Thursday, June 30

What is a cleft?

Throughout the blog you may have heard me mention that I was the only of four children born with a cleft lip and palate. I was affected only on one side of the face, and I'm the only one in my family that I know with this defect. One of the reasons I blog, was to talk briefly about some of the frustrations that come psychologically and physically with being born with this particular defect. I think I mention this several times throughout my life.

Personally, I think I'm stronger because of my cleft. I think I'm a better person, more empathetic, simpler and nice. The torture, and the tears shed only made me want to be happier, and never a conformist. I participated in a play called "The Phoenix Cafe." This was a very emotional yet empowering experience for me. I want to tell you guys to check out the website of Foward Face, and support their cause. Forward Face’s mission is to help children with craniofacial conditions, and their families, find immediate support that helps empower them to successfully manage the craniofacial condition.

Cleft lip and cleft palate is a somewhat common birth defect found in one of every 700 newborns throughout the United States. A cleft lip happens when the lip during pregnancy fails to join completely. Sometimes it includes the bones of the upper jaw and/or upper gum. The same thing happens to the palate, where there might be an opening in the roof of the mouth. While the unborn baby was developing, these parts of the face may not correctly come together. It can occur at one side (unilateral) or both sides (bilateral). A person can be affected only on the lip, or on the palate. These can happen due to genetics and/or environmental factors. Many things can affect the occurrence of cleft lip and palate in a person. Someone affected by a cleft may need several different types of doctors, and services for surgery, orthodontic, speech, ear and nose, etc. It may last for number of years, depending on the severity of the case, and what is affected.


For other information visit,

http://www.widesmiles.org (Widesmiles)

cleft.org (Smiles)

cleft.net (International Institute For Birth Defects)

cleftline.org (American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association (ACPA))

Monday, June 27

Tee Ball!

The game of tee-ball has helped my son Nicolas understand the concept of the game. He loves to play first base, and he has hit the ball pretty far, without the pressure and millions of instructions.

What is Tee ball? Tee ball is a game where a player his the ball on top of a inverted t is placed at the home plate, and the players learn to swing the bat. The score is not kept and rules are designed to maximize participation: an inning is completed once each child has had a turn at bat and all extra players of the defensive team play in the outfield every inning.

Our team only has about 10 participants in each game, though there were registered with 15 players, there are always more than a few missing. Tomorrow night, Nicolas is playing his last game as a tee ball player, and perhaps will pass on his learned joy to his younger brother!

Thursday, June 23

Why I became vegan?

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food (Genesis 1:29).


MILK IS NOT WHAT WE THINK IT IS!

They suffer each time that we sip a glass of milk! Imagine being pregnant for nine months with twins, then all of sudden you go into labor, the minute your baby girl and baby boy is born, they are pulled away from you and you never see them again. The separation anxiety begins, and a pump is placed over your breasts, to milk you like a machine, the engorgement begins, your nipples are sore and you start to get lumps. You get mastitis, and you are in pain. You are fed antibiotics, and your nipples crack and bleed. After a few weeks of a horrifying life, your baby boy is slaughtered never to see life again, and he died a scary death. Your baby girl is fed some other woman's colostrums, and she's expected to live a similar life to you now, expected to provide milk like a machine. And someday she will be artificially inseminated for the process, and fed growth hormones so she can do it as soon as her first menstruation comes. Your infected body fluid, with blood, several different antibiotics, pus filled milk is fed to other species. Your breastfeeding through machines, you are extra hungry, you eat what they throw on the floor for you each day. You live where other women are bleeding and milking just like you. All in close quarters, all eating excrement, and left overs. Something similar to this is what happens in corporate owned factories. Cows suffer anxiety from being separated from their calves. The picture is nasty, but if you consume any milk from a cow, or meat from any animal, that is what you are consuming. Anxiety, fear and death, pus, hormones and antibiotics.


¡LA LECHE NO ES LO QUE PENSAMOS QUE ES!

¡Sufren cada vez que nosotros bebemos un vaso de leche! Imagínese estar embarazada por nueve meses con gemelos, de repente ya es hora de que nazcan. El minuto que su hembra y barón nace, los llevan lejos de usted y nunca los vuelve a ver. La ansiedad de la separación comienza, y una máquina se coloca sobre tus pechos, para ordeñarle, la inchazón comienza, sus senos están doloridos y usted comienza a tener sequedad. Usted adquiere mastitis, y usted está en dolor. Los antibióticos son parte de tu comida. Matan a su bebé baron después de sufrir por semanas y nunca ve vida otra vez, y él murió una muerte asustado. Alimentan a su muchacha el colostro de alguna otra mujer, y ella se espera que viva una vida similar a la que usted sabe, esperando proporcionar la leche como una máquina. Y la inseminarán algún día artificial para el proceso, y le dan hormonas del crecimiento para así que ella puede hacerlo tan pronto como venga su primer menstruación. Su fluído corporal infectado, con sangre, varios diversos antibióticos, leche llenada pus se alimenta a otros especies. En su amantamiento, usted tiene hambre extraordinariamente, usted come lo que él lanza en el piso para usted cada día, donde la otra mujer está sangrando, y ordeñan justo como usted. Todos en cuartos cercanos, todos los excrementos de comer, y las sobras. Algo
similar a esto es qué sucede en fábricas corporativas. Las vacas sufren ansiedad de la separación de su bebes. El recuento es repugnante, pero si usted consume alguna leche de una vaca, o carne de animal, eso es lo que usted está consumiendo. Ansiedad, miedo y muerte, pus, hormonas y antibióticos.


There are many vegan websites. Be analytical, search for the truth. I have yet to figure out which is the best, but there is plenty of information in all. Best of all most of the information is free!

Veg Source, this is the VegSource website, tons of great links
vegweb.com,, Great recipe website!
blackvegetarians.org, A Black Vegetarians Website!
PETA.com, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
PCRM.org, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine(PCRM)
Animal Liberation Front.com Philosophy, Religion, History!
http://www.drmcdougall.com Dr. McDougall Newsletter
About Famous Veggies
vegancooking.com,Cooking Spot!
Vegan Outreach.org, for the activists!
Vegan Porn, am I for real?

This is good for now, Enjoy!



A day like today, I was reading the pages of the Internet, looking
for information in nursing. Then I found myself with a very informative
page on the cow's milk and how it is inappropriate for our diet.
Who do you know is allergic to the penicillin? I know my mother, and she explained to me once how her hand was swollen, and how she must avoid this pill. What would you think if you knew that the food you eat is injected with penicillin. Now you are eating parts of penicillin, the same pill that you are trying to avoid. Your body is not a healthy one, and although you try to be in diets, none work. They do not work because you are eating these same meats and milk, which put to you in that situation. Read the pages of the Internet that speak about how a vegan diet can heal you. It helps you with the diabetes, you avoid cancer, you lose weight, and gain tons of energy. I feel with energy these days. I have always had problems with low hemoglobin, and it does make me weak. I have not felt that weakness in years!


Un día como hoy, estaba leyendo yo las páginas del Internet, buscando información en amamantar. Entonces me encontré con una pagina muy informativa sobre la leche de vaca y como es inapropiada para nuestra dieta. ¿Cuanto de ustedes conocen a alguien que es alérgico a la penicilina? Yo conozco a mi mama, me explico como una vez a ella se le hinchó la mano, y tiene que evitar esta pastilla. Que pensarías si sabrías que a la comida que tu comes le inyectan eso mismo, penicilina. Ahora estas comiendo rasgos de una pastilla que siempre estas tratando de evitar. Tu cuerpo no esta sano, y aunque tratas de estar en dietas, ninguna funciona. No funcionas si estas comiendo carnes y leches, por que eso fue lo mismo que te puso en esa situación. Lee las paginas del Internet que hablan sobre como la dieta vegana te puede sanar. Te ayuda con la diabetes, evitas el cáncer, pierdes peso, y ganas mucha energía. Yo me siento con más energía en estos días. Siempre he tenido problemas con la hemoglobina, y me hace débil. ¡No he sentido esa debilidad en años!

Sunday, June 19

Armando Torres Gonzalez Part II


Happy Fathers Day!

On the last post of April 17, 2009, Armando Torres Gonzalez, the first version, I had asked for suggestions, which I received all the answers to, not because of the post, but because the universe helped me find the answer in the internet. Many things have occured since that time.

We found his tombstone, in Kenilworth, New Jersey, as Nicolas put it under 2 feet of snow. Armando died in East Orange, New Jersey from obstructive pulmonary disease. His father was a cuatro player. He recounts vivid memories of his father teaching him how to play the cuatro. We confirmed his date of birth and death, and through an ancestry search I found his grandparents names, Domingo Torres, and Carmen Gonzalez, and the parents of Domingo, Carlos Torres and Maria Galarza. He was from Utuado.

I tried reaching out to his family, even found some names that are possible on facebook, but I have yet to receive a response. Maybe the mystery will continue to unfold, and we will know just how far out our tree expands.

Friday, June 17

Victor is now 3 years old!

I can't believe it has been now almost 3 years since my youngest child was born. We went to a well visit last week, and he is about the 30th percentile in both height and weight. He has been consistent in his growth journey and has met his milestones for a 3 year old.

The VBAC, throughout his pregnancy, I ensure to read tons of positive birth stories, use my hypnobabies CDs, and change from an OB to a midwife. I am fortunate that it worked, and I am happy I can live and tell the story about my sucessful birth that was unmedicated and natural.



The only constant in my life is change. My willingness to learn, and my willingness to change is never dormant, and I take on the challenge to change my life today, and everyday, for the betterment of my two boys, which I love with all my heart.

Wednesday, June 15

The family tree, and geni.com


April 2009, I decided to go on a search for the immediate Torres family, the brothers and sisters for my significant other, and that prompted me to search within ancestry.com. During that time, not only did I find information about the Torres family, but I found information about the Monclova, Lebron, and De Jesus family. The Calo family stopped with the names of my uncles.

On or about May 19, 2011, I received the most unexpected message from a Calo family member. The website, geni.com, is a place where you can start a family tree, and your family tree recognizes names from other family trees, it begins to grow, and connect to other family trees that other family members started. My family tree, from my mother family side just expanded about 40 more names, dead and alive! I am very excited and happy that I can now share information about the family with more cousins around the country, so Texas, here I come!

Fortunately, last year I traveled to Florida, and was impressed and happy to reconnect, and connect with family that lived in Rockledge, Tampa, and Fort Myers in Florida. What is amazing is that I have family that lives closer, that actually live in New Jersey and close to the Bronx, and don't forget the other Long Island, and Staten Island, that I have not had in depth conversation yet, or did have a conversation with but have not had a chance to visit with.

No need to despair, the moment will be here, and I will enjoy getting to know more of my cousins and probably find pictures of what my great grandparents, and great aunts and uncles looked like. So my cousins, if you are reading this, please share your history with us on geni.com, so we can see how far and wide our family expands!

Wednesday, June 1

North Newark Urban Garden

Hello!

I wanted to let everyone know about a new project I have been working on for the past month.

It is called "North Newark Urban Garden"

I have two friends joining forces with me, as well as any other volunteers, such as my kids, and my hubby. They have been very helpful and supportive of the idea.

The intention of the garden is multiple, but mainly it is a community service idea, to help beautify the neighborhood, create a bond in the neighborhood, encourage everyone to eat healthier, and provide the opportunity to learn about gardening, where does the food come from.

If you would like to know what we are doing, how you can help, and contribute to this amazing idea, please feel free to e-mail us at newarkurbangarden@gmail.com

You can follow us on twitter, subscribe to our youtube channel, friend us on facebook, or join our group page.

www.facebook.com/NewarkUrbanGarden
www.twitter.com/NwkUrbanGarden
www.youtube.com/NewarkUrbanGarden

Thanks,
Boriquita Comments