Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Get the Lead Out!!!

As Christmas and Miles' Birthday gets closer and closer, I am racking my brain trying to find toys that are lead and chemical free. All of you bloggy moms are super "with it" and I thought that I would address this issue. I am sure that you may have been on a mad dash to find some toys that are safe for our precious kiddos! Well I have been checking just about every toy in Target and a great deal of them are from CHINA! No surprise there!



Well I have checked the recall list of lead items and so far we were in the clear. My biggest fear is that we will receive many gifts that may contain lead. I have also read that, its not only toys that may be contaminated. But how do we know? Well for starters opt not to buy things that are made in CHINA. I wanted to get Miles some Christmas/Winter dishes w/ Santa or penguins on them and I checked .... yup from CHINA! I found them at CVS and Target. I will keep updating this list and if you have found any new info email me or post a comment and I will add it to the blog and pass it on as well!



Here is what I found,



Here are some websites:



http://www.fatbraintoys.com/specials/made_in_america.cfm


http://svmomblog.typepad.com/chicago_moms/2007/08/lead-free-toy-c.html


http://www.toydirectory.com/monthly/article.asp?id=2723

http://www.buydirectusa.com/shop/non-toxic-toys/index.shtml

http://adopttwoboys.blogspot.com/2007/08/lead-free-toys-list.html

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Has It Been Six Years Already?

Wow where has the time gone? I swear it still amazes me how Ryan and I got together. It reads like a mini movie. If you are not a romantic then there is no need to read any further!! If you are hunker down with a tissue and Enjoy!

Well Ryan and I have been in each others lives since we were six year old. I would be my God-sister's guest at her Sunday School class that Ryan and his twin brother Bryan were in as well. We never played together or even really aware of each other because he was a boy....Ewww! As the years roll on, we found each other back in the same school ... sort of. In the 7th grade, Ryan's school was in a fire and had no where to go and the school I was in open there doors to them while their school was being repaired. It wasn't for long and we never were aware because they kept the schools separate. Again God feeling that we were too young to handle what he had in store! By the time we got to High School we were at a Girls and Boys school! The Boys school went broke and was forced to make my all girl school co-ed. Ryan and I were never in the same social circles in High School. I was in a relationship that lasted for almost 6 years. So we never hung out until Graduation Night. That night proved that I was going to need someone who I could count on no matter what! The guy who I was dating at the time left me to fend for myself that nite, basically stranded b/c he wanted to drink and took his dad's car home! I just know that it was more than fate, that brought us together. Well that night was the nite I knew that Ryan was always going to be there for me . We hung out that whole nite and the next day he CALLED to make sure I was ok. This was June of 1991. We went off to College but not at the same time, however went to school in the same state! We wrote letters and postcards and called each other when we had the money. We were best friends for such a long time, we would spend all of our holiday time together and when we got back to school we got on with our lives. Through the years we had our own relationships with other people and were there for each other for the bumps a bruises. We never judged, just lent a shoulder!

Here is where it begins to get dramatic! One Thanksgiving, Ryan wasn't coming home and I was really bummed! I remember being over at a friends house and she said that someone was at the door for me. I was thinking, who could it be and when I got to the door it was RYAN! I was so happy to say the least. we gave each other a hug but his hug didn't feel like my hug. We pulled apart and the look on his face was somber. We began to walk across the street to my house and I said," You didn't come by yourself did you?" He told me no and that he brought his FIANCE to meet me. I thought I was being hit by a MACK truck! What was I supposed to say to that? Well I rose to the occasion and was polite and gracious, because he was my very best friend. I got to the house and SHE was sitting in my chair, "ghetto"locks was sitting in my chair!
She seemed so unthrilled to be there, oh and believe me I wasn't holding a parade for her either.
The whole thing felt so wrong, they didn't look at each other or have that I am madly in love look. She had attitude for days and even copped on with my mother and that is when I almost lost it and sent her country ass back to Ohio! When he announced that hey were going to go, I felt a tightening in my chest and a knot in my throat. I felt like that was going to be the last time I was gonna see my friend. I knew he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life. SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE AND I WAS JUST THE GAL!

That night I found myself crying, weeping and sobbing to my mother that I wasn't going to be able to keep what I cherished so dear. All she did was listen. Thought the tears I realized that I loved my friend, more than "just a friend". Well we remained movie buddies, but he was still engaged (and BTW she proposed!) and I was developing feeling for him on a whole new level.

We soon started seeing more of each other, more and more! We were falling in love but we had an issue of a fiance. We went thru ups and downs and around and around. After months of playing boyfriend/girlfriend until he broke it off with her. I basically gave him an ultimatum: her or me! plain and simple! I had given him until May 5th, Cinco de Mayo! I knew that if he didn't choose me I would be upset and hurt but I could stand to see him make a HUGE mistake.

We were placed in each other's lives so that we could learn what real, unconditional love is. We have been learning for 16 years and we continue to learn! Everyday is always something new! I can truly say that I have married my best -est friend in the whole world! I am truly blessesd to be living my dream as we walk side by side through life. SO you see it was a lot more than fate!

I love you !

Monday, November 05, 2007

The Doo-Doo Files!

UPDATE!

Yesterday and today Miles woke up from his nap covered in poo! OMG! WTF! Both times his father found him this way. Yeaserday it was everywhere! I was pickeing up crap from wheat seemed like the four corners of his room. I got thru as much as I could before I thought I was gonna puke! Then Ryan took over. Oh yeah and not to mention it was all over the tub, which has been thoroughly scrubbed down in bleach! Our guess is that he digs down the back of his pamper and pulls out a treat! He already knows how to get out of his zip-up pj's. So tonite, I put a t-shirt bodysuit under his pj's. He is on LOCK DOWN! Clink clink!
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Well this morning was no different in that I went to get Miles this morning to find him with his pj top pulled down around his waist. Well I went to kiss him and noticed that he has a mark on his face and on his chest. I thought they were scratches but then I gave hima another once over and around his neck line of his top was BROWN!

Can you guess what it was? Yup POO! He was digging in his diaper and wiping it on himself. I just hope he wasn't eating it! Eeeew! It wan't anywhere else. I immediatly ran a bath and scrubbed him down!

Please keep your fingers crossed that this dosen't happen again!