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In this day and time when someone asks me What do you do for a living? or asks you Where do you work? My answer was always I stay at home with my kids. I would always think badly of myself just by the responses that I would get. Or the dreaded oh. I always felt ashamed of being a stay at home mom. I felt that others thought of me as a lazy person and lazy I was not.

That feeling stayed with me for a long time. Then I started thinking about if I was working outside of the home look at all the things in my childrens lives that I would have missed. Someone else would have got to share these things with my children. I thought there is no way that I would want some else to share anything special such as their first words, steps, or to see their first tooth coming through. I wanted to be the one to see all these special things in my childrens lives.

I decided that staying at home with my children was the right step for me and my children. If someone didnt like it well that was not their chose for me to stay at home or to go to work. I can never replace my childs first words, first crawl across the floor, or their first steps. Once they do that milestone its gone forever. It becomes just a memory, and it can only be a memory if you get to see that first. There are so many more things that moms would miss out on with their children if they chose to work outside their home. Its all these things that inspire me to stay at home with my children. No job could pay me any amount of money to equal how it makes me feel inside seeing each one of my children reaching each and every milestone as they are growing up. A job can be replaced but being a mother can not once you choose to work outside the home and you do miss out on something special it can never be replaced with that child.

Most moms that work outside the home are not promised that their job will be there waiting on them from day to day. Being a childs mother is a job that will never be taken away. It will always be there no matter what. I never want to feel regret for staying home with my children and I will never let any one else make me feel bad for staying home with my kids. Its your life and weather you decide to stay home or work outside the home it is your decision and no one else can make it for you but you.

No one should make a stay at home parent feel bad for choosing to stay at home and be with their kids, nor should anyone make a parent working outside the home feel bad either. I feel that each parents has the right to do as they choose with their own life. When someone asks me now What do you do for a living? I proudly hold my head up high and say I am a Work at Home mom and I love it. I still get the occasional oh, but its okay, I am happy with what I am doing and that is all that matters.

Shannon Miller owner of http://www.asthmainfosite.com http://www.righthandvirtualassistant.com http://www.parentingfroma-z.blogspot.com

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First and foremost, jarred commercial baby food carrots (and other jarred commercial baby food vegetables) have nitrates too! Even jarred organic carrot baby foods have nitrates. Commercial baby food companies will tell you that they SCREEN for nitrate levels, not that they remove nitrates. This means that they may buy veggies that are grown in a part of the country where the nitrate contamination of soil is lower, where the sun shines more or where Farmer’s do not use high levels of nitrogen containing fertilizers. Nitrates are naturally occurring and thus cannot be removed!

Due to screening, commercial baby foods may contain a lower level of nitrates than homemade as parents do not have the ability to screen veggies for nitrates. Please keep in mind that baby food companies voluntarily screen for levels of nitrate and there is no Federal (U.S.) regulation or mandate requiring them to screen. You see, nitrates are naturally occuring in the vegetable itself and not even the folks at Gerber/Beechnut/Heinz et al. can remove nitrates.

So when we first hear of nitrates and carrots, Blue Baby Syndrome and homemade baby food, it is often with a bit of fear and trepidation that we proceed to make babys food. We wish to do the best for our babies and we certainly do not want to poison them! Lets take a moment to look at the facts about nitrates, infants and making baby food.

Around the age of three months, an increase in the amount of hydrochloric acid in a baby’s stomach kills most of the bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrite. By the time a baby is six months old, its digestive system is fully developed, and none of the nitrate-converting bacteria remain. In older children and adults, nitrate is absorbed and excreted, and methemoglobinemia is no longer a concern. http://ohioline.osu.edu/b744/b7442.html

Nitrates are naturally occurring nitrogen/oxygen compounds found in almost every vegetable that we eat and the soils they are grown in. Nitrates are also laboratory formulated and used in fertilizers. Nitrates are ingested either from vegetables or drinking water. Nitrates/nitrites have been found to be responsible for Blue Baby Syndrome. Adults are not affected by nitrates or nitrites because their stomachs produce acids that fight the bacteria that help convert nitrates into nitrites. This conversion, and the resulting nitrite, is what allows for nitrate poisoning or Blue Baby Syndrome.

The name Blue Baby Syndrome stems from the fact that nitrites hinder proper oxygen transportation in the red blood cells. Once in the blood, nitrite oxidizes iron in the hemoglobin of red blood cells to form methemoglobin, which lacks hemoglobin’s oxygen-carrying ability.1 Without proper oxygen saturation in the blood, the bodys cells become oxygen deprived and the skin takes on a blue or purple hue. This oxygen deprivation may lead to the slow asphyxiation of the person poisoned.

Symptoms are described as: The most obvious symptom of nitrate poisoning is a bluish color of the skin, particularly around the eyes and mouth. This is called cyanosis. A baby with these symptoms should be taken to an emergency medical facility immediately. The doctor will take a blood sample to be sure the baby is suffering from nitrate poisoning. The blood sample of an affected baby is a chocolate brown instead of a healthy red. Nitrate poisoning can be treated, and in most cases the baby makes a full recovery. http://ohioline.osu.edu/b744/b7442.html

The highest concentration of nitrates occurs in water, root vegetables and leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce and other greens. The concentration and amount of occurring nitrates will vary depending on the type of vegetable, the temperature that it is grown at, the sunlight exposure, soil moisture levels and the level of natural nitrogen in the soil.

Foods that tend to accumulate large amount of nitrate include: spinach, beets, cabbage, broccoli, and carrots. Root vegetables such as carrots, beets and broccoli all contain nitrates though at a much lower level than do the leafys. Leafy vegetables include spinach, cabbage or other greens like Kale. Studies done on spinach and nitrates in particular have shown that with improper storage and preparation, the nitrate levels may actually increase. Proper preparation and immediate use or storing via freezer method will help eliminate this risk in leafy vegetables.

As boiling vegetables in water will not eliminate nitrate concentration, and nitrates may in fact seep into the water used for cooking, it is best to not use that water as the liquid to make your puree. For some people, they find it may be best to stick to feeding baby jarred carrots, beets and other vegetables that may contain nitrates until baby reaches 8 months of age.

Because the intake of naturally occurring nitrates from foods such as green beans, carrots, squash, spinach, and beets can be as high as or higher than that from well water, these foods should be avoided before 3 months of age, although there is no nutritional indication to add complementary foods to the diet of the healthy term infant before 6 months of age http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/116/3/784

If you prefer to make your own homemade baby vegetables, an alternative is to choose organic produce. Organics do not use commercial nitrate fertilizers and thus the risk of nitrate contamination/concentration is minimized, but not eliminated. The AAP suggests a very cautious and conservative waiting period, 8 months or older, to make homemade leafy vegetables that may contain nitrates. While this sounds frightening, the fact is that nitrate poisoning comes from contaminated drinking/ground water before it ever comes from vegetables.

So who is most at risk? Babies under the age of 6 months old are most at risk and babies under the age of 3 months old even more so. Babies who are over the age of 6 months old have developed the stomach acids necessary to fight the bacteria that helps nitrate conversion and subsequent nitrate poisoning. Infants who are formula fed and live on farms or in highly agricultural areas may also be at greater risk. Nitrates used in farming, and the excess not taken in by the crop itself, easily run-off and may seep into water tables, contaminating water supplies.

As mentioned earlier, nitrate poisoning is very rare and when it does occur, it is typically traced back to ground water contamination specifically from contaminated private wells.2 If you have any doubts or fears, please speak to your pediatrician!

1. Ziebarth A. (1991), NF91-49, Well Water, Nitrates and the Blue Baby Syndrome Methemoglobinemia; Lincoln, NE; University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension. 2. Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health

For More Information, visit these links:

Blue Babies and Nitrate-Contaminated Well Water http://www.uwsp.edu/water/portage/undrstnd/blbaby.htm

Drinking Water: Nitrate and Methemoglobinemia (Blue Baby Syndrome) http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/water/g1369.htm

Infant Methemoglobinemia: The Role of Dietary Nitrate (RE0004)(AAP) (This is an Abstract of the Full PDF document) http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/116/3/784

Methemoglobinemia - Feeling Blue? http://www.mc.uky.edu/ahec/skyahec/methem-CE.htm

Nitrates in Drinking Water http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/factsheets/NitrateFS.htm

How does Nitrate Affect Families? http://ohioline.osu.edu/b744/b7442.html

Nitrates, Infants & Well Water - AAP (2005) http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/sept05wellwater.htm

Margaret Meade is the Owner/Editor of http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com and http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com. She continues to make baby and toddler food, study nutrition and expand the website weekly. The goal of the website and her articles is to get parents to disengage from the myth that commercial baby foods are superior and magical. In doing so, parents may become less reliant on not-so-healthy pre-packaged foods as their children grow! It is so easy to make your own baby food and once you begin, good healthy eating habits will automatically flow!

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Are you planning a decorating project and don’t know where to begin? Building or remodeling a home can be a frustrating and stressful endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Organizing your thoughts and materials will help simplify the process and reduce stress. Here are some tips to get you started; ultimately saving time and lowering stress.

1. Develop an inspiration folder. Dream, explore and discover with magazines, websites and newspapers. Clip pictures and articles that catch your attention. Have fun. Choose an inspirational photo that has the look or feel that you want to capture in your space. Working with a spouse, partner, or roommate? Encourage them to do the same and share your findings. They may have a picture of a great room with a fireplace, but you really dont like the room. What you may discover is that they chose that particular picture because they liked the fireplace and that may be the one thing that you like!

2. Carry your inspiration photo with you. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words and there is no better way to communicate with sales people than to show them a picture of what you like.

3. Create a floor plan and evaluate your space. Walk in the room (if possible without furniture or accessories) and start imagining the possibilities. If you are building and only have a floor plan, imagine yourself in that space. If thats hard for you (and it is for most people) ask your builder or a designer to describe it to you. Look at each surface; floors, walls, ceiling separately and then as a whole. Research different finishes on the market for each surface and determine what works for your lifestyle. Draw a floor plan if you dont have one. Make sure to note window measurements on your floor plan for quick reference when shopping. A floor plan is a valuable tool for determining furniture arrangements and the flow of the room.

4. Start a room file for each room you are decorating, so that you have everything in one place. A room file should include storage for fabric swatches, paint chips, flooring samples and anything else that will help determine your color palette. It should be easy to transport to the store for color coordination. Additionally, your files should provide a place for receipts, warranties and contracts along with storage for larger samples. In a few years when looking for a warranty or paint color, they will be a breeze to find.

Its important to carry your inspiration picture, a picture of the room that you are working on, a copy of the floor plan, and color swatches to the store in your room file. All of these items can help you convey to a designer or sales clerk exactly what you want. An additional feature to add to your room file is a list of important contacts including your carpenter or builder, electrician, painter and stores you are working with. And dont forget a budget sheet. At http://www.decoratingassistant.com/ you will find budget forms that work with excel and automatically tabulate your purchases along with additional decorating tips and ideas.

5. Have the right tools on hand. Always carry a tape measure and a digital camera is also a great item to carry. How many times have you seen something when shopping and then later cant remember exactly what it looked like? A pencil and a note pad are a must. Writing your thoughts and to-do-lists onto paper is a great stress reliever!

6. Use a carry bag when shopping. It should hold your room files, tools, wallet and keys; providing hands free shopping. Of course, its a bonus if is stylish as well!

7. Relax & Enjoy. Getting organized will help you to decorate confidently, work more efficiently and reduce stress. Now its time to have some fun. Good Luck!

2006 The Assistant Product Group, Inc.

Amy is co-designer of the Decorating Assistant and President of the Assistant Product Group, Inc. A Graduation of The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, Amy has been active in the decorating and design industry for over 20 years. Working for an architectural firm in Cincinnati, she was Director of the Interior Design Department specializing in the design, development, and implementation of retail store prototypes with additional responsibilities that included sales, marketing, and day to day operations. Additionally, Amy was a partner with momodesigns, a residential design firm and instructor for an Interior Decorating course for a local Adult Continuing Education program.

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