The Babe

We just had my 2nd appt...things are GREAT!! Yay! We heard the heart beat, and heard kicking too. So fun. I keep feeling as though I am showing quite early, but my doctor said my measurement is "impressive" and exactly where it needs to be.

I took a quick picture for my mom on my phone....So here's the tummy at about 12 1/2 weeks. That was just 3 days ago. I think I'm going to be huge haha. Yes our room is a mess and yes that is a polka dot bra!

And yes that is what I wear on Saturdays. I really need some new clothes, none of my pants are comfortable in the belly area at all.

My ultrasound is June 1st..and we're still deciding if we want to know. Well, Jake says he's fine with keeping it a surprise. I really want to know, but sometimes think it will be fun to not. But let's get real here, how could you not find out!!?

Tidbits of My Days

I realized that it's been a while since I've complained, boasted, or even just talked about my students on here!

We had our 100th Day Party (remember those?!) a couple weeks ago. I sent home a poster board with each student and told them they had to put 100 things on it, grouped by 10. Well "John" brought this:

Umm yes those are DEAD FISH. You're kidding me, right John's parents?? Nope. Here's a close up:
DISGUSTING. Don't even ask me how in the world they got these fish..how they dried them out...and how they attached them to the poster. I am just hoping they are sardines..which are still disgusting. All the other kids had such cute posters! Some used cereal to create members of their family, using 100 pieces total. Some did fruit snacks, or stickers, or candy. THOSE posters got stacked nicely in one pile. Needless to say John's poster went in the furthest corner of the room, face against the wall. I was gagging. sidenote: i still love john and will not judge him for his horrid creation.

*oh my gosh, in editing my blog, i just discovered 2 of John's fish are missing..oh my if they are somewhere in my classroom..rotting...so help me!

-We were learning about "r" as an ending sound in words. A worksheet we did had pictures like "deer," "car," and so on. One little boy (not John) asked me, "Why isn't their 'beer' on there?" What do I say to that!? I was actually very proud of him because he totally thought of his own "r"-ending word.

-We spent 2 days on a writing project this week. It was a poem: "Snow, snow, go away. Come again another day. We all want to go and play. Snow, snow, go away!" They wrote that one day then the next they made a cute snowman out of paper that holds the poem. They turned out so cute! But this little boy said he was going to through his in the trash, because he LIKES snow. I guess that's what I get for teaching against someone's beliefs!

On a totally unrelated note, I came across these pics on the camera. Jake recently went flying with our good friend Nick...Captain Nick that is. He just got his pilot's license and now can officially fly the friendly sky (wow where did I get that from)..I told Jake to take the camera. These are the pics he took:


Pretty sweet! I wished to have seen a nice picture of Jake and Nick standing in front of the plane, arms on each other's shoulders...haha but for some reason boys don't think to take those kinds of pictures (I wonder why!).

It's Time to Change!

The Light Bulb goes ON:

Jake and I spent our late Sunday evening watching this documentary. I HIGHLY recommend it to all. But only if you are prepared to CHANGE the way you GROCERY SHOP and EAT (if you haven't already). Here's what I mean (get ready lol):

The whole "Food Revolution" thing has been around for quite a while now, and I always knew it was important. I have considered myself maybe a 6 or 7 on the "healthy eater" scale (this 1st trimester excluded...blah) where I made a conscience effort everyday to eat healthy and exercise a lot. But there were still areas I could definitely improve on.

Well after watching this movie, and combining it with the other snippets I've seen and read about America's food problem, (I even took a class on it in college).. IT IS TIME for a CHANGE!!

The Facts:

Jake and I both agreed we MUST make healthier choices. We fell asleep in bed discussing how to go about making this change for ourselves. I feel stupid for not making this effort much earlier. Anyway here are some nasty details the movie uncovered, which are prompting us to eat better:

1. Our first resolution was to never again purchase from the largest chicken manufacturer, starts with a "T"...can you guess?? Tyson. Yeah the way they treat their chickens is absolutely inhumane, evil and disgusting. Some people aren't bothered with that sort of animal treatment and still buy. But think about it. They way they treat their animals COMPLETELY effects the product, which you are putting into your mouth and feeding to your kids.

a. They force farmers to keep their chickens in pitch black, dirty chicken houses, walking around in their own feces. The farmer has to wear a mask when she regularly goes

in to clean up all the dead chickens. SHE has become resistant to ALL antibiotics,

due to her exposure to the antibiotics that are in the chicken feed. The chicken houses are

full of disease. Their diseases have developed an immunity to antibiotics. They are deprived of sunshine, fresh air, and normal activities.

b. Consumers like white meat better, so the company feeds their chickens hormones/drugs to make their breasts grow abnormally larger. They also figured out how to "grow" their chickens 3 times faster so a chicken will become fully grown in a very short amount of time. The problem with this is, their bones, ligaments, etc...don't have a chance to develop fast enough to support their body weight. The movie shows the chickens..they can only take 2 steps and then they fall down. Take 2 steps, fall down...

c. The baby chics, as seen below, are shoveled onto a conveyer belt...hundreds at a time,

and are thrown around by the workers. They also showed the chics getting their head

shoved into a stamper..so they were official property of Tyson..it was disturbing to see!

Anyway, the chickens are fed antibiotics and hormones that make them grow faster, and "better"...but then we are eating these substances too. And they are sick. After all, they live in horrid conditions. But since their sicknesses are immune to antibiotics...we don't really have a fighting chance when we get sick! This treatment of chickens is common to all chicken manufacturers, not just Tyson. But they are the largest, so that's who the movie focused on.

2. Beef. I'll try to make this short since I went off on the chicken haha. The cows are also kept so crowded, they literally cannot walk. They're so squished their heads overlap onto each other's backs. They stand knee deep in their own manure. The cows have EColi, and guess how the manufacturers get rid of it!? Instead of taking better care of the cows, they treat the meat with chemicals like AMMONIA to kill the EColi bacteria. The cows are fed corn. Cows don't eat corn. They are fed corn because it fattens them up faster, making them ready for the slaughterhouse sooner. Also, if they are fed corn, they don't have to graze on grass, thereby saving space. So corn is cheaper and more efficient. They are also fed antibiotics, other drugs, and growth hormones just so they can be ready for the slaughterhouse sooner. Oh and when beef if packaged, what gives it that nice pink/red color? Gases like Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide. We are ingesting these substances!

Anyway, that is just a little tidbit of what the documentary goes into. The bottom line is money. Huge corporations control what we eat. People who want as much money as they can get, as soon as they can get it. They DO NOT care about the health of our nation. They develop quick fixes to the diseased, sick, deformed animals they themselves create. These solutions are chemicals that we are told to stay away from in our own lives. And hey, the world needs to eat right? So they just keep making money off of us because we have to buy food. What's even worse, many of these large corporations' CEO's, presidents, and VP's have positions in our government..I'm talking they WORK next to the president. So as they try to make money in unjust, inhumane ways (through government), we the people are suffering. They won't allow factories which are pretty much breeding EColi to be shut down. They are trying prohibit the American public from knowing the truth about our food...AKA their multi-million dollar business.

The Challenge

This change is going to be hard. It's so much easier to make a quick meal, and to buy cheap, pre-packaged food that has been treated with these substances. It is more expensive to make these changes too. But last night I honestly felt so disgusted (ok some of it was the morning sickness) with knowing about all the terrible things I am feeding my family. We are not suppose to be eating these things. I really think many of the health problems today are in direct relation to these man-made chemicals which are in our food. I want my family to be healthy. My husband & children deserve to eat well. I HAVE to make an effort to greatly improve my grocery shopping and cooking.

The Changes: (be aware of where our food is coming from, and what is in it, and how it was raised)

1. Shop for meat and poultry that is not factory farmed. Meat and poultry that is fresh, preferably local, and toxin free! Also, eat less meat.

2. Buy local foods. Less time in a factory, on a truck...etc

3. Buy what's in season.

4. Shop organically.

5. Shop the Downtown Farmers market when it's here this summer and fall..yum!

Back to Reality:

I can become healthier and food-conscience savvy in like, a couple days right!? Wrong. This transformation will take time. I am busy, Jake is busy, we are all busy. What he and I want to accomplish requires time and a little more $$ in our food budget. It takes education, research (looking for the right places to shop), and more time to create organic meals. I have a lot to learn, and it is overwhelming. But it is exciting and the end result I know will be 110% worth it. If you have any tips or suggestions, I'd love for you to share! A question still remains: will I still eat things like Reeses Peanut Butter Cups? yes. Frozen Yogurt smothered in cookie dough? yes. Still get fast food here and there? yes but even way less frequently. Eat fry sauce? oh heck yes. I will still enjoy these delights. These things in good moderation I feel are ok. But they way we will be eating from here on out WILL definitely be different...Here's to healthy eating!

and now I will respectfully step off my soap box.....