Gosh Darn It, People Like Me!

(As that Stuart Smalley guy used to say on SNL)

But seriously, whenever I go several days (OK, more than a week) without posting anything, I am always amazed by how many emails I get from friends and family asking what's up! Honestly, I am surprised and flattered by the fact that apparently, there are more people reading this than I thought....so I guess I will have to do a better job of keeping up ;) I promise I'll post soon about what's been going on in our lives here in AZ, but it's getting late and tomorrow we're heading up to Phoenix for the day REALLY early (like 5 am early), so for now, I will hopefully placate my adoring fans (LOL) with the following:

In anticipation of St. Valentine's Day tomorrow:
Who was St. Valentine? Actually, we really don't know. He's not a saint with a detailed historical record (in fact he was removed from the official Church calendar, although individual parishes can still celebrate his feast day, because we don't really know, for certain, if he existed at all) but it's still fun to enjoy the chocolate and flowers!

Next, a few interesting links I've "borrowed" from friends:

From my friend Jennifer's blog: yet another amazing discovery about human breastmilk - it contains living stem cells! This interests me for two reasons - first, as the article points out, it reinforces the fact that an individual woman's breastmilk is designed particularly for the development of her individual infant, that this goes beyond simply providing nutrition, and therefore it's crucial that babies be able to have their birthright, their mother's milk. Also, could this be another potential source of stem cells for research and development, without the ethical implications of those taken from aborted preborn babies?

And here's a link my friend Naomi sent around that really scared me:
Top 20 things that are more dangerous to children than lead paint in Mattel toys
Now, I haven't researched all of these myself, and I can't say I necessarily buy into all of them - but it's certainly thought-provoking and worth some looking into, don't you think?

Lastly, from Cristina's website (a mama I know from a diaper bag chat room, of all places!)
Her excellent page on carseats. She's pulled together a bunch of links that I always think of sending to people and can never find, all in one place! This is an issue that has really been shocking me lately - otherwise smart, conscientious mamas who completely misunderstand or disregard the guidelines on carseats. Mamas who think they should turn their babes forward-facing as soon as they are 20 pounds/1 year old (this is EXTREMELY dangerous!! They should be riding rear-facing until they reach the rear-facing limit for the seat! In many cases this is 33 or 35 pounds, which some kids don't hit until age 2 or 3 - and it doesn't matter if their legs are bent or whether they're perfectly comfortable or not - their safety is far more important!), mamas who put their kids in boosters before they're ready, when they really should still be in 5-point restraints (I count myself guilty here - I didn't know enough and I think I put Teresa in a booster way too soon myself), mamas who take their kids out of the carseat while someone is driving (can you believe that?? I'm not kidding - I have recently talked to several people who have taken the baby out of the carseat, presumably to nurse or comfort or whatever - but there is no excuse for that! Pull over at a rest stop. Or if you *absolutely* must, figure out a way to lean over a nurse while still buckled in (not exactly comfy, but way better than endangering your child's life!) When people hear the 20 pounds/1 year guideline, they don't realize that this is an *absolute minimum* and that really, a 20-pound 1-year-old has no business being forward-facing - the sad fact is they are almost guaranteed to be paralyzed or killed in a severe accident, whereas if rear-facing, they'd probably have minimal injuries.. I would NEVER let one of my kids ride forward-facing if there were any carseat in existence that could hold them rear-facing (in some countries in Europe, in fact, they make rear-facing seats for school-age children!) Anyway, I went on a bit of rant there, but the research on this is really scary and heartbreaking. You may not be able to control whether or not, God forbid, your child gets a life-threatening illness, but car accidents are right up there with the leading causes of death for children (maybe even #1?) and this is something we CAN do something about. Someone recently put it to me this way, and I think this is good to remember: "Many parents think of each step - from infant/rear-facing seat to forward-facing seat to booster to regular seat belt - as a step up that they're eager to get to, but they should really be thinking of it as a step down, a big step down in safety that they're putting off as long as possible." So, if you're not sure why rear-facing is so much safer than forward-facing, or why 5-point restraints are so much safer than boosters, or why boosters are so much safer than the regular seat belt - check out some of Cristina's links. She also has some other important notes there - how to properly use a carseat with a jacket, not using aftermarket products, etc.

And, a few photos, from our backyard, of the INCREDIBLE southwestern sunset we had tonight!