Flooding

Here's a few pictures of some of our view on our way home from work.
*This is all overland flooding from all the rain last fall that froze, then all the snow, more rain and more snow~ Nothing to do with the river! That's a whole other mess. You can't even get near to take pictures. Cops are arresting sightseers. Here's somemore pictures of the flooding and the effort to fight it. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/photo_search.php?oid=54494719220&view=all

This picture is really blurry, but this trailer and pickup are up on a "hill". I was trying to get a good shot of the pickup that's submerged.

It's all very crazy around here.

Silly Songs with Jessi & Auntie Reese

Jessi had so much fun with Relyssa. On our way home after taking her back to Souix Falls, Jessi kept asking where Auntie Reese was.... She was pretty sure that Auntie Reese was "hiding".

Jessi loved having somebody to sing her songs with all the time.

Update on the breastfeeding bill

Thanks to Alyse for letting me post this! This is her update on the hearing on the breastfeeding bill. I think she did awsome!

I was one of six women who testified in favor of the bill. Terri Poitra was the lady who submitted the original bill and had been asked to stop nursing at the casino restaurant. She also spoke about the pumping conditions she had to deal with at her workplace.See here: http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2009/01/05/news/topnews/173393.txt

Dr. Joan Connell, a Bismarck pediatrician, spoke about the benefits of breastfeeding for mothers and babies.
Karen Ehrens is a local dietitian, she shared how breastfeeding rates are lower in North Dakota than national averages and hoped that the law would encourage more mothers to breastfeed.I can’t recall Kim’s testimony—I was just a little nervous.
Pat Sauer is a retired LLL leader that I have met in the last few months who has been a wonderful encouragement and blessing. She was worried by and testified of her concerns about the “discreet and modest” language.

A gentleman whose name I can’t recall, but who has several children and 9 grandchildren and supported the bill

I spoke last. My testimony is here: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&&suggest&note_id=57341829215 (in my last post) Each member of the committee received a copy of my written testimony.I was really nervous when Pat went up, but once it was my turn, it was all right. I really relaxed once I got past my introduction and first paragraph. I didn’t read straight from my testimony and left out the benefits part since that was pretty well covered.

I stated that the only state that has any modesty language is Missouri, which qualifies their law with the phrase “with as much discretion as possible.”

Representative Kari Conrad asked if the wording like Missouri’s would be acceptable. I said, “This wording does not require a mother to be modest, but gives her the benefit of the doubt, as babies are squirmy and do not still once they reach about six months. But breastfeeding moms are not trying to show everything off; we are trying to take care of our babies as best as we can.”

Representative Richard Holman asked if removing the “discreet and modest” would satisfy me. I had skipped the part of my testimony where I shared about Jessica Swimeley. I went back to that and shared how Jessica’s family was not really benefitted by the Texas law because there was no enforcement provision. I got really inspired here, and said, “You work hard passing these laws, and you do not want waste your time passing laws that are ineffective. And the enforcement provision is what gives this law teeth. The first version changes the ND Century Code, adding breastfeeding under the category of sex and protecting mothers and babies from discrimination. Also, the part protecting pumping mothers was removed, and is necessary, as evidenced by Terri’s testimony.”

I gave them Jody McLaughlin’s written testimony but did not get to read it.

Terri did not realize that the bill had been amended until I testified. After I sat down, she stood and asked to speak even though her testimony had been given. She stated that she had put together the wording of the original bill and her intention was to protect mothers, not have the bill twisted.

She talk about how her little baby is curious and a people-watcher, and it is difficult to constantly be ‘modest’. She said that breasts are for nourishing our children, not selling swimsuits.After the hearing, Karen, Pat, Terri and I talked in the hall. Karen said she had no idea how committee would go.

What we need to do now is to contact the committee members asking them to recommend the first version of SB#2344 be passed. Ask everyone you know to contact them. They will be discussing this bill and deciding what to do later this week. We need one member who will make a motion to have the first version presented to the House. This committee is who decides. If they do support the first version, then the bill will have to pass the House Committee (probably Human Services) as amended, then pass the House, then go back to Senate, then a conference committee assigned, then pass a House Committee, pass the whole House, and back to the Senate. It will be a very long road. And we need to work together.

Here is the link for the Human Services committee, part way down the page.http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/61-2009/house/standing-comm

Please email and call each member and tell them you support the first version of SB#2344 and ask them to recommend that the House pass the first version.

If it passes the House, we will need to contact the senators asking them to pass the first version. Only the Senate Human Services committee saw the first version, as far as I know.

Testifiers:
Senator Richard Marcellais
Terri Poitra, a working, breastfeeding mother
Dr. Joan Connell
Karen Ehrens, dietician
Kim Hinnenkamp
A gentleman whose name I can’t recall, but who has several children and 9 grandchildren and supported the bill
Pat Sauer, a retired LLL leader
Alyse Erbele, a stay-at-home, breastfeeding mother

Testimony for Breastfeeding Bill

This is the testimony that was prepared by Alyse Erbele for the House human services commitee on the breastfeeding bill I told you awhile back. If you remember, the orginal wording got changed without hardly anybody knowing. It got changed and passed to something that wouldn't give BFing mothers any protection. ( http://dalaynam.blogspot.com/2009/02/very-annoyed-breastfeeding-bill.html ) I'll do another post tomorrow (Again, orginally from Alyse as she was one of the ones who was there and testified on Tuesday to try to get the house to change it back to the original wording) on how it went.

Testimony for SB#2344
Prepared for House Human Services Committee
Given by Alyse Erbele on March 17th, 3:30 pm
Who I am and why this matters to me:
I am a breastfeeding mother. I have breastfed my daughter many places around Bismarck since she was born—restaurants, the library, the mall, store—everywhere I’ve been. I wondered what would happen if I were confronted by someone who noticed I was breastfeeding. I knew that North Dakota law provided no protection for my child and me. I was very excited to hear about this law and pleased when I read the first draft.

I am in favor of the bill as it was originally drafted, but I do not support the bill as it has been amended.
I would support this bill if it provided protection for breastfeeding mothers.The words, "discreet and modest" are unnecessary. How many women have you seen breastfeeding at all, much less immodestly? In the last two years, I have rarely seen other nursing mothers. I regularly go to the play area at Gateway Mall and rarely see mothers breastfeeding, but I see mothers with bottles all the time. I know at least four women who are breastfeeding, but use formula when out in public. They are afraid to nurse in public, and that’s without a law that will make mothers worry more about someone saying something to them. It is ironic that women regularly wear clothes that are more revealing expressly for the purpose of sexual titillation, and that is acceptable. I see far more skin on billboards in Bismarck than I’ve ever seen on any breastfeeding mother.

Discreet and modest language is unnecessary, and no other state of the 47-48 other states who have laws protecting mothers contain that language. Missouri does qualify their law with the phrase “with as much discretion as possible”. I have not heard of a single incident where a mother was asked to quit because she was being immodest.

The bill as it reads currently attempts to regulate breastfeeding mothers, not protect them. This is anti-family and anti-child. As a fairly conservative state, we value family highly.

Also, currently in the law regarding 12.1-20-12.1. Indecent exposure, exposure of the breasts is not included, so it could happen anyway. Adding a modesty clause to the SB #2344 won't increase public nudity, it will only decrease public breastfeeding. I would like to know if anyone has hard statistics on increase in breast exposure in states with protective laws. I wonder why do you think ND women (your constituents) would expose more flesh than necessary and more than women in other states?

The current wording demands that a mother must breastfeed in a modest and discreet manner. If you’ve ever nursed or seen a baby nurse, it’s not all the rosy picture portrayed in most pictures. Babies wiggle and squirm. They are curious, growing human beings. If you are staring at a nursing mother, you are likely to see some skin! It happens. Breastfeeding is not a sexual activity, and breasts are not sexual organs any more than mouths are. They are mammary glands, created for the purpose of providing nourishment for our children.

The current wording provides no protection for breastfeeding mothers, for their babies or for mothers who work and pump. I cannot personally speak to pumping at work, but I have a friend whose boss made her pump in her car. She quit that job, but that is not possible for many people in our current economy.

The bill changes the focus entirely from protecting breastfeeding mothers to the issue of modesty, which is not the main issue. The main issue is the child’s right to eat. Babies do not understand wait. They have needs which must be addressed immediately. Focusing on modesty avoids the real issue—the needs of babies. Talking about modesty actually interferes with mothers successfully nursing—that there is a law that requires women to nurse modestly will make it harder for women—even those who would have nursed discreetly to begin with—to feel confident and protected about nursing in public, and that this in turn will result in fewer babies being breastfed exclusively for the AAP’s recommended minimum of 6 months exclusive breastfeeding and to reach the recommended minimum of a year.

Why We Need this Law:
Some people wonder why a law protecting breastfeeding mothers and babies is even necessary. In the last 3-4 years, there have been at least six incidents that were publicized where mothers were harassed for feeding their babies in public.How will the law help mothers breastfeed more and longer?Mothers who are not intimidated will feel more confident to breastfeed in public. If you are afraid of being kicked out of your favourite restaurant, how would you feel?
1. Benefits to the state
a. Many families who are on WIC use formula, another expense the state covers. The more WIC moms who breastfeed, the more the state saves, both immediately and in the long run because of the health benefits.
b. It is ridiculous to compromise these important public health and cost savings over squeamishness about glimpsing a breast now and then. Ask yourself, what's more important? Protecting the tender eyes of a few easily-offended citizens, or improving our children's health and controlling our state's healthcare costs?
2. Benefits to mothers’ health—reduces multiple cancers in women the longer women breastfeed.
3. Benefits to Babies
a. Human milk is made for humans.
b. Are sick less often, get less dehydrated while they are sick and recover more quickly.
c. Have less asthma, childhood and adult cancers, obesity and diabetes.In the US, 720 babies a year die because they are on formula (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15121986?dopt=Abstract).This is from the Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Stories of mothers who suffered discrimination:
Texas has a law with no enforcement provision, but Jessica Swimeley had to rally public support to influence those trying to stop her from nursing her child in the Ronald McDonald House where they were staying while the baby had brain surgery. And her child desperately needed to nurse. After his surgery nursing was one of the few things that comforted him, but someone felt their right to be offended by something natural and necessary took precedence over a poor suffering child's needs. (See attached Lactation and the Law article for more details).

My personal experience:
I have been asked to nurse in a bathroom when I was using a blanket. That person was uncomfortable with the fact I was nursing. People who are uncomfortable with the fact of breastfeeding will use the modesty clause as an excuse to harass mothers and babies. ‘Harass’ may sound harsh to some of you, but to a new mom, to any mom, being confronted about feeding your baby is humiliating. I worried that some person would say something and force me to leave. This experience I did have was at a time when my daughter was two months old. I left my house for church, and this other weekly meeting; this was the only time I had to be around adults, and some overly sensitive person wanted me to spend most of that time in a bathroom essentially by myself? It was an extremely isolating and embarrassing experience.

Conclusion:
If the government wants to help mothers provide what is best for their children, then they must make a difference and protect breastfeeding mothers. The SB 2344 should be passed with its original wording.

3/52

I am very late on this, but oh well.

My little sister Relyssa is here for a week! Jessi is loving her Aunt "Reese"

Cleaning Green

So the next subject is about cleaning products.
The decision for me to switch to natural cleaning products was simple and easy. I've always had a problem with how they smelled and once Jessi came along, they honestly scared me. And this was before I did any research on them.

Some chemicals in common household cleaners are carcinogens and can increase your risk of:
1. Cancer
2. Asthma
3. Allergies
4. Psychological Disorders

-In 1985 an EPA report states that household cleaners such as Windex are THREE times more likely to cause cancer than outdoor pollution!
-In 1990 alone, more than 4,000 children were given emergency treatment for the consumption of a household cleaner. In the same year, almost 18,000 pesticide related incidents were reported in which seventy four percent of victims were younger than 14 years of age.
-For children under the age of ten living in a home where pesticides are frequently used, the risk of leukemia increases 4-7 times. Childhood brain cancer is also associated with the use of flea collars and other pesticides in your home.

This is a good link to read:
http://www.zerowaste.ca/articles/column32.html

*I* think that going green with your cleaning products is one of the easiest and cheapest things.
Pretty much, if you have vinegar and baking soda, you're good to go! (Maybe get a spray bottle if you want, too.)
Here's some great sites for recipes on homemade cleaners~
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/homemadehouseholdcleaners.htm
http://www.heatherferris.net/homemadecleaners.html

Here's some other tips for homemade cleaners:

Dr. Bronners Can be used for everything! I love this stuff. (Dr. bronners can be found at Target... ) It may seem expensive at first (about $14 for a bottle) but I got our bottle back in Sept and we're still going through it - and we mainly use it for body wash!

If you mix 1 scoop of oyxclean in about 16 oz of hot water then added about 2 tbs of Dr Bronners, its supposed to be "AH MAZING" and "Heaven in a bottle".
Make sure you don't mix oxyclean then Dr Bronners THEN water, it will make the oxyclean a solid! LOL

Grapefruit Seed Extract.....known to kill molds, viruses, bacterias, yeast and more. In fact I just heard the city of Chicago is using it in their sewer systems in place of bleach!! You can mix 15 drops in 30 oz of water. – To clean kitchen, bathrooms, etc.
GFS Extract doesn't have a smell and can be used for all the things I mentioned above. It can even be swallowed in water to kill internal bacterias, etc... such as UTI's, yeast infections....

You can use grapefruit seed extract to cure thrush

Tea Tree Oil also disinfects and kills all kinds of bad stuff. You can mix a spray bottle with 1/4 to 1/3 vinegar, the rest water, and a couple drops of TTO

Baking powder with lemon juice in the toilets if they need it

Vinegar. You can't believe what all vinegar can do for you. I use a mix of half vinegar and half water for cleaning/disinfecting my entire house.
It's a great disinfectant to use, especially in place of clorox. (Ugh, has anybody seen the commercials where they say you can disinfect you babies bottles and toys by sticking them in a sink full of clorox and water? That's nasty.)
Oh, another thing is that a lot of people think that their house will stink like vinegar when they use this. It will... But only for about *maybe* 10 minutes (In my experience.)
Once again, you can look here: http://www.vinegartips.com/

Another thing to consider is Essential Oils... They can be great for cleaning. Especially the lemon or a lime since it's a disinfectant.
It can also make that vinegar smell better. I've never tried any, but I've been peeking a Jeanette's website because I'm very tempted.
http://cronks.younglivingworld.com/MainFrame.asp?BodyFrame=resources/OilStory_main.asp

Not only are you going to be going green by using natural cleaners, but you're not going to be buying things in all those plastic bottles. Less trash!

If you don't want to make your own, there's some options there also that won't break the bank.
Here's a WAHM that makes cleaners. http://hyenacart.com/BareNaked/ I've never tried them, but they look good. But, if you look at some of the ingredient list, you could make some of them yourself. (Then again, this section is for people who don't want to make their own ;) )
There's reviews on her stuff Here and Here

There's also Shaklee, the stuff I recently got to try. http://www.shaklee.net/haich
I got the Basic H http://www.shaklee.net/haich/product/00015 which can be used for about everything! It may look like it's expensive at a little over $10 for 16 ounces, but when you consider that you use 1/4 tsp. for 16 oz of water for the basic cleaning stuff and 1-2 drops for the window cleaner, this stuff is going to last a loooong time!
I also got the scouring scrub: http://www.shaklee.net/haich/product/00430 I LOVE this stuff! It even smells good! It made cleaning my icky grimy shower so easy. I'm talking, in a matter of minutes.
And I got the stain remover: http://www.shaklee.net/haich/product/00305

I feel like I'm missing something here. But this is long and I'm out of time. Once again, you can leave a question of comment ;)

Green Clean

A lot of the comments I got about why people don't use more "green" stuff is the price of things. I wanted to put together a few post of ways you can go green without breaking the bank.
See, to me part of going green is also saving money. There's no way I can afford all the "green" things the stores have to offer. Plus, if you're having to go out and buy new stuff to go green, is that really going green? You're just buying new stuff. Also, a lot of the "green" stuff out there isn't really green. (Example: Clorox green. Yes, it's great that they're making an effort and if that's what you're wanting to use, I guess it's better than nothing.. but still.)

So my first set of posts are on cleaners and what you can use to have the advantage of not having the chemicals but also not breaking the bank.

First, if you want some links on why cleaners are bad, here you go. But you can also look it up yourselves. Or trust me that I've done my research ;) Besides the chemicals that no, don't wash all the way out of your clothes, (You can always smell the "sent" after it's washed..) You're also putting those chemicals into the water, which does go to a treatment plant, but some of it does leak into the earth. Would you want to water your plants with that stuff?
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/07/25/health-hazards-in-household-cleaners-exposed.html

http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/Whats-So-Bad-About-Chemical-Cleaning-Products.html

So, first up... Laundry detergent! Honestly, one of my greatest finds is my laundry detergent.
You can make your own! It's very easy and I have done it.
Here's 2 recipes, one liquid and one dry:
Liquid:
3 Pints Water
1/3 Soap,* Grated
1/2 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
2 Gallon Bucket
1 Quart Hot Water
Mix soap in a saucepan with 3 pints of water, and heat on low until dissolved. Stir in Washing Soda and Borax. Stir until thickened, and remove from heat. Add 1 Quart Hot Water to 2 Gallon Bucket. Add soap mixture, and mix well. Fill bucket with hot water, and mix well. Set aside for 24 hours, or until mixture thickens. Use 1/2 cup of mixture per load.

Dry:
1 Cup Grated Soap*
1/2 Cup Washing Soda
1/2 Cup Borax
For light load, use 1 tablespoon.For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 tablespoons.

* Good soaps to use are Fels Naptha, Ivory or a castile soap.

TIPS• Liquid detergent can also be used as a pre-treater for stains. • Essential Oils can be added to soap for fragrance.

If you're not feeling up to making your own, there's some other options.
First up, my favorite.. Crunchy clean. I'll admit, this is the only homemade stuff I've bought, so maybe there's a reason it's my favorite. ;) http://www.crunchyclean.com/ I am not kidding you, this stuff smells Soooooo good!! When your mailman is asking you what's in the package because everybody at the post office was trying to guess... You know. The nice thing is though, you don't smell it after you wash your clothes. Monkey farts is the only sent I've tried, but I love it. I have the diaper wash and the regular wash.
It's really not that expensive either. It really lasts you a long time. I've had my diaper detergent since November and I'm nowhere near even half way through it. I've just got the regular detergent, so I can't tell you how long that lasts.

The others that I know of are:
http://www.jennyssimplyclean.com/
http://www.cleangreenmonkey.com/

Now that the cleaners are covered (Somewhat.... There is a lot more out there!) Lets talk fabric softener. I never ever bought fabric softener. I guess I considered it a luxury. Then I found out that you can use vinegar as fabric softener! I was a bit hesitant to try it because who wants your clothes to smell like vinegar?? But it really doesn't. You just put a little bit in your rinse cycle and it really does work great!
Check this out, 1001 ways to use vinegar: http://www.vinegartips.com/

Oh, and that washing soda and borax that are ingredients for the laundry detergent? They're also great laundry boosters for regular laundry detergents, for stains and also for household cleaning. Washing soda & Borax can be found at most grocery stores or Walmart.

Another great way to go green with laundry that will save you money is to get a clothes line and use it instead of your dryer ;)

That's all for this post. If you'd like to share your green ways with laundry, feel free! I know I still don't know very much about this stuff and am always looking for more!

2/52

So I don't know if there's any "rules" to this thing so I guess I'll just make my own up as I go. :)

Here's a silly one. And yes, it's in the bed again. Hehe.

What's stopping you from going green?

I'd like to know... What's stopping you from going green?
From using cloth instead of paper products? (Paper towels, diapers, rags, bags, pads, etc.)
From using earth friendly products instead of ones full of chemical's (House cleaners, shampoo, body wash, etc)
From recycling (Plastics, paper, clothes, etc.)
And anything else you can think of. I'd really like to know, so leave me a comment :)
I'm planning a future post on this, so I'd like some ideas of set-backs people have.

I cleaned!

We've had very hard water since we moved into our house.. It's caused disgusting, waterspots, mold, crusty, mildew, and whatnot in the shower, so I'm always feeling like I have to clean the shower. As much as I like a clean shower, I actually don't like cleaning it.. because of the icky smell from chemicals and the frustration that I can't get everything off like I want it!

On the chemical part, it's horrible when you have to try to decide if you should give the baby a bath before or after you clean the tub. I know you rinse it all off and stuff, but still.

So a little over a week ago I went to the organic farmers market to pick up the bison that we had ordered. While I was waiting for it, I was checking out the other products that different people had. There was a lady there with some Shaklee stuff and I had to check it out because I've heard such great stuff about Shaklee. I ended up ordering some of their basic H cleaner and some re-usable spray bottles for it. The basic H is really neat.. for the general cleaner, you put 1/4 tsp. of the cleaner in a 16 oz spray bottle and fill it up with water. To use it as a window cleaner, you put 1-2 drops for 16 oz of water. Niiiice.

So then the next day she called me and told me I won the drawing for a $20 gift card.. so I added on some of their scouring scrub. I had smelled it at the FM and it actually smells really good!

So anyways, I tried the cleaner and the scouring scrub on my tub yesterday... Easiest time I've ever had cleaning it! Everything came up really easy!

Shaklee looks like a pretty good company, very eco-minded. It may not be as "green" as my vinegar cleaner, but that's about as green as you can get and it works better, IMO.

Anyways, I didn't really have anything to post today. Haha! I just felt like posting.
Welcome to my boring life.

I was just thinking that I should have taken before and after pictures. Hehe.