Another Recipe!!

So I decided that I was going to share a most delicious recipe with you. This is actually my own recipe. I created this myself. Now granted, it was based off of another recipe, but I change a few things on it. These are Carlos' new favorite cookies.

Almond Cookies

1/2 cup shortening - room temperature
1/2 cup almond butter - room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flower


1/4 cup granulated sugar (set aside)
Whole toasted almonds


Preheat oven to 350*F. In a large bowl, combine shortening, and almond butter. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds (until the shortening and almond butter have combined). Add the 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl down frequently. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla until combined. Beat in the flour.

Place 1/4 cup of granulated sugar in a small shallow bowl. (I use a pie dish). Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in the sugar to well coat them. Shake off excess sugar and place balls 2 inches apart in an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated over for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned and firm. (The center will still look raw). Immediately press almond into the center of the cookie. Transfer cookies to a wire cooling rack.


To store the cookies: Place in layers separated by wax paper, in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days (if they last that long) or freeze for up to three months.



ENJOY!!!

New Year's Resolutions...what to do, what to do?

The New Year is upon us, and every year, I hear about people's New Year's resolutions. Every year, I have tried to start a resolution, only to give up on it by day 2. I'm not good with saying "OK...I am (or not) going to do this EVERYDAY." Most people have the resolution to loose weight, or work out everyday or stop smoking. I have always had lame ones, and for some reason, I can't remember a single resolution that I have had. I was on facebook this morning (as I usually am), and I read my friend Anne's status update. I loved her update. It went like this:

Anne doesn't really believe in New Year's Resolutions. Instead I try to improve myself every day, and do the things that are important to me. But I do hope that this is a year I can be successful at that, and all my friends as well.

I totally believe in this. This year, instead of saying I am going to lose weight, or exercise everyday or run a marathon, I am going to try to improve my life, my family and friends lives every day. If that means making a favorite meal for my husband, or taking my kids to the park, or even a simple phone call to see if someone is feeling better, then I will do it. I have many many things in my life that I need to improve on. I am the first to admit that. I have a rather short fuse, when it comes to my temper. I am going to try to improve my temper this year. I am going to take that deep breath, count to ten, remove myself from the situation, and then calm down before resuming. I also need to improve on my house keeping skills. When we moved out of our apartment and into the new house, I realized how bad I let things get. There was food, dust and unknown substances covering most of the furniture we had. Now I'm not saying that the furniture we had is some great shakes, but hey, it works for us, and instead of having to go out and buy new furniture, I rather keep what I have looking nice. Now, since we have moved into the new house, I have been stellar at keeping the house semi-clean. I found that it is easier to do a little bit everyday, and that way, it doesn't pile up on you. Making sure the dishes are done every night, instead of letting them pile up for days and days, is so much easier. Carlos has done a fantastic job at helping me keep the place clean to. We are trying to teach Connor the importance of keeping things nice and clean, but he just looks at me with this blank look on his face when I try to explain it to him.

I too hope that I can be successful at the things I have set out to change. I can't make these changes over night, or blink and everything will be perfect, but if I work on these things, one day at at time, I know I can be successful.

I am wishing each and every one of my friends and family a happy, healthy, safe and fun 2011. Lets make this year the most memorable year we know!

HAPPY 2011!!

Too much to do!!

To answer your first question, yes I do realize that it has been 2 months since  I have posted. But I have a good excuse!! Carlos and I bought our first house!! Now granted, this has only been going on for the last month, but oh boy, has it been a busy month.

Carlos and I had been having our eye on a house out in the Sylmar/Lake View Terrace area since the end of August. The house wasn't being sold as a "traditional" sale, aka, seller lists house, buyer buys house and 30 days later, its now their house. This house was being sold as "probate". Now I don't have a full understanding of probate, but from what I get, it means that grandma died, and didn't leave the house to one particular person, so the house had to be sold and the profit had to be shared amongst all of the beneficiaries. Some probates have to have a court confirmation, and some don't. This one did have to have a court confirmation. Its just the courts way to making sure the house gets sold for a fair amount, and no one gets away with something they shouldn't be. When we first eyeballed this house, we discovered that someone else had already put in an offer on the house and it was waiting for court confirmation. We waited and waited and for a change of pace, we waited some more. We then discovered that the court date would be November 19, at 8:00 AM. We found this out about a month before the date, and oh boy, was that the longest month of my life. The day before we were suppose to go to court, my mom and dad called me and told me about this other house that they just found. It had only been on the market for 3 days. They wanted to take Carlos and myself out to see the house, and oh boy, was I mad. The house was right around the corner from the other house we had been looking at. Why would you be showing us other houses the night before we are suppose to go to court? I was so upset. Why cloud my dream house? But we went out and saw this other house. I liked the house, but it didn't have the backyard that "our" house had. It has a lot more space than the house we had been looking at, but it didn't have the same size back yard. It was a newer house and it didn't need as much work as the other one too. While we were in the house, there was 8 other couples going through it too. I didn't like that too much, because I felt like I was being starred at the entire time. Finally the day came, and we went down to court. Now, I don't know if you have ever been in a court room, and hopefully, I hope you never find yourself in one, but it is very very difficult to hear in one. People are shuffling papers, and the people who are talking are faced away from you, so you can barely hear anything. So, we waited for our case to be called, and finally it was, and without hearing anything, someone walked up, and then about a minute later walked out of the court room, and they called the next case. Um.... what just happened here?? My dad rushed out of the court room to find the attorney who was just in there. We find out that the family continued the case until December 20. Oh great, we have to wait another month. I was just beside myself. I wanted to be in a house before Christmas. I couldn't think of being another month in our little 800 sq. foot apartment. I couldn't think of spending another Christmas in our tiny apartment. So that morning, my dad and I decided to write up an offer for the house that we saw the day before. I didn't think that we were going to get the house, but I thought it would be something to keep us entertained while we waited for court the next month. The next day, my dad submitted the offer and we waited. The next day, the Realtor who was selling it, emailed all of the people who had submitted offers and stated for everyone to submit their "Best and Final" offer. So we submitted our best and final offer and waited again. The next day, we found out we got the house. Um... what? I was sitting in the middle of In N Out when my dad called and told me and I had to prevent myself from screaming my lungs out. I was so excited. I didn't realize at that moment that it would be the beginning of the craziness.

During that point in time, Thanksgiving happened. Oh man, Thanksgiving was a busy week for us. My oldest brother, Mike, and his girlfriend, Jackie, and her two boys, Parker and Preston, came to visit us for the holiday. It was a ton of fun. We went to Disneyland the day before Thanksgiving, which I do not recommend, unless you have a death wish. It was SOO busy. I didn't think it was going to be that busy, but oh boy, was I wrong. We took a family Christmas card picture on Thanksgiving

Mom and all of the kiddos.

Logan, Me, Carlos and Connor

Then played with Connor's stomp rocket. That was a lot of fun. We all took a turn launching the rocket up into the air, including my mom and dad. The kids got a kick watching all of the adults make themselves look like idiots!

Up up and away!!

Its good!!

After the craziness of Thanksgiving cleared, we had to get right back to packing and moving. But first, Ann and I went over to my moms house and help set up Christmas decorations. I love doing that. Its one of my favorite things to do. It took us an afternoon, but we got it all done. I set up the tree, put up the lights and hung all of the ornaments, while Ann set up the outside lights and set up the decorations in the other rooms.

Connor in front of the tree

Grandma show Connor and Logan where each of the ornaments came from

I was tired after I set up the tree!!

Grandma and her two Grandbabies. 

Connor asking when Santa is coming

A couple of days before Thanksgiving, when escrow was opened, I put my 30 day notice in at my apartment. That felt SOOO good. Knowing that I only had 30 days to be cramped up in that little apartment!! During that month, we packed a little, had Thanksgiving, and then packed a little more. We had a rough time packing, because we had no place to put the packed boxes. I didn't want to leave the packing to the last minute, but I didn't want to be sitting on boxes for the next month. Finally, we had access to the house, but we couldn't move in quite yet. We had to have the place tented, to remove all of the termites. That took a couple of days, and then moving day was here. Carlos and I had done a good job on moving most of the boxes of there on our own, but we still needed to move all of the furniture over there. We got all of the furniture over there, and thanks to my family for helping me unpack all of the stuff. We got most of the boxes unpacked the first day and our house was actually livable. It felt so good.

The kids LOVE the extra space. They actually have their own play room. The kids sleep and bathe upstairs and then play down stairs. This helps minimizes the toys around the house. Now keeping the kids in the play room is the difficult task. They like to run around the entire house, which usually doesn't bother me, but right now, since the house has no furniture, it echoes all of their screams. The kids have the backyard to be playing in too, but its was raining all last week, so we didn't get to use it all that much. This week, we have used it plenty. We brought the play structure from my parents back yard out this past week and they have had a lot of fun.

Logan is 14 months old now. He is my little smiley baby. He just loves when people play with him and run around with him. He especially loves his big brother. Him and Connor are inseparable. They love to be with each other all day long. Logan came to sleep with Carlos and I the other night, and when Connor woke up and noticed that Logan wasn't in his crib, Connor ran into our room, at 6:14AM, and screamed "LOGAN IS GONE!" Logan then poked his head up from under the sheets  and the fun ensued (at 6:14 in the morning...).

Connor is 3 and a half. Goodness..... Where did my baby go? He is into Star Wars big time. Carlos sat down with him a few months ago and watched the entire set of Star Wars movies. To this day, I still don't know how Carlos got him to sit there and watch all 6 movies. I can barely do that. He has to have all of the toys and such that go along with the movies. He does everything with those toys. They go with us to the store, they go in the bath, they go to school, they go to church, they go everywhere. He is going to preschool 2 days a week in the morning, and he loves it. He wishes he could go to preschool everyday with his friends.

Carlos is on winter break for 2 months. He likes the time off because it gives him the time that he wants to do things around the house. We have a lot of landscaping to do in the back yard, and by landscaping, I mean tearing out a bunch of plants. Carlos likes to tinker with things, and this gives him the time to do so. He will start back up his diet after the first of the year to finish losing that last 20 lbs. He has done well with keeping the 50 lbs he lost off, but struggles on not returning to his old eating habits. He weighs himself everyday and doesn't let himself get away with too much.

I have been keeping myself busying with a bunch of baking during the Holidays. I love to bake. I love to eat even more! We had our first official dinner party on Christmas Eve. We had Carlos' family over for dinner and it was fantastic (if I don't mind saying so myself). It was a lot of fun, and I look forward to having many  more dinner parties.

I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas and we are sending you Happy New Year wishes. Stay safe!!

I am hoping, now that the dust has settled, to return to posting on a regular basis, but no promises. I am trying to keep myself busying around here!!

Happy New Year!!

A Barnes and Noble Fundraiser for Connor's Preschool

Dear Friends and Family,

Connor's preschool fundraiser with Barnes and Noble is being held on Friday, October 29, 2010 at the Barnes and Noble store in our area and online at www.bn.com/bookfairs. Barnes and Noble offers books, music, DVDs, educational toys and games, gift products and so much more.

For every eligible item that is purchased online at Barnes and Noble on behalf of Connor's school, Barnes and Noble contributes up to 12% of the purchase price to Connor's Preschool.  More details are available  on the website.

Please consider visiting the Barnes and Noble website and making a purchase on Connor's behalf. Click the link below to start shopping and please make sure you entire the school's bookfair ID (10311256) on the payment page to ensure we receive credit.

Thank you so much for all of your help!

Carrie & Connor

BOOK FAIR ID: 10311256

Note: The Bookfair ID is good until November 3, 2010

I LOVE ME!!!

Late on the news, I have been hearing a lot about bullying. There have been many teenagers that, unfortunately, taken their own life, due to  bullying. One of the more popular cases was the college student, whose sexual encounter with the same sex, ended up being video recorded and shared with others. He jumped off the George Washington bridge to end the pain. I don't blame him. I too, like most children, was severely bullied. Some of my earliest memories of school, are those days I was bullied. Back then, it wasn't as drastic as it is today. Back then, there wans't things like the internet (OH GOD IM OLD), or youtube/facebook/social networks. Like most children growing up, I was never comfortable in my own skin.


 There was group of girls at my elementary school, who I swore, their life goal was to make my life miserable. I was never good enough to hang out with them, and I tried my hardest to be part of their group. Looking back at it, I don't understand why, but back then, they were the beginning and the end. I just wanted to be a part of ANY group. These girls made it a point in their day to make me miserable and make sure that they made me feel like crap. My mom had some rules about modesty (which I thank her for now!). These girls would wear short skirts and tiny shirts, and, me wanting to be like them, I thought if I dressed that way, I would automatically be liked by them. Well, my mother put a stop to that. She wouldn't buy me the short dresses and the tiny shirts. I thought my mother hated me! I wore the knee length  dresses, and the modest tops and felt like a complete LOSER.  If these girls EVER found out that I liked a boy, they would get that boy to pretend that he liked me and then in the middle of the playground, he would tell me off.  I remember a specific boy who I had the hugest crush on. He "dated" (as much as elementary kids can date) one of the popular girls and she found out that I liked him. She pretended that they had "broken up". She played me like a fiddle. She had me go up to him and tell him I like him. Well, he sat there, and looked me in the eye and told me how ugly I was. Wow......I was crushed. I hated elementary school. I can remember just feeling so low and so down about myself. Now suicide never crossed my mind (at least that I can remember), but I know how much I dreaded going to school. 


In middle school, I was bullied for liking the band Hanson. No joke, I was actually beat up because I liked the band. I also tried out for cheerleading at Wilson, and some girl always use to call me "wanna-be-cheerleader". I never understood that, because at least I had the balls to go out and try. She was just a loser who sat there. I met a great group a friends in middle school who really helped me become who I am today. Thank goodness middle school was only two years, because I don't think I would have been able to take much more of it. Middle school is the time in life where boys and girls hit puberty. I remember this boy who I was kind of crushing over, came up to me and told me to look down. I was puzzled, so I looked down. He asked me what I saw, and I said my feet. He looked up at me and said "EXACTLY!". I was confused and then told me that I was the President of the "itty bitty titty committee" (A title that I am very proud of today!) I was always so upset that my boobs were big enough, my hair wasn't blonde enough, my eyes weren't blue enough and I wasn't perfect. I had a mousey brown hair, freckles and I was short and scrawny. I remember asking my mom if I could have my freckles lasered off, because I didn't want them anymore. She told me that by the time I was 16, they would go away (MOM, Im 25 and they are still there..... IM WAITING). I could have done everything that I thought would make me perfect, and for some reason, I think I would have still been an outcast. 


In high school, I tried SO hard to be someone who I wasn't. I would change my "style" everyday, to try to fit in with what the popular people were wearing and what they were doing. I don't know why I tried so hard, but I did. I just wanted to fit in, like EVERY OTHER kid in school. Finally, at the second semester of my senior year, I gave up. I remember the specific moment, where I sat at lunch, looking at every person in the school and thinking, who am I ever really going to see again? The people who I wanted to keep on contact with, I have, and every other person, I have never seen again (THANK GOODNESS). I am so thankful that I found that point in my life, when I could just give up. Not give up in a bad way, but give up in a good way. I was just so happy being ME. Yes, I am loud, obnoxious, funny, cute, LOUD, vivacious, stubborn and every other thing you can think of, but that is ME. 


We need to teach our children to be proud of who they are. They might not be the fastest athlete, or the smartest nerd, or the cutest on the playground, but there is something special about each and every one of them. I can only hope that I give my boys the confidence to be proud of who they are. Connor might be energetic and outgoing, but he is one of the sweetest kids I know. He is always ready to give someone a hug when they need it. Logan, well Logan is growing into a great person as we speak. He is here for a specific purpose, and I can't wait to see him grow up and be a good man. Lets stop these suicides of young children and young adults and give them confidence to scream at the top of the lungs. "I AM CARRIE. I AM PROUD OF WHO I AM!". To others, I might not always be right, or be perfect, but to me, I am perfect. I want each and every one of you to look in the mirror every morning and every night and say "I AM ME." We can't change who we are, we can only embrace it. It doesn't matter if you are gay, straight, bicurious, Blonde, Burnette, Redhead, blue eyed, brown eyed, short, tall, fat, skinny or all of the above. You are YOU and LOVE yourself. Lets teach this to our children.


 Lets also teach our children that everyone is different. If everyone was made the same, life would be pretty boring. I don't want to be like the next person. I kind of like who I am. 

Ok Ok....I know I know!!

Yes, I do know that it has been quite some time since I have posted. Life has been....well...LIFE. Obviously, a lot has happened in the last month or so. Connor started preschool (sniff sniff). He started at Our Children's Place in Burbank. The school is a co-op, which means, in exchange for lower tuition, I volunteer my time. Connor goes two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I voluteer two days a month. Not a bad deal. I can take Logan with me too, which is always a bonus. Connor absolutely LOVES it at "his school" and wishes he could go more often. I'm sorry...the school is not really a preschool, but a playschool. The kids are able to go and be kids for just a few short hours everyday. They can play on the playground equipment, they can do art projects, or they can just sit and talk to the sky if they want to. Its great for the kids.

Carlos has been doing FANTASTIC on his diet. He started on the first of August weighing 287. As of this morning, October 4, he not weights 238. Yes...that is correct. 238. He dedicated himself to losing the weight, and he did it. He lost 50 lbs. He looks FANTASTIC. He went from a size 42 to a size 38. Instead of paying for a gym membership, he talked to the principal at his school and asked if he could use the weight room there. The principal said as long as it didn't conflict with the afternoon sports, he could use it. After school everyday, he hits the weight room for 30 minutes to do some weight lifting. This guy has arms bigger than my head. When we went to buy him new shirts, he wanted to try on a large, instead of a 2XL, but was discouraged that the large didn't fit. We finally realized that it wasn't the waist of the shirt that was too small, it was the shoulders and the arms. Lets just say he was very relived. Carlos has a very particular style that he likes, and to try to find shirts that fit him in this style, we have started sewing him shirts.

We have only partically got through one shirt, mostly because of the lack of equipment (and space!). We have had to borrow sewing machines to try to sew the shirt, but that is getting a little ackward! If you ever wanted to get Carlos a shirt like this, you can always find it on his amazon.com wish list http://amzn.com/w/EH2EN4RBLNH3 .  Or if you are feeling generous, here is my list http://amzn.com/w/1S57NNHB0JX0O . These are great lists, because if I want to get Carlos a gift, I know exactly what he wants.

I have been busy, trying to keep all of the balls in the air. I am on the board of Connor's preschool and I volunteer at Connor's preschool. Logan is walking now, so he is handfull. He likes to get into everything he shouldn't be getting into, which is typical of any baby at this age! He has such a cute personality. He is such a charmer, until he doesn't get what he wants, and then he lets you know (I wonder where he got that from?). He is starting to say certain words that I can recognize. He says Mama and baba mostly. This kid, unlike Connor, is such an eater. With Connor, we have to sit down and sit with him and basically force him to eat. Dinner usually takes us about 2 hours, just with sitting with Connor and making him eat, and usually ends in Connor going to bed early because he won't eat. Logan has never met a food he doesn't like. He will usually eat anything and everything (THANK GOODNESS!).

As we speak, I am trying to upload pictures, which for some reason, are taking FOREVER. I have so many cute pictures to share, and they are taking like two hours to upload. Great, Im paying for the faster speed on my internet, and my computer just won't deal with it...LOVELY. Well I guess I will post pictures later on. Humph...... Just when I get back into blogging.......

YEAH...WHOSE LOOKIN'?

Today, I was on facebook and I was reading a friends "status update". To give credit, I will copy the status word for word:

"OMG! There is a lady in the waiting room at toyota who just whipped out her boob and started to breast feed, NO COVERAGE! Really? Why would you do that?"

I was positively OUTRAGED when I read this. I went off on her status update. Seriously...are we really criticizing a mother for breastfeeding her child? Would you rather have her child sit there and scream at the top of his lungs? I was so upset when I read this. I was FURIOUS!! I was ready to scream out loud. I can't believe society today. A mother is doing her job, breastfeeding her child, and we are giving her a hard time because she decided not to cover up. Ummmmm....have you ever decided not to stare? I breastfeed Logan, out in the open with no cover. I can't cover up. He rather play with the cover than nurse. I don't pull my boob out and scream "HEY EVERYONE! GUESS WHAT? HERE IS MY BOOB!" I discretely pull out my boob, just enough so he can latch on, and continue on in my day. Society today has sexualized breasts so much that breastfeeding mothers are seen as perverts for not covering up. I later read on her status update that the manager of the Toyota dealership asked her to go into the restroom to feed her child. I want to know what Toyota dealership it is and ask the manager to go eat his lunch in the restroom. Not to mention, what he did was illegal. Mother's have the right to breastfeed their child whenever and WHEREVER we want to. What outraged me more was a response later on:

"Goodness... Why must you be so damn radical about it? Would it kill you to cover your damn tits while breast feeding? Not everyone wants to see a woman plop her breast out in public! And had it been me, I would have covered up! And if you're so fucking passionate about it, why don't you just go topless all the time then, since you don't seem to care about the whole world seeing your precious child-credit rack! You radical mothers... Yeah! Do your job! Breast feed your kids! But don't do it in a way where people who DON'T want to see it end up having to! Fuckin aye!"

Am I a radical mother? I don't think so. I think I am standing up for my rights and the rights of my child. My question to all of you is what is the difference between a woman discretely breastfeeding her child, or a woman walking around with no bra on? Or a woman walking around with a very revealing top on? Or a short skirt? I don't think there is much. I rather see a woman breastfeeding her child, than a woman trying to get laid by wearing a skirt so short that I can see her cooter. Disgusting....Yuck..... If you don't want to see me feeding my child, go find a magazine and stick your nose in it.

Now don't get me wrong. Breastfeeding is much more accepted today that it was in the 1980's. If I woman pulled out her breast in the 80's, that was just unheard of. It was the age of formula. Those who were born in the 80's, ask your mother. I bet a majority of you were formula fed. When Carlos was born in 1976 (yeah...I know he is OLD! LoL) his mother has clearly stated to me that it wasn't a trend during that time to breastfeed your child. I am proud to say that I am a breastfeeding, baby wearing, co-sleeping, cloth diapering, attachment parenting mother. I will always be that. Why am I like that? Not only does it benefit me, but it benefits my children. I could go on for pages talking about the benefits of all of the above, but its 10:15 at night and well, I am a mother of two. I am EXHAUSTED. 

There was recently an article in the news about a mother who was breastfeeding her child at a Johnny Rockets in Newport, Kentucky. Apparently, the manager had a problem with her breastfeeding her child and asked her to feed him/her in the bathroom. I would have told him to go take his lunch in the bathroom and eat it with me. Here is the article if you would like to read it. Just click on the link. 

And for those who are slightly confused on the breastfeeding laws in California, here they are:

Cal. Civil Code § 43.3 (1997) allows a mother to breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, except the private home or residence of another, where the mother and the child are otherwise authorized to be present. (AB 157)

Cal. Civil Code § 210.5 (2000) allows the mother of a breastfed child to postpone jury duty for one year and specifically eliminates the need for the mother to appear in court to request the postponement. The law also provides that the one-year period may be extended upon written request of the mother. (Chap. 266; AB 1814)

Cal. Health and Safety Code § 1647 (1999) declares that the procurement, processing, distribution or use of human milk for the purpose of human consumption is considered to be a rendition of service rather than a sale of human milk. (Chap. 87; AB 532)

Cal. Health and Safety Code § 123360 and § 1257.9 require that the Department of Public Health include in its public service campaign the promotion of mothers breastfeeding their infants. The department shall also develop a training course of hospital policies and recommendations that promote exclusive breastfeeding and specify staff for whom this model training is appropriate.  The recommendation is targeted at hospitals with exclusive patient breastfeeding rates ranked in the lowest twenty-five percent of the state. (2007 Chapter 460, SB 22)

Cal. Labor Code § 1030 et seq. (2001) provides that employers need to allow a break and provide a room for a mother who desires to express milk in private.

Cal. Assembly Concurrent Resolution 155 (1998) encourages the state and employers to support and encourage the practice of breastfeeding by striving to accommodate the needs of employees, and by ensuring that employees are provided with adequate facilities for breastfeeding and expressing milk for their children. The resolution memorializes the governor to declare by executive order that all state employees be provided with adequate facilities for breast feeding and expressing milk.

I want everyone out there to do me a favor. Congratulate those mothers who breastfeed. They deserve a pat on the back. And I'm not sitting here saying formula is evil and those who formula feed their babies are abusing them. Not at all. Connor, my 3 year old, was a formula fed child, and he came out (kind of ) ok. Some people can't breastfeed for various reasons, and trust me, I understand most of them! Let me rephrase my previous statement. Congratulate all mothers. Think about it....without your mother, where would you be? I know that I would be a completely different person. Think about how your mother has shaped your life, made you the person you are today, and then give your mom a big hug, a kiss and say THANK YOU. Then those who are mothers, turn around and hug your children. You wouldn't be a mother without them. 

Good night cyber world!!