Another Opportunity To Help!

My friend Forrest has made it into the top 100 for his Pepsi Refresh project!  He now has another chance to make his project come to life! The top *10* ideas will win $25,000!

Please think about voting for his Liberty Swing project.  He wishes to buy and install this unique swing for people with disabilities in the West Michigan area. This swing would allow people with disabilities to join in the same fun that other children do at the park.  A swing that holds a wheelchair! What a fantastic concept!

And a *bonus* for you......
Vote for this project and win goodies from my friend Megan at Shabby Blogs!

Shabby Blogs Give A Way

You know her and love her blog backgrounds, so go vote! Then post on her blog that you have voted and you just may win some super shabby goodies to decorate your blog! Tweet or Facebook about it for more chances! Put the widget on your blog and get yet another chance!  Do it!  You know you want free stuff!  And along with winning free stuff, you are helping others to better their lives. Thank you!

You can vote once a day....

 This simple act of kindness could bring joy to so many young people with disabilities!

PLEASE VOTE!

SlingRider & Wendy Bellissimo Baby Slings Recall - Product Recalls - Parents.com

Yes, I own one of these. It's a pretty black toile one. I bought it on Ebay.

I only used it *one* time. I felt like I was smothering Ava. She was cocooned in there toooo much. It's been sitting in her bedroom closet on a hook for almost 3 years. I kept saying it was a waste of money. I was going to re-gift it to someone, but then I thought....duh...if Ava was too squished, why would I hand it over to someone else?

They are offering replacement products. Tie carriers (these are really cute), shopping cart covers (I already have a black toile one of those and totally love it), and an activity gym. Ava is too old for the gym and carrier. So I guess I'm ordering the gym anyway and giving it as a gift.

I was also looking at the Infantino website and saw that they had several other things that have been recalled over the years. I'm wondering if Infantino is a good company to buy things for our precious children! They obviously don't do enough research before putting our children at risk.


SlingRider & Wendy Bellissimo Baby Slings Recall - Product Recalls - Parents.com

Mercury in corn syrup?? Should we worry?

I received this in my inbox today from Ittybits. I'm wondering if this is just hype or should I really worry?

I've thought about giving Ava corn syrup for constipation. Luckily, I don't believe I ever did it. I thought I had, but didn't. Is the media going overboard? Meaning- would it take a large amount of corn syrup with mercury to actually do harm? I know other things have mercury in them, but they are legal to consume and aren't supposed to cause any risk. What do you think? Am I not being cautious enough? Or should I boycott anything with corn syrup in it?

February 3, 2009

Alert: Mercury in Corn Syrup

Today we'll be short and sweet (but with no corn syrup sweetener, of course!) Last Wednesday, the Washington Post published an article about a very recent study stating that nearly 50% of commercial high-fructose corn syrup samples contained Mercury. Mercury is toxic in all forms, and as a parent, this is a big concern because corn syrup seems to be in just about everything (just look at the ingredients in your bread or apple sauce - you may be surprised.) It has been central to the controversial debate linking childhood vaccines to autism, but who knew it was in our food, too? If you have a Whole Foods nearby, you are in luck, because they have committed to selling foods without this ingredient. If you don't, you may find yourselves reading labels a bit more closely than you have in the past. Thanks to one of our subscribers for alerting us to this information. You know who you are!
Link to the Washington Post Article.

Yes on 8

Prop8voterinfo

A long goodbye

http://www.actionalz.org/

Today has special meaning to me. Both my Mother & Grandma (we called her Nannie) had Alzheimer's Disease. Nannie died in 1984. My Mom died in 2002, but it feels like yesterday. Since today is World Alzheimer's Day, I want to raise awareness about this disease. It's too painful to talk about my own experiences with both my Mother and Nannie being taken away from us by this long suffering disease. I will say that it was the longest goodbye. My Mother died a little bit each day because of this illness. For those who say it's not hereditary, I say, "Ohhh yes it is". How often would a mother and a daughter both lose their lives to the same disease if it weren't hereditary? It's about time someone found a cure. Visit the site above and raise your own awareness.

I miss my Mom.

My Mom and Dad the day Jillian was born 14 years ago.

Mom & Jillian at our family reunion in 1994.