastfeeding her three year old. It has definitely racked up quite a bit of comments on Facebook, both good and bad. I haven't had a chance to read the whole article yet, but from what I've already read, it looks to me like the author didn't quite make attachment parenting sound all that great. I'll have to pick up the magazine one of these days and take a look.

I've had a few conversations with some people close to me that happen to be on the "bad" side of the topic of  extended breastfeeding. They believe there is nothing beneficial to nursing past one year and that it can even be labeled as "incestuous". :/ I thought that was a bit extreme, especially since I am only still breastfeeding an eleven month old. But I have no intention on stopping just because she's going to be one in a month. I did plan on weaning when I found out I was pregnant, but it never happened and it is just not a priority. (La Leche League's page on tandem nursing has been helpful for me, as I'm not sure if I will still be breastfeeding Betsey or not when baby #2 gets here.)

One of the pictures from the Time Magazine shoot.. I'm thinking if they had used a different picture, there might be a slightly less people complaining that the boy can already go and get his own glass of milk.. That's advertising though!

I've decided that since I am always alone on my side of the conversation, pro extended-breastfeeding, and have never really done the research to back up my decision to continue breastfeeding. I have always felt that it's my decision to continue doing what I'm doing, and as long as Betsey and I are happy and healthy, why not? I didn't care to have to explain myself to anyone, but I am curious now and would like to have some facts to back myself up, so it's time to do some research.

Everything in pink, I grabbed directly from this page on Kellymom.com. This page has a TON of info and references.

• Although there has been little research done on children who breastfeed beyond the age of two, the available information indicates that breastfeeding continues to be a valuable source of nutrition and disease protection for as long as breastfeeding continues.

• “Human milk expressed by mothers who have been lactating for >1 year has significantly increased fat and energy contents, compared with milk expressed by women who have been lactating for shorter periods. During prolonged lactation, the fat energy contribution of breast milk to the infant diet might be significant.”
  — Mandel 2005

• “Breast milk continues to provide substantial amounts of key nutrients well beyond the first year of life, especially protein, fat, and most vitamins.”
  — Dewey 2001

• In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:
  • 29% of energy requirements
  • 43% of protein requirements
  • 36% of calcium requirements
  • 75% of vitamin A requirements
  • 76% of folate requirements
  • 94% of vitamin B12 requirements
  • 60% of vitamin C requirements
  — Dewey 2001

• Studies done in rural Bangladesh have shown that breastmilk continues to be an important source of vitamin A in the second and third year of life.
  — Persson 1998

• The American Academy of Family Physicians notes that children weaned before two years of age are at increased risk of illness (AAFP 2001).

• Nursing toddlers between the ages of 16 and 30 months have been found to have fewer illnesses and illnesses of shorter duration than their non-nursing peers (Gulick 1986).

• “Antibodies are abundant in human milk throughout lactation” (Nutrition During Lactation 1991; p. 134). In fact, some of the immune factors in breastmilk increase in concentration during the second year and also during the weaning process. (Goldman 1983, Goldman & Goldblum 1983, Institute of Medicine 1991).

• Per the World Health Organization, “a modest increase in breastfeeding rates could prevent up to 10% of all deaths of children under five: Breastfeeding plays an essential and sometimes underestimated role in the treatment and prevention of childhood illness.” [emphasis added]

• Many studies have shown that one of the best ways to prevent allergies and asthma is to breastfeed exclusively for at least 6 months and continue breastfeeding long-term after that point. Breastfeeding can be helpful for preventing allergy by:
  
  1. reducing exposure to potential allergens (the later baby is exposed, the less likely that there will be an allergic reaction),
  2. speeding maturation of the protective intestinal barrier in baby’s gut,
  3. coating the gut and providing a barrier to potentially allergenic molecules,
  4. providing anti-inflammatory properties that reduce the risk of infections (which can act as allergy triggers).

• Extensive research on the relationship between cognitive achievement (IQ scores, grades in school) and breastfeeding has shown the greatest gains for those children breastfed the longest.

• According to Sally Kneidel in “Nursing Beyond One Year” (New Beginnings, Vol. 6 No. 4, July-August 1990, pp. 99-103.):
  
  “Research reports on the psychological aspects of nursing are scarce. One study that dealt specifically with babies nursed longer than a year showed a significant link between the duration of nursing and mothers’ and teachers’ ratings of social adjustment in six- to eight-year-old children (Ferguson et al, 1987). In the words of the researchers, ‘There are statistically significant tendencies for conduct disorder scores to decline with increasing duration of breastfeeding.’”

• According to Elizabeth N. Baldwin, Esq. in “Extended Breastfeeding and the Law”:
  “Breastfeeding is a warm and loving way to meet the needs of toddlers and young children. It not only perks them up and energizes them; it also soothes the frustrations, bumps and bruises, and daily stresses of early childhood. In addition, nursing past infancy helps little ones make a gradual transition to childhood.”

• Baldwin continues: “Meeting a child’s dependency needs is the key to helping that child achieve independence. And children outgrow these needs according to their own unique timetable.” Children who achieve independence at their own pace are more secure in that independence then children forced into independence prematurely.

• The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that “Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child… Increased duration of breastfeeding confers significant health and developmental benefits for the child and the mother… There is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychologic or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer.” (AAP 2005)

• The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that breastfeeding continue throughout the first year of life and that “As recommended by the WHO, breastfeeding should ideally continue beyond infancy, but this is not the cultural norm in the United States and requires ongoing support and encouragement. It has been estimated that a natural weaning age for humans is between two and seven years. Family physicians should be knowledgeable regarding the ongoing benefits to the child of extended breastfeeding, including continued immune protection, better social adjustment, and having a sustainable food source in times of emergency. The longer women breastfeed, the greater the decrease in their risk of breast cancer.” They also note that “If the child is younger than two years of age, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned.” (AAFP 2008)

• A US Surgeon General has stated that it is a lucky baby who continues to nurse until age two. (Novello 1990)

• The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of nursing up to two years of age or beyond (WHO 1993, WHO 2002).

• Scientific research by Katherine A. Dettwyler, PhD shows that 2.5 to 7.0 years of nursing is what our children have been designed to expect (Dettwyler 1995). 

Another picture from the Time Magazine shoot. Would have made a more appropriate cover photo if you ask me..

MOTHERS also benefit from breastfeeding past infancy

• Extended nursing delays the return of fertility in some women by suppressing ovulation.

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer. Studies have found a significant inverse association between duration of lactation and breast cancer risk.

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of ovarian cancer.

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of uterine cancer.

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of endometrial cancer.

• Breastfeeding protects against osteoporosis. During lactation a mother may experience decreases of bone mineral. A nursing mom’s bone mineral density may be reduced in the whole body by 1 to 2 percent while she is still nursing. This is gained back, and bone mineral density may actually increase, when the baby is weaned from the breast. This is not dependent on additional calcium supplementation in the mother’s diet.

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis.

• Breastfeeding has been shown to decrease insulin requirements in diabetic women.

• Breastfeeding moms tend to lose weight easier. 

Another picture from the Time Magazine shoot.

Everything in purple is from this site.

Breastfeeding for at least one year has been associated with better oral development due to the unique sucking action required with nursing at the breast. There is also evidence that extended breastfeeding results in earlier reading in boys and fewer speech problems.

The closeness of nursing enhances the child's relationship with his mother and provides a sense of stability during a time of rapid growth and development.

Another picture from the Time Magazine shoot

Handling criticism from friends and family is apparently a very common thing for those who decide to breastfeed their children longer than a year. Dr. Sears and La Leche League have given some great advice.

Reformatting my Macbook..

So this morning I had my second appointment at the apple store. After I did the safe boot the other day, my computer ran just fine for about 24 hours, then decided to lose connection again and the exact same thing it had been doing. :/
So I finally made my appointment with the genius bar. I went in the next day and told the guy what was going on. His recommendation to me was to completely wipe out my computer and start fresh, like when I first bought it! He said it was more than likely a software problem (instead of a hardware problem) because it happens intermittently. His suggestion was that I take my computer back home that night, run time machine and back up everything onto my external hard drive so that when I go back the next morning we can easily put back the things I need.
Now I was a little nervous about this for a few reasons, but I also had some reasons to be excited about this change!

Pros
-this would more than likely fix my internet problem
-I have a 120gb hard drive on my computer that has 8gb left. I would get sooo much space back!
-just be able to start fresh, no more junk on here that I don't use and don't know how to delete.

Cons
-I could lose Microsoft office because I don't have the installation disc anymore. :(
-I learned that night that backing up my computer to my hard drive with time machine would have erased everything I had on it already (thousands of pictures/files) I would have to do it manually.

I decided I needed to do this even though I was worried about losing Microsoft Office, especially Word, so I started doing my research online about what people do when they lose their installation discs. After a few minutes, I found a number to call to get a replacement disc on their website! I called immediately and told the guy my problem. We went ahead and got everything all set before he told me that it was going to cost me $30! I was pretty upset about that.. I know this stuff is expensive, but I really can't afford that right now.. I asked if their was anything else I could do so I could keep my stuff without having to pay so much, and he put me on hold for a little while. When he came back he told me he was able to waive the fees for me! I was soooo happy! So now my only worry was time machine.

I did as much research as I could and no matter what, because I hadn't already programmed my hard drive to use time machine, it would need to erase everything. :( I was definitely upset when I realized there was no going around it. I saved all my pictures and music onto my hard drive manually, and everything else I could find. I was up until 1 am doing this stuff, then back up at 7 this morning so I could get ready for my appointment at the genius bar to tell them I didn't complete my homework as planned. (I ended up being late to my appointment too, and they rescheduled me for an hour and a half later! Lame. I totally could have slept in!)

So anyway, once I got there it was pretty simple! I had a new guy helping me this time, who was super relaxed and hippyish and couldn't stand the way I was speaking so fast to get him up to speed on everything that had happened the night before. I had also had a giiiant coffee just before I came. :) So basically he did everything he could to get my stuff done and get me out of there! He did however listen to my speed-talking and inform me that it would me wise for me to transfer everything I have onto another hard drive, format mine with time machine, then put my stuff back. Then I would be able to back my computer up with time machine and not have to worry about everything I did last night again. He was a very smart guy!! As soon as I left the store, I called my dad and asked if he had any hard drives with enough room for my stuff, and he just happened to have one! I went straight over there with my practically brand new computer and started moving folders from my drive to his. It took hours, and I did have to leave for work and come back and finish it, but I got time machine formatted on my drive and all my stuff put back on! Also, I have a beautifully clean computer with so much space I don't even know what to do with it all! I'm a happy camper tonight.

So pretty much all I want to do is go through the ridiculous amount of music I have on my drive and put select artists back on my computer. I don't even know who half of them are, but I like most of the music so it's hard to do.. it takes time! I have 44gb of music on my drive right now, so you can see how long this is going to take me.. I'll get to that another time! I'm just happy my internet is working right now :)

Fixed my internet problems

Thank you, Mich_Efro. Message boards are life savers.

I have yelled at plenty of Mediacom people over the phone and had countless tech guys here trying to fix my wireless internet, all for nothing as I am now finding out.

Apparently losing wireless connection on a Mac is a pretty normal thing.. Lots of people in these message boards are having the exact same problems I'm having. Isn't there some kind of freaking recall for this yet?
The top right corner of my screen will still show that I have full connection, yet nothing will actually connect, then when I go to try another network and go back to mine, it says "connection timeout" and "invalid password" over and over until I want to break my computer in half. I'm obviously putting in the correct password, it just wants to be a pain in the ass and not let me on.
So finally, I figured out that if there's obviously nothing wrong with my modem or the box outside, it must be my computer (which is still working perfectly other than this).

Soooo....
After researching from my computer when the internet was working and using my iphone when it wasn't, I came across quite a few methods that people have used to get their internet going again.
-Some go into System Preferences, then Network and delete airport on the left and recreate it and it works. This didn't work for me.
-I tried going into Macintosh HD, Library, Preferences, System Configuration and deleting all of it's contents. That worked a couple times when my internet was really slow, but didn't end up being very useful when my internet went completely out.
-Someone else said to move that System Configuration folder to the desktop, then restart your computer. That didn't work either...
-Some others in the board were also getting all technical with IP addresses and stuff....... yeah, I didn't even want to start with that!

Thank God I found that tiny little post from Mich_Efro (at the beginning of this post). He saved the day over here. I'll be trying that every time it goes out from now on. & if it one day decides to stop working for me, I guess I'm screwed since I tried pretty much everything else! :/

Also, I want to mention this before anyone else tries to make this mistake:
The System Configuration folder that you have to delete from 'Macintosh HD, Library, Preferences, System Configuration' IS NOT THE SAME AS 'Macintosh HD, System, Library, System Configuration'!!!
I went on a bit of a deleting spree when I was super annoyed and just wanted my internet to come back on, so I deleted ALL the contents of the second System Configuration mentioned. I was pretty terrified when I restarted my computer and it looked like it did I had first bought it! The dock on the bottom of the screen was totally reset, the background, everything.. I quickly realized that nothing had actually been deleted, but my computer thought it was the first time I was using everything, so that was find of annoying.


So, I'll be on the phone with these guys tomorrow, trying to find out some kind of permanent solution to my problem. I really don't want to have to deal with this forever! I'm really hoping there's some kind of recall I don't know about and they can just take my computer for a few days and voila! all fixed. :) Is that too unrealistic? Hope not..





Edit: I just got off the phone with Apple! The guy I talked to didn't sound too surprised that I was having this problem... must really be a normal thing over there. :/
Anyway after I gave him all the info, he just had me restart and do what they call a "Safe Boot" on my laptop. He told me this resets data.. It didn't reset anything that I can see but apparently anything that is running a little funky, it should fix it.

To do this I just turned off my computer and turned it back on. As soon as I let go of the power button I hit the left shift key and held it down until I saw a loading bar on the bottom of the screen. This lasted about 7 minutes on my computer. Once my computer was all loaded, I just restarted again and here I am! He said if this doesn't fix my problem, it would be best to take it to an apple store and have them run a diagnostic test. I'm hoping this fixed it though! :)

goings on..

There's a lot bouncing around in my mind lately.
My baby is almost 11 months old. That's kind of freaking me out! She stood on her own for probably 3 seconds today for the first time. It wasn't something I wanted to happen for another 6 months or so.. I do not want a walking baby yet! She was really excited about it though! She started clapping for herself when she fell back onto her butt, haha.
Jorge turned 30 two days ago, but I've been so broke lately I wasn't able to buy him anything for his birthday. :( I was going to get him a card, but I didn't make it to the store. He knows my money situation so I'm glad he understands, I still felt bad though. At least we were able to spend the day together!

I've also been reading more about simplifying and thinking heavily about having a garage sale. I'd like to get rid of half the crap in my garage. I made a list of some of the things I can already think of that I would get rid of, and I know there is way more down there. :) I'm pretty excited about it!
I'm also doing way better about not looking around for stuff we don't need when we're shopping. Jorge isn't very good at this yet, but my hope is that if he shops with me long enough, he will pick this up! :)

I did a fun little project the other day; I made some laundry detergent from a recipe I found online. I'm still not too sure how much I like it, as I've washed a load once already and found a couple stains still in the clothes that wouldn't have been there with my regular detergent. Maybe I'll use more next time.. The recipe only calls for a tablespoon anyway!

Oh, the Zote wasn't from the website. I found it at walmart before I found the Fels Naptha, and Jorge told me his mom uses it on their clothes so I should give it a try. I really like the way it smells, so I added some to the recipe! but less than 1/4 of the bar as it is very moist, unlike the fels naptha. I figured it could be like my fabric softener. :)

  

Okay, well it's 10 and i suppose I should find something to eat, clean my kitchen and go to sleep. Goodnight. ♥

OH YEAH! 

I forgot to mention I found a sweet deal on craigslist for two kid's car seats for $40! I'm so excited about it. typically I find one car seat for $60-$100, so this is an awesome deal. I called the guy right away and I'm going over tomorrow morning for both of them. I figure, they'll both be in them until they're about 4, and they're only going to be a year and a half apart so I'll definitely need two. So I might as well jump on the good price!

There they are! suh-weeeeet for $40 :)

Some recent pictures of my beautiful girl, plus one of me and my tummy :)

  

"spring cleaning/nesting thing"

I have been cleaning nonstop since I started the other night and it has been AWESOME! I did the kitchen in two hours immediately after I wrote my other post about simplifying. The next day I did Betsey's room and my room, and yesterday my mom came over to help me do finish my room and the garage. I totally forgot to take before pictures of everything except the kitchen ha.. I guess I was just too excited to get everything done and clean!! So here are some afters.

 before pics are the two on top, after are on bottom. :)

   Betsey's room

 

My room, using one of my apps on my phone to stitch frames together. it's pretty good actually! I got pretty much my whole room in one picture. (I'm the worst at making my bed btw ha)

this is about half the stuff we ended up taking to the garage! I'm so happy to have it out of here!!

 

So anyway, that's basically it for now. I completely rearranged all rooms that I have already cleaned, which is one reason I haven't started the living room yet.. I don't know what I would really do with it. It's pretty much in the best arrangement possible so I guess I can just take a few extra things out, but that wouldn't be much fun so I am kind of putting it off haha.. 

Also, I thought this was pretty funny yesterday. When my mom first walked in my place, she asked me if I'm having fun with my little "spring cleaning/nesting thing". hahahaha I hadn't even thought about it being nesting until she said that. I just had bumped into some simplifying-your-life sites online that I really liked and knew it was time to finally start working on it. Some sites I'm loving right now- 1, 2, 3  ♥

So I wanted to mention some of the things I was really happy to get out of here :)
- shampoo/conditioner/soap that i'm no longer using. I gave to my mom & sisters.
- Betsey's clothes that are too small. saving for #2 if it's a girl!
- the obnoxious crockpot that was taking up so much space in the cupboard and i never, ever used!
- blankets. I have 5000 of them!
-half the clothes in my closet. I really only wear 1/3 of the stuff in there, but since my tummy will be growing and summer is coming, I decided to leave some extra stuff I know i'll be using again soon.. I'll be taking a ton of clothes to the consignment store soon, hopefully this week. ($$$$) :)

Some goals
-find myself a nice, CHEAP roll top desk for my room.
-go through all Betsey's toys and keep maybe 1/4 of them. her toy stash is getting a bit ridiculous. 
-clean out hall closets.

simplify.

Simplify.
This is something I've wanted to do in my life for a while now. Simplify the things in my apartment, the things I do everyday, the money I spend, the clutter everywhere.. Just simplify everything. It seems like I'm running into the word everywhere now and I'm really not able to ignore it anymore!

It's 8:04 pm and I have nothing to do for the rest of the night except dinner and finish the rest of my crochet bag, I think I'll be finishing that tomorrow.. I think now I'm going to go get some boxes from my garage and start taking the crap out of here that I don't use! There is absolutely no reason for this clutter. I probably use 1/3 of the stuff in here and I'm going to change that. Maybe I'll take some before and after pictures? :)

 Simplify, simplify. 

-Henry David Thoreau 

♥

by the way, here is a blog that has really inspired me tonight.