Adoption journey

Over the past year, the Lord has been growing, teaching, and challenging our family in so many ways! We are responding to the Lord's leading and are expanding our family through the adoption of a precious baby!

Monday, December 4, 2017

Ktichen Appliance Obsession

  4 years ago, I had an unhealthy obsession and wrote this blog post on my favorite kitchen appliance. My obsession with my bread machine resulted in almost daily use for homemade pizza, cinnamon rolls, French bread dough, rolls (I really just used the dough function;), as well as adding dozens of unwanted pounds, gut health problems, candida, and unhealthy bodies. In an apparent act of fate, one day while my bread machine was kneading dough, it decided it was no longer going to contribute to our bread addiction and it teetered off my kitchen counter! Upon hearing the crash, I walked in the kitchen to find what looked like a bread maker car accident on my ceramic tile floor! I was devastated at the time, but can look back and realize it was time to ditch our bread habit and go grain free.




Now several years later, our bodies are much healthier on our paleo diet and we have no need for a bread machine... but I am now quite hooked on 2 other kitchen appliances. One is an oldie but goody that I received as a gift in 2005, and I still use daily... my VitaMix.

We make smoothies, shakes, slushies, real fruit popsicles, plantain pancake batter, ice cream and more! Who needs juicing when I can throw in the whole fruit and vegetable in my 2 horsepower motor blender and get the benefits of the whole food!
Frozen strawberries + bananas in the Vitamix = Yummy strawberry ice cream!
Second, my Instantpot, is relatively new to my kitchen, since it only arrived a year and a half ago. But it's been working hard making bone broth weekly, as well as many other yummy dinners, like baked chicken, stew, beans, coconut milk yogurt, and the most AMAZING silken white sweet potatoes to ever grace your lips.


This amazing machine is every mama's dream for food prep! I used to stink up my entire home while simmering bone broth for 48 hours in my crock pot. Instantpot wins the race there in 120 minutes! How many of us forget to thaw our the chicken until dinner time? Instantpot saves the day by cooking meats from frozen! Our favorite Japanese sweet potatoes cook in 10 minutes!! All the mamas with hungry kiddos rejoice!!
bone broth
Anyone else a bit obsessed with a kitchen appliance??
Share your favorite appliance and how it makes your life easier!!

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Our health roller coaster

FOUR years ago. We had just brought home our fourth SON. Life was a whirlwind of excitement, exhaustion, fun, chaos, silliness, sickness, sleepless nights and I was desperate for help, sleep and healthy kids.

BACK STORY
When our oldest was born a month early via C-section, he was healthy but struggled with all the "typical" issues, like colic and reflux. Our first pediatrician put him on multiple reflux drugs, one was a horrible neuro-inhibitor and is now off the market. We saw our baby react to the drug with a panic attack at just 1 month old... scary and sad. Right after his 1 year vaccines, he began getting sick all the time and suffered for months with chronic ear infections, was on round after round of antibiotics and eventually had surgery to put tubes in his ears. This was only a temporary fix and ear infections continued to be the norm in his life for many years.

Antibiotics, antihistamines, NSAIDS/Ibuprofen/Tylenol, acid reducers were commonly used medications in our home. I had grown up learning that there was a medicine for every issue, illness or injury. I had constant allergies, bronchitis several times a year and difficulties with asthma. I developed a medicinal stomach ulcer (at 17 years old) from drugs given after wisdom teeth surgery. I still remember reacting (with hallucinations) to a common antihistamine at the age of 5 years old. While I had seen many terrible reactions to drugs (OTC and pharmaceutical), it still took me awhile to wake up and learn that there is a better way to care for our health.

While we still saw allergic reactions to antibiotics (and vaccine reactions) with our 2nd and 3rd sons, we began waking up and trying to take a more natural approach to health and diet. Our middle sons have only been on antibiotics once in their lives because we stopped taking medicines... I even gave up the Tylenol PM that I relied on nightly for sleep and the Neosporin that I applied on every skin issue and boo boo.

We arrived at this point THREE years ago, DONE with medicines, pharmaceuticals and tired of putting temporary bandaids on health issues. We decided to make choices for REAL health, not just having the appearance of health in between the typical 11-12 sicknesses a year that pediatricians say is the norm!

With the help of an incredible doctors, chiropractors and my amazing oily friend Sarah, our family changed our diet to REAL foods, started regular chiropractic care and began using Young Living essential oils and supplements to support healthy body systems. Through balancing our digestive/gut health and supporting our immune systems, we have seen significant health improvements!

No one in our family has taken antibiotics in about 5 years. I no longer struggle with asthma, don't get bronchitis, have a balanceed digestive system, healthy weight and I SLEEP deeply and wonderfully! My oldest son, who was having bimonthly ear infections, hasn't had an ear infection in a year.

Our youngest son has reaped the benefits of all of our trial and error parenting of his older siblings. He has always had a clean real food paleo diet, super nourishing Weston A. Price goat milk formula, has never needed medicines or vaccines, and is the picture of health and strength... super hero strength!

Thankful for the ability to take control our health and see true health and freedom!!