The Great Debate (well at least one of them)-WARNING- a VERY LONG post

Recently there has been question of the possible Chicken Pox virus going through our circle of friend’s kids and along with it I am faced with having to defend my position on choosing to not vaccinate my kids (I’m officially announcing it on our blog- what is your initial reaction???). It’s not just the Chicken Pox that I am choosing not to give them but also most all the childhood illnesses that they routinely get vaccinated against. (I know, sacrilegious right!?!?!) It’s amazing how quickly one seems to offend and turn off friends and other individuals when you say that you choose not to vaccinate. In some ways it’s like people now view my kids as “contaminated” and that they potentially pose a risk to other’s kids because of this choice. I feel that I need to share a small bit of why I have come to this conclusion. I preface all of this by saying that I in no way, shape, or form, look down upon anyone else’s decision to vaccinate or not. I, like all moms, am only trying to do what I think is best for my girls. I also admit that I am still learning and my mind is not totally made up on how I feel about vaccines. As I learn more, there is a chance that I will change my views, but at this point I am erring on the side of caution and to wait. I only ask that you at least have an open mind and seek to educate yourself on what way is best for your family. BTW, this will be a long post and will not even closely include all of the information that has been written on this subject.


I have only come to this decision within the last year. Being from a medical background, where vaccines do play an important role, I was 100% for them and totally thought other’s that chose to not vaccinate were foolish and playing a risky game. I still believe that vaccines in veterinary medicine are needed, however I feel we way over vaccinate- but that is another, long, blog post….. I began feeling uncertainty about the vaccines when Morganne hit about 18 months old. Let’s call it a gut feeling, but maybe it was God’s nudging too. So, when Kaelynn was born, I already knew I at least wanted to do a delayed vaccine schedule and space everything out. It wasn’t until Kaelynn was about 9 months old that I felt that my “gut” was truly telling me to stop vaccinating all together (at least for now) after I had done only a small amount of research. Most doctors just “do vaccines”. I’m guessing very little to none of you reading this were explained the why’s and possible side effects of the vaccines that your kids got when they were little. If you did, then you have an incredible doctor. Even our GP, who I adore, just “did” the vaccines. I’m at least grateful she is open to my ideas and appreciates my concerns and if not supports, at least accepts, my decision to not vaccinate at this time. To try and keep this blog post as short as possible (though it’s going to be VERY LONG regardless), I’m just going to list some of the reasons I choose not to vaccinate or my thoughts on the situation. Remember, I’m still researching and there is a TON of information out there.

• First off, there is no one “true” right way. Both sides can not prove which side is “healthier” or “safer” at this time. With that being said, and that our own family doctor (who routinely vaccinates following the CDC guidelines) also admits that she can’t prove my doubts wrong, I’m more apt to stay away from something certain that could bring negative side effects (vaccines) instead of take the chance that my kids could get an illness, in which they would most likely survive just fine and develop natural immunity to. Also, most of the childhood diseases that we vaccinate against (i.e. Chicken pox, measles, rubella, mumps, diphtheria, etc.), though can have a small risk of severe side effects (which so can taking Tylenol) are mostly benign and they survive just fine after a week or so of feeling crummy. (Educate yourself on these diseases and you decide the risk.)

• “Vaccines cured Polio”- well maybe not. Studies show (look them up) that as with all virus courses, Polio was possibly dying itself out, at the same time the vaccine was introduced. So, did the vaccines actually stop Polio, or did it die out naturally? You’ll have to see the graphs to truly appreciate this.

• Vaccines have side effects. Not only do you have the immediate ones such as fever, injection site reactions, vomiting and diarrhea, not to mention the more severe immediate ones like seizures, anaphylactic reaction and death (read the vaccine information), but they could potentially have long term side effects too. There is a lot of thought that auto-immune reactions are linked with vaccines, as well as thyroid disorders, childhood diabetes, allergic reactions, and of course mental/behavioral disorders (though I know Autism has been debunked, it still could possibly be linked, we just don’t know it yet). Relating side effects to vaccines has been tough, and though they may be or not be linked, most parent’s and doctors miss the possible connection.

• Unlike with medications, we use the same dose of vaccine no matter how small or big the patient. A 2 month old premie, gets the same vaccine dose as a regular baby, a child, and an adult. How does this seem right when the immune system isn’t fully developed until around age 12 years? Actually the Dtap (child) and dtap (adult) vaccines are are the same virus’, but the “D” in the child’s version means that it is a higher strength version. Also, why do kids need the Dtap vaccine at 2 mos, 4 mos, 6 mos, 15 mos, and 5 years, when adults only need it every 10 years?

• In 1950, when vaccines really hit the seen most kids received around 12 vaccines by age 6. In 1982, when I was born, we received around 23 vaccines by age 6. Today, by age 6, they receive 47 (including the flu shot only once). Most of these are by the age of 3. This does not count amount of shots they get, it’s vaccines, which are routinely combined within one injection. Don’t believe me, check out the rec’d CDC vaccine schedule at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/child/0-6yrs-schedule-pr.pdf

This just seems like a lot for their immature immune systems to take on all at once. Also, with this and the effect on the immune system, how “natural” is it that a person is exposed to 8 major virus’ at one time? Like at the visit where they get 8 vaccines at one time- at 2 MONTHS OLD!?!?!?!

• Vaccines routinely include preservatives such as Formaldehyde (which is a known carcinogen), MSG (which my father, if given a vaccine with this in it, could have a severe anaphylactic reaction, as well as many unsuspecting individuals out there. We try not to eat the stuff, I sure don’t want it injected in me.), 2-phenoxyethanol (which is in antifreeze, solvents, detergents and emulsifiers, and crosses the blood brain barrier), among many others. Not to mention Thimerosal (Mercury) which is still in Heb B and the annual flu shots!!!

• Vaccines such as the MMR and the Chicken Pox vaccine also include aborted fetal tissue which includes DNA and protein. Check out the ingredients list on the Varicella vaccine Verivax website http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/v/varivax/varivax_ppi.pdf. It includes MRC-5 which is an aborted 14 week old male fetal lung tissue. There is also WI-38 in some vaccines which is 3 month old female fetal lung tissue. As a mom and a Christian this is just hard to swallow, not to mention knowing that it is injected into my daughters.

• Lastly, and to what I think is most important in my doubts, is the effectiveness of long term immunity health from vaccines. Scientists truly don’t know how long vaccine immunity lasts. So, take the Chicken Pox vaccine, given at 2 years old, they now recommend a booster sometime in middle school. There is no way of knowing if the vaccine immunity will last into adulthood, where getting Chicken Pox is then potentially life threatening. We have seen life time immunity to those of us that got it naturally, however, and when our immune systems are “naturally boostered” when we get exposed to the virus at different times during our life. Also, along this line, no vaccine is 100%. They only estimate on average they are 70-80% effective which means even though your child is vaccinated, they could still get, and pass along the virus.

This list is by far all of the doubting factors that I have read and continue to learn about. I don’t like the thought that in 20-30 years, after my children’s generation of getting nearly 50 vaccines by the age of 6, we might start seeing the potential side effects of this way of thinking. I don’t underestimate the seriousness of these diseases that we are trying to prevent (though I also don’t think that financial gain isn’t also part of the equation- more on that maybe later), but I also worry about the side effects that we have not seen yet. Vaccines, and the diseases they are supposed to prevent, scare me. I hope that if you took the time to read this long blog post you will at least decide to do some research yourself and make an educated decision. It’s not something to take lightly. Take charge of your health and that of your children’s. God only gave us this one chance on Earth.

BTW, I hope I have not "offended" anyone.

Love this.

Love this post from our dear friend, Lisa, about her amazing 2nd grader, Shannon.  Oh to have the faith and purity of a child. 
http://jasonlisashannonjones.blogspot.com/2011/07/faith-through-shannons-eyes.html



Some pictures from the 4th! I know, it's a little late.... 

 Making smores with Daddy, note Morganne shielding her face from the heat.  She said that she didn't like camp fires, or smores :cP

 Posing for a pic with one of their favorite people, Miss Amanda.

 So rotten- both of them!

 Loving Aunt B!

A lesson in selfishness (again) and big changes

About 2-3 times a year I go through a mental slump where I stress about the position our family is in financially.  I've blogged on here about it before and we've had tremendous encouraging support from our friends and family.  So much so that I've often been humbled (again and again) by the words and monetary encouragement.  I truly don't blog to get responses, especially monetarily, it's more a way of sharing my thoughts and reflecting on my current perspective.  I love friend's and family's input, and it's often these words that get me to snap our of my selfish slump and realize the blessings that God has indeed bestowed upon us.  We are truly blessed.  I know I say that a lot, but we are allowed to brag about God and that is what I'm doing when I say that we are blessed.
A couple weeks ago an opportunity arose.  I believe this world functions majorly based on who you know in life.  God puts people in your path to help open doors and  I believe it's our place to either use those new entrances, help other's use them, or let them pass by.   Well, a good friend of ours told us of a possible job availability at the local Bobcat company.  Our friend is close with the owner of the company and really put in a good word for Justin.  We contacted Bobcat and an interview was scheduled.  The interview went great and Justin and I were super excited.  Finally, a chance to get out of Home Depot, a chance for a pay raise, and something to look forward to.  I have not seen Justin so excited about something in many years.  He is miserable at Home Depot, but the pay is decent and the schedule allows him to maintain and develop his growing lawn care business- which he loves.  Over the past two years he has realized that his school path is not truly where he wants to be and isn't necessarily what God is calling him to do.  Even though he would be a great teacher someday, it's just not for him right now.  So, Justin has been battling the frustrating questions of "OK God, now what?  What am I supposed to do with my life?".  It's been weighing on Justin a lot and I will admit that I'm not a good support for him when I stress about money and unintentionally put what he feels as "blame" on his shoulders.  I am a very focused and forward thinking person.  School has always been preached to me and that is what I did so I thought this was the answer.  Problem is, if you don't know what direction you are going to go, school can be a big waste of time and money. 
So, Bobcat called us back and offered a job- yeah!  But wait, here's the rub, they were way below what we needed financially or so we thought.  With different hours, Justin will lose a lot of his lawn care business, which is huge extra income for us.  He will also not be off every other Friday to watch the girls which saves on daycare costs in the winter.  It's also not a step forward- which is truly where I thought this job (or his next job) would take us financially.  I was crushed, because here I had to be the "bad guy" and point out (while crying) that we just can't do it.  I thought there is no way, because we are already extremely tight and our goals of paying off debt is going painstakingly slow.  If Justin lost income, that would be a step in the wrong direction- right???  So, he very painfully, turned down this job the Saturday before the 4th.  This job was basically made for him by the way.  The Bobcat guys were only offering a part time gig, but after meeting Justin, they wanted him full time and tailored the job to everything that Justin has experience in and has loved about his last 3 places of employment.  He was SUPER excited about it.  This is when I ask God "WHY!?!?!?"  All weekend, I prayed and prayed, "please let Bobcat call back and raise their offering price!".  Well, they didn't. However Justin and I talked and we had a great talk.  I'm pretty sure that God wanted us to talk and this whole job opportunity thing was brought about if for nothing else than to open the doors of communication for us.  Justin told me something I needed to here.  He told me that school is not for him, at least not right now.  That is something that I need to accept and appreciate.  Justin is not me and I can't expect him to have the same way of thinking as I do.  We also crunched numbers and discussed our future a bit.  I realized that I was being very selfish thinking that Justin had to stay at HD in order to be better financially for our family- for me.  His happiness is worth more to me than money and it's not like he is taking a huge pay cut, he's just not advancing like I thought he would with his next job.  So, after our talk on Tuesday, he called Bobcat and told them that if the job was still available he would like to take it.  Ironically, the manager had already promised to two other interviews so he couldn't give him the job yet. He would let Justin know by Friday.  Huh, so now what.  Basically we knew that if he didn't get the job now, this is now what God had intended for us. But again, this whole situation was a good thing- at least for me.  Wednesday, Justin got a call from the Bobcat manager.  Apparently, the interview Wednesday morning was a flop and they didn't want to wait for the second interview because they wanted Justin for the job.  So, as of July 25th Justin will be employed at Bobcat of Indy North!  This position offers room for advancement within the company and Justin can totally see himself managing one of these locations someday.  Maybe that's what God has in store....  Either way, we know that God will provide and we appreciate the opportunity to rely on him in faith.  We are truly blessed.

Also, other big happenings for us lately, Justin just got a new (well new to us) truck.  I will post pics too.  It's big, it's red, and it it fits our family.  We needed something bigger to accommodate our family size (it's been over 6 months since I've ridden in his old truck due to not being comfortable from a car seat behind the passenger side) and also would allow for his lawn care business to continue.  He's scaling back due to the new job hours, but he still plans to maintain a few with the possibility of growing his business if opportunity arises.  I fretted about the new loan on this truck, but we feel it's a necessity and it's doable.
Kaelynn is now walking- finally.  She is following Morganne's milestones almost to exactly, being within 3 weeks of age of where Morganne accomplished these changes. 
We had a great fourth of July with family and friends.  The girls both loved the parade and fireworks.  Maybe I'll get around to posting pictures of that day soon. 
Anyhow, this was an extremely long blog post.  Thanks for sticking it out and allowing me to share my thoughts.  I hope you know that God is good He will take care of all of His children.