Chicken tortilla soup

Yum!  This is my  new favorite winter soup!  It's easy and so yummy!

What you need:
~ 1 small yellow onion, diced
~ 1 T. coconut oil
~ 4 cups chicken stock (I use homemade)
~ 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken (or more if you like it extra chicken-y!)
~ ½ bag frozen sweet corn
~ 2-3 cans Rotel (original)
~ ½ cup brown rice
~ 2 Tbsp. dried cilantro leaves
~ Salt to taste
~ Shredded cheese (we like Monterey Jack)
~ Sour cream
~ Flour tortillas (approx. 4 8" tortillas)

* In large soup pot, sautee onions in coconut oil.
* Add chicken stock and bring to boil.
* Add corn, rice and cilantro, reduce heat to medium and allow to cook at gentle boil for approximately 45 minutes (until rice is tender).
* Meanwhile, slice tortillas into 1" x 4" strips and bake on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 350 until crispy (be careful, they go from crispy to burnt really quickly!).
* Once rice is tender, add chicken, corn, Rotel and salt.
* Return to simmer and allow to heat thru.

Edited to add: You might need to add water as it's cooking to keep it the proper "soup" consistency!

Serve topped with shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream and crispy tortilla strips.

Cloth diapers - washing routine.

In case you missed it, here is my post on what our cloth diaper stash is like.

I sometimes get asked by people who don't cloth diaper about my washing routine and when I explain it, they realize that it's not nearly as yucky as one would think. So, I thought I'd tell you about it.

Wipes: Since we use cloth diapers we also use cloth wipes when at home. I do not pack cloth wipes for when we're out because I use wipes for a lot more than just wiping bottoms. We use disposable wipes for cleaning the kids' hands and faces after they've eaten, cleaning hands after playgrounds, etc. So, I just keep disposable wipes in the diaper bag. But, this is what my wipe stash at home looks like (I made them all from flannel (monkey, giraffe and plain yellow) with microfiber terry on the reverse):I use soapy bottom wipe solution cubes from Sweet Sydney Bean. And I LOVE them! I made my wipes the correct size to fit in a standard wipe container and used an overedge stitch so the flannel doesn't fray.

Pail: I use a dry pail method and have a pail right next to Rachael's changing table in her bedroom upstairs and I also have one in the garage. I keep a wetbag (I have one from Petunias and one a friend made as a gift) in the diaper bag and whenever we are out and I have to change a diaper. The changing table is just out of view to the left and the red trash can is for the few disposables we use.

Poop: When Rachael was exclusively breastfed, no rinsing was required because breastmilk poop is completely water soluble. Now that she eats solids (mostly table food) that is not the case. There is a difference in how I get rid of the poop depending on what kind of diaper she is in.
* If she has on a prefold, I do actually rinse the diaper in the toilet. To do this I put on a pair of rubber cleaning gloves, rinse several times until all solids have been removed, then wring out the water and toss it into the pail. I then scrub my cleaning gloves with soap and HOT water!
*If she has on a pocket diaper (BumGenius, Mommy's Touch, Rumparooz) that has a micro fleece or suede cloth lining, then the poop can usually just be flicked off into the toilet (no rinsing) then tossed into the pail. It only sticks to this kind of fiber if it's runny...

Washing: I typically wash every 2-3 days. As I'm loading the washer I pull out all inserts from the pocket diapers. I also try to start my wash at night before I go to bed so they can soak over night.
* Fill machine with cold water, about 2 T. of Bac-Out, let agitate and then soak over night. (My machine doesn't have a soak cycle option, so I set it to a regular cycle then leave the lid open, it will stop and soak after it's finished agitating).
* In the morning I close the lid and let it drain and spin -which takes about 1 minute (since I don't have the soak option, I stand by my machine, it stops for about 5 seconds in between the spin and drawing for the rinse, so this is where I open it again). Then I reset the machine to start a new load on heavy duty with a hot wash/cold rinse.
* I put in 1/2 a scoop of BioKleen free and clear powder detergent with 1/2 a scoop of OxiClean and let it wash like normal. (I only use the BioKleen on my diapers because it's pretty expensive, so we use a different free and clear detergent for our clothing BUT the box of BioKleen that I have has lasted me a whole year!!)

Drying: Everything except my covers goes into the dryer. I dry on high heat with NO softeners. I hang the covers on clip hangers on the rod in my laundry room and they are typically dry in about 20 minutes.

The only other thing I do is when everything is dry and I'm folding it all to put away, I go ahead and stuff all of the pocket diapers. This saves a ton of time when you're trying to change a wiggly baby - just grab the diaper and fasten it on, no stuffing necessary.

Shampoo Free, Do-Over

I did it! I've accomplished going shampoo-free!! If you don't remember my first attempt, here is my fail post.

I had lots of problems figuring out what mixture worked for me and the time it was taking to get it applied to my scalp/hair, so I gave up. Then, a few weeks later I realized I can't stand shampooing my hair every day and the way my hair gets so dependent on shampoo, otherwise my scalp turns into an oil slick. So, I decided to give it another go - that was on May 19 and I haven't looked back.

I finally found what works for me. I know this will seem like a lot of baking soda, but I have fairly thick hair. I use between 1/2 and 2/3 of a cup of baking soda. Using a funnel, I pour the baking soda into an old 13 oz. conditioner bottle, then fill with hot water - then shake to mix. Once my hair is wet, I slowly pour the mixture over my scalp while massaging it in with my other hand.

This method seems to work wonderfully for me. I have been washing every other day (except a few days when I was in Florida and had been at the beach and needed to clean on my off day) and then on the days I don't use the baking soda mixture, I rinse my hair really well with hot water. I have had no adjustment issues or oil problems and my eczema completely cleared up within a week of going off shampoo!!

I am still using a super moisturizing conditioner and a leave in cream on my ends because I haven't been able to quit those due to breakage and severe split ends - even with trying the apple cider vinegar rinse and other options I found.

As of right now, I am extremely happy with my scalp and this new cleaning method and plan to continue it indefinitely.

* Since I've been going thru quite a lot of baking soda I started buying the bulk (10#) bags at Costco and it seems that one bag will last between 4 and 6 months, depending on how much baking I do*

Garden update

I thought it was time I give you all an update on my garden. The following photos were taken about a week ago and everything is a bit bigger now.

* In the back, on the far left and just left of center (the tallest plants) are all tomatoes. This year I started them from seed in my kitchen window - they are all large red cherry and there are 5 plants. I started them a little later than I should have, but was still able to transplant them in mid-May. They have done really well so far and have a lot of fruit on them, I imagine they will be starting to ripen soon!
* In the back, just to the right of the tomatoes are 2 jalapeno plants but you can't really see them because they are hiding underneath the giant tomato plants. They are producing nicely and I'm harvesting about 2 peppers per week.
* In the center (the staked plants) are potatoes. I started them on my own from organic red potatoes - I did not use seed potatoes so I have no idea how they will turn out - it was more experiment than anything... They have not been hilled properly but they are quite tall and staked up to save ground/walking space.
* In the back right corner are Elite White peas that have not done well. I planted them mid-May also and they still aren't very tall and definitely are not producing. I haven't yanked them yet because I'm just waiting and I don't need the space yet.
* Just below the peas is a patch that has lettuce and cilantro. Yum! The cilantro is just about finished and I pulled up all but 2 plants today. The lettuce continues to be wonderful!
* The bushy section in the middle right in front is carrots. These are doing wonderfully, as well. I have dug up carrots 2 times since this photo was taken so they are starting to get a little sparse. I realize now that I really should have thinned them when they first sprouted because they are quite interesting looking. Some are curly and squished together and some are even twisted together because they were too close. They still taste yummy, though!
* Just to the left of the carrots is a strawberry plant. It's a bit hard to see because of the squash leaves. It's a very pretty plant that has grown nicely, but has only produced 3 strawberries, all yummy, but I'm not sure what's up with it...
* The last thing I want to tell you about is that squash plant. Here's a better photo:

YIKES! It's out of control. First off, this is actually only 2 plants. And they are from some seeds that Eli planted in a cup as a preschool activity. When he brought them home, I never in a million years thought they would amount to anything. But, then it sprouted and began to grow, so I transplanted it into the garden and apparently it REALLY likes it there! It was suppose to be a "pumpkin" plant (at least that's what the cup said), but it turns out it's yellow squash. It is producing nicely with about 10 squash on it right now. We will never be able to eat it all so we will be giving some of it away. Right now, there's one that needs picking that is nearly the diameter of a basketball and oval shaped. It doesn't have the long neck that squash usually have, but it's definitely squash and NOT pumpkin!

I'm not exaggerating when I say that this squash plant grows at least an inch a day!

Shampoo free: Weeks 2 and 3

I realized that I never gave you the gist of what my hair type is. My hair is moderately thick, medium brown (all natural), approximately 6 inches below my shoulders, semi-curly, but also easily straightened, and in DIRE need of a trim. Even before I stopped using shampoo, I was having to flat iron it just to get it to be un-fuzzy on the ends (I think that's a pretty good sign you need a trim), but haven't been able to get an appointment because Michael has been working 12 hour days and taking all 3 kids with me really isn't a viable option, so I wait...

If you missed last week's post about my first week of going shampoo free, you can read it here.

Here's how this week went:

Sunday - no wash because I knew I was going to the gym Monday morning (I typically wash at night)
Monday afternoon - baking soda wash with vinegar rinse
Tuesday night - baking soda wash and I went back to using conditioner on the ends because of the whole desperate need for a haircut issue; then I brushed it out and let it air dry; also, I used baking soda again today because it seemed and looked insanely oily
Wednesday night - HOT wash, conditioner and leavin cream; brush and mostly air dried (finished it off with the blow dryer so I could go to bed)
Thursday - no wash
Friday - baking soday wash, conditioner, leave in cream, brushed out , air dried completely then only used a comb until next wash.
Saturday - baking soda wash, conditioner, leave in cream, brushed out and blow dried

At the end of this week I am seeing decent hair. It seems/feels a bit oily, but doesn't really look oily and I know a little oil is normal so I'm not too worried about it. All-in-all I think my scalp is reacting nicely and I'm not feeling like an oil slick. And my scalp is completely clear of eczema!!! Hooray!

The only issue I'm really having is how time consuming it is to 'wash' my hair. I've played around with different dilution/solution of the baking soda and water mixture and the mixture that works best for me is a very thick paste. Then I section my hair off (like you would if you were flat ironing or blow drying with a round brush) and rub the paste into my entire scalp section by section. I've tried just dumping it on and rubbing it in, but that doesn't seem to get very good coverage and I end up with spots that aren't clean, so the section method seems to be the best for me and it's extremely time consuming. It takes me approximately 10 minutes (usually 15) just to get my scalp covered in the mixture and rubbed in. I've tried doing it after I've gotten in the shower and wet my hair, I've tried drawing a bath and rubbing it in with dry hair and with wet hair and I've tried just standing in the dry shower and rubbing it in dry hair and can't seem to find a method that's any faster....

Week 3

Sunday - no wash because of gym Monday morning
Monday afternoon - baking soda wash, conditioner, leave in cream, brushed out and air dried
Tuesday evening - FAIL - I gave up. I absolutely couldn't stand how long it was taking me to wash my hair. So I will be open to suggestions! I really think my scalp was doing well and I liked how my hair was responding, so I'm willing to go it again if someone can help me on the time consuming factor.

Side note - I did finally get my hair trimmed on Friday afternoon!!!

Homemade baby food - price breakdown

Last week I gave you a general run down on how to make your own baby food and I'm wrapping up the subject this week with a cost comparison on conventional baby food vs. homemade.

Keep in mind, these are prices in Colorado for mostly in-season produce (typically in-season produce is less expensive, and locally grown or from your farmer's market is even better priced).

The prices below are broken down based on how much Rachael (7 mo.) is currently eating.

*Bananas: 6 semi-large @ $.69/lb. = $3.03

Total servings = 12
*Sweet pots: 2 large @ $1.59/lb = $1.87

Total servings = 12
*Butternut squash: 1 medium size @ $1.49/lb = $3.01

Total servings = 15
*Avocado: 6 semi-large @ $5.99 (bag from Costco)

Total servings = 24

Total spent: $13.90 for 63 servings

Earth's Best baby food jars (this is the brand I would buy if I bought conventional baby food, you may wish to substitute the price of your favorite brand in place of this for a more accurate price comparison):
*1st foods: $.69/jar; 2 jars = 1 serving (63 x 2=126 jars)

Total spent = $86.94
*2nd foods: $.89/jar; 1.5 jars = 1 serving (63 x 1.5 = 94.5 jars)

Total spent = $84.11

Using an average of the two different sizes of jars the difference is incredible.

$85.53
-$13.90
$71.63 (this is the amount I saved for 1 month's supply of food, it is 18% of my grocery budget!!!!)

I have not included the cost of cereal for breakfast (and to mix in when veggies have gotten too soupy from too much water added during pureeing) because Rachael receives WIC, so we do use conventional cereal because it is provided for free. For added accuracy, add in the cost of how many boxes of cereal your little one goes thru in one month and then calculate the difference. It's still substantial if you do buy cereal.

Be sure to visit Frugal Friday for more wonderfully frugal tips!

Shampoo free: Week 1

Well, I have taken the plunge and am no longer using shampoo! I know, you're probably thinking I'm crazy, but let me assure you I am still "washing" my hair!

For a very detailed post on the how's and why's, you can go here. The basics are washing with a baking soda and water mixture and conditioning with an apple cider vinegar and water mixture every other day to begin with (with a plain hot water wash on the other days). Then moving to only washing with baking soda when you actually need it.

And for a few extras, you can go here.

My reasons for making the switch are pretty straightforward. Sure, environmental factors played a part, but the most important reason for me is eczema. I have pretty bad eczema on my scalp and NOTHING I have tried (and I have tried all sorts of shampoos with herbal treatments, eczema shampoos, organic/natural, etc.) has had long term success. In fact, a lot of shampoos made it much worse. I figured this method was as close to natural as I'm going to get because the ultimate goal - once your scalp has been weaned off of traditional shampoos- is only washing 1-2 times per week!!

This week was my first week of shampoo free living. I'm still weaning my hair and scalp off of conventional products so the first few days I continued to use conditioner on my ends.

Sunday evening - baking soda paste, condition with anti-breakage conditioner
Monday evening - HOT water wash, condition with anti-breakage conditioner
Tuesday evening - baking soda paste, condition with anti-breakage conditioner
Wednesday afternoon - HOT water wash, no conditioning
Thursday - no wash
Friday afternoon - baking soda paste, condition with apple cider vinegar rinse
Saturday evening - baking soda paste, apple cider vinegar rinse

Also, Saturday evening was my first attempt at letting my hair dry with out brushing it while wet.

Results after week 1:
* My scalp is a tad oily, this is just my body trying to figure out what my natural oil production should be.
* My hair dries faster
* I have softer hair once it's dry.
* Finger picking thru my hair to get out major tangles doesn't cause nearly as much breakage as brushing
* Letting my hair dry is hard to do, but the texture of my hair is so much better when it's air dried

My natural hair type is fine, frizzy and semi-curly. I'm hoping that the frizzies are tamed once my natural oils are spread to the ends and my hair will actually be the nice kind of curly, rather than the crazy kind!!!

Bittersweet

After 6 months, it is time for Rachael to bid adieu to mommy's milk. If you've been reading here for a while, you know that she hasn't nursed since we were in the hospital, so that means that I have been exclusively pumping for just under 6 months - and I have three kids.

In the early days, I thought about just giving up (cold turkey) EVERY SINGLE DAY. I just kept telling myself I could make it another week and up until recently, it worked. After some recent out of town travels and full day outings, I've realized that it's just too much to keep up with now. Imagine keeping up with 3 kids, the house, running all of the errands, feeding the baby AND pumping every 3 hours - 5/6 times per day - at roughly 30 minutes per session (this includes rinsing pump parts and storing milk). Lugging my pump around and pumping in really odd places (the van, grandparents' home) and having to plan so much ahead for everything has gotten the better of me.

I've cut back to 3 times a day and I'm dropping one pumping each Saturday. In just over two weeks will be the end for me. Rachael has been receiving a bottle of formula at bedtime since she was itty-bitty and I have enough milk stored to gradually switch her to formula over the next month.

One of the more difficult parts of this change is that I will never again have the pleasure of providing this type of nourishment for a child - because there will be no more children for me (at least not biological children). In the end, I know this is what is good for my family right now. I am thankful that I have been able to provide the best nutrition for her as long as I have.

The trouble with the internet

Just before we left to go to Florida I hurt my back. I have no idea what I did because I simply woke up one morning and it was awfully painful. Probably not something that could have happened from rough sleep.

That was 3.5 weeks ago and it still hurts. I have tried taking it very easy and just sitting around. I've tried HOT baths, heating pads, tylenol, exercising, heeled shoes, flats, sneakers, etc. I've even taken some Percocet I had left over from my c-section with Rachael and nothing seems to help for more than a few minutes. Constant movement seems to help a bit, the only thing that actually relieves the pain is lying down on my side (but it comes right back when I get up) and with 3 kids I just can't do either of those all day.

It's HORRIBLE lumbar pain and it's also causing sciatica (no I'm not pregnant). The sciatica is not constant, but the lumbar pain is. I'll tell you that this pain is about a 9 (out of 10) and for me that's terrible, especially since I have a very high tolerance for pain. Oy!

I'm going to call while the kids are napping this afternoon to try to get an appt. with my dr. (or maybe the chiropractor), but I think I've already diagnosed myself. That brings us to the title of this post... a person could really convince herself she was certainly dying by googling/webmd-ing her symptoms. I can't imagine what all kind of crazy things people see doctors thinking they have, simply because they spent a little too much time on the internet. I do think these resources are invaluable for learning more about a condition or diagnosis already received or an upcoming procedure, etc., but be careful.

Back to my self-diagnosis... I think I have a herniated disc in the lumbar region. My mom recently had surgery to repair a herniated disc in the same area and my symptoms are very similar to hers. According to webmd, I have the exact symptoms of a herniated disc.... ugh.

We'll see, though. I'm not a doctor, so I will go see him for a proper/correct diagnosis and treatment plan.

I'm still around.

Yep, I'm still here. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We had Michael's dad and step-mom visiting from Australia all week.

Also, we've all had a very nasty cold that turned into sinus infections for Jacob and me. I'm feeling a bit better and trying to tough it out with only the humidifier, lots of water and tylenol - because of breastfeeding. But, poor Jacob seems to feel extra horrible. He has a sinus headache, earache, congestion in head and chest and several other things hurt - and he's had a fever (which I never had). He has an appointment to see the pediatrician this morning - hmmm, now that I think about it, maybe it's the flu..... ICK. I'm going to have Rachael weighed while we're there - I have NO CLUE how much she weighs, not even a guess.

We did have a wonderful Christmas (especially since Michael got to spend time with his dad, whom he only gets to see once a year) and the boys absolutely loved getting to spend time with grandma and papa!! I enjoyed the time to visit and fellowship, as well.

I'm hoping to get a Christmas post up this week and I have a Kitchen Tip coming tomorrow.

It's only because Michael is away...

Last Saturday I got up (after Michael let me sleep in) and was informed that Eli had thrown up a few times that morning. However, he never got sick again that day so I never really thought much more about it, which was good because Michael left for a 2 week TDY on Sunday morning. Then on Wednesday Eli woke up with these bumps all over his legs. I thought maybe there was some sort of bug in his bed or something and washed his sheets, etc. (oh, and we drove to Denver on Wednesday to pick up my grandmother from the airport - she's visiting for 9 days). But on Thursday the bumps had all turned red, become super itchy and started swelling into welts - and there was diarrhea - ICK. So, I got online and scheduled him an appt. for the next morning (then I connected the dots back to the vomiting on Saturday).

Friday morning I took him in and was told it was just a virus of some sort that had caused him hives. She told me to give him Benadryl (which I haven't done) and gave me some cortisone cream to put on his legs (that helped a ton and he's all better now). And we thought that was the end of the bug.

Friday night (actually this morning) around midnight Jacob came in to tell me he was throwing up.... ugh. He proceeded to throw up a couple of times an hour until about 7:30 this morning and has been gradually eating more and seemed fine at bedtime.

My grandmother and I had felt fine the whole time and we've been keeping Rachael AWAY from the boys and there's tons of handwashing and sanitizing going on in our house. I made a trip out tonight because my grandmother volunteered to watch the kids so I could run some errands. I was gone about an hour and a half and when I returned my grandmother was sick..... UGH again. I feel so bad for her - she came to visit and help me out a little while Michael is gone and now she's sick. She went to bed when I got home (she let me take a nap earlier and I feel fine) so she could rest and hopefully she'll feel better in the morning since the vomiting doesn't seem to last too long.

Currently Rachael and I are fine and I pray we stay that way. She's breastfed so I'm hoping that even if I do get sick, she'll get all the antibodies from what my body is trying to fight off and she won't get sick. Rachael vomiting that much would surely mean a trip to the ER because she's just too small to be that sick.

Please pray for our household.

Birth control - I'm overwhelmed

I had my follow up from the blood clot, hemorrhaging and D&C last Tuesday and I left feeling totally overwhelmed and so very sad (don't worry it's not post partum depression). The dr. and I discussed how well I've recovered from everything and how I just feel tremendously different and BETTER! He scheduled me for another CAT scan as a follow up and I'll need some more blood work to test for genetic clotting factors after I've finished my treatment for the clot in my lung - in a year.

But we also discussed the fact that due to the complications I've faced after my last 2 births, it is in my best interest to NEVER get pregnant again. My mind knows that this is best, because truly, another birth could cost me my life and I'm not okay with that. However, my heart hurts so badly right now that I'm tearing up just typing this post.

Michael and I had been discussing having another child and I was pretty certain that was the direction God was leading us (guess I had that one all wrong).

CAVEAT: I know not everyone will believe the same way I do about birth control, so please just take this as my own personal conviction and not a judgement against anyone else's choice for birth control. What's right for me is not right for everyone and I understand that.

So, birth control was discussed in depth and I have to say that this dr. was very accomodating to our beliefs. I WON'T do hormonal birth control (pills, IUD, Nuva Ring, etc.) for several reasons: * our hormones were never intended to be messed with just to prevent a pregnancy, * I am a high risk for another clot and therefore cannot take certain hormonal varieties anyway, * The other huge problem I have is the abortafacient factor in that most birth control varieties make the lining of the uterus un-hospitable for a fertilized egg to implant - basically meaning that if you do happen to ovulate on the pill and you have a fertilized egg, your uterus cannot accept the egg because the lining isn't thick enough to allow it to implant, thus aborting the baby - granted you'd never know it happened, but I could not live with the thought that I could possibly be aborting babies unknowingly.

In the past, we've relied solely on the barrier method and charting (NFP concepts) and have only gotten pregnant when it was planned and we knew God was directing us that the timing was right to begin 'trying'. However, that is no longer good enough, because no matter how perfectly you use your 'barrier' and how accurately you chart your temperature, mucus and other fertility signs, there is still a decent chance of getting pregnant. For most people an unplanned pregnancy would be ok - while maybe not an ideal circumstance, life would go on and adjustments would be made and things would turn out ok in the end. For me, this is definitely not the case - things likely would NOT turn out ok in the end if I were to get pregnant again.

So, we are left with permanent birth control as our only option. And it's not me who will have to have the procedure. My body cannot endure another surgery (possibly for the entirety of my life) and a tubal ligation is done under general anesthesia as a laparascopic procedure. So, we're down to one last option - a vasectomy. I think it scares me as much as it does Michael. The dr. even said, "call me when he's ready for a consult and I'll put in the referral to the urologist for him." Oy - he's totally serious that we do something quickly.

In a perfect situation we would be older making this decision. But since neither of us is even 30 yet, it's very difficult. Our biggest concern is what if something happens to me and Michael remarries one day and what if he wants more children? While I don't plan on anything happening to me (and there won't ever be a divorce), we truly don't know what God's ultimate plans are for any of us and making such a permanent decision is... well, tough. I know that it can be reversed and if that doesn't work there are other ways of achieving pregnancy, but that still doesn't settle my heart.

Prayer - that's what is needed in this situation. Your added prayers in this situation are coveted and greatly appreciated. Pray for direction and that we'll have peace about the situation.

Rachael's birth

I have previously posted Jacob's birth story and Eli's birth story so now it's time to tell you about all the craziness we've experienced in the last 9 days.....

I'm really going to try to make this as short and simple as possible because A LOT has happened in this time frame and it would take days to write out a detailed account of those events.

Rachael's birth was a planned c-section because of the previous 2 c-sections I've had. We arrived at the hospital on Friday, September 12 at 5:30 am so I could have my IV's started, finish some last minute paperwork and be prepped for an 8:30 surgery. The surgery went as planned and Rachael arrived at 8:47 am screaming and very healty!!

I spent a couple of hours in recovery and then was reunited with Michael and Rachael and proceeded to my new room for what was expected to be a Sunday afternoon discharge.

Saturday night I started experiencing some mild pain in my right ribcage (near the bottom of the lung) but the nurse and I both thought it might be gas pain because when you have a spinal it kind of shuts down your digestive system for a while and when it starts up again it causes lots of gas and gas pains. However, by Sunday afternoon the pain had increased and had also radiated to my shoulder. Pain medicine helped for a while, but each time it would wear off the pain would come back stronger. I finally got to the meltdown point where it hurt to inhale and the pain was just so excruciating I had my nurse call the doctor who was on that night to come check me out.

The dr. came and then decided to send me down for a CAT scan thinking that it was my gallbladder giving me trouble. However, the CAT scan revealed a BLOOD CLOT (pulmonary embolism) in my right lung in the exact place where the pain was. YIKES. (I was on injectable blood thinner throughout the entire pregnancy with Rachael as a precautionary measure since I had had a clot after Eli was born so no one thought that it would be that since I had been off the blood thinner for less than 48 hours when the clot developed).

The treatment for blood clots is a couple of different types of blood thinner until you get to an anti-coagulant stage, then the injectable blood thinner is removed and you take a pill for several months. So another dr. came in and talked to me about all that and how they caught it early so the pain should subside quickly since they started the blood thinner back up. By Monday afternoon most of my pain was gone and we thought I was on the mend.

THEN Monday evening my pulse dropped really low (to the low 50's) and stayed there so the dr. wanted to do some tests to make sure nothing was wrong with my heart. They sent someone up to my room to do an EKG, which came back normal rythym, just a slow heart rate.

The dr. wanted to monitor my heart on a telemtry machine for 24 hours so I was sent down to ICU for Monday night and all of Tuesday (at least). This separated me from Rachael. However, they did let her stay admitted and kept her in the Mother/Baby Unit and brought her to me for feedings!!

While I was in ICU I also had an echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart to measure electrical activity and check valves and vessel sizes, etc.) which came back normal.

I ended up staying until Wednesday morning when the dr. came in and gave me the all-clear to go home. He said they couldn't find anything wrong with my heart other than my heart rate being low and couldn't find any reason to suspect something serious.

I was home early Wednesday afternoon and proceeded to try to adjust to life with 3 children while healing from a MAJOR SURGERY. I was feeling better every day.

UNTIL SATURDAY mid-day. I was standing in the kitchen (not doing anything strenous or anything I shouldn't be doing) and felt like I was trickling blood. When I went to the bathroom is was definitely more than a trickle and more like a river. (I'll spare you the details of how much blood there was, etc.). I came out and called the hospital and they said to head to the ER because I might be hemorraging.........SCARY. This is when I started to feel a little frantic.

Michael got the kids ready and loaded in the van while I got something to sit on - because there was more blood than I have ever seen in my life. I called a friend and asked her to meet us at the hospital to take the boys or something (at that point nothing was discussed - just that it was an emergency and we needed help). I also called my mom and told her I needed her to come out from Florida and she got on the internet and started looking for flights for that day. Then Michael drove me to the ER at break-neck speed with the flashers on. I cried all the way to the hospital freaking out about what the outcome of this major blood loss might be. THIS WAS VERY SCARY FOR MICHAEL AND I BOTH AND THE THOUGHT OF ME NOT SURVIVING WAS JUST MORE THAN I COULD BEAR - BUT A VERY REAL POSSIBLITY.

We arrived and I was immediately seen and the dr. and nurse put me very much at ease because they were not frantic or panicky in the least. This made me not worry quite so much. The dr. did an ultrasound of my uterus and determined it was full of blood and had actually expanded since I had gone home from the hospital.

I had lots of clots in there and rather than my uterus contracting all the way down as it should have, the clots couldn't be expelled to allow the uterus to contract down and stop the bleeding.

I was then re-admitted and started on a medication to try to make my uterus clamp down properly. After 7 hours and 2 doses, the dr. came back and did another ultrasound and determined that it was actually getting worse rather than better. He decided right then to take me to the OR for a D&C to manually clean out my uterus so it could contract back to where it should be. The risks of this surgery were greater for me than most people since I had the clot already. If the D&C didn't work to control the bleeding, he would take me back in and open me up and do a complete hysterectomy to save my life. HYSTERECTOMY is not something I ever thought I'd hear, especially at 27. There was also a real possiblity of death from this situation. However, I told the dr. to do whatever he thought was necessary to make sure I made it through this because my husband and children need me.

The surgery started about 10pm and I was awake around 11:20. I ended up getting 2 units of blood to keep my blood levels stable and make it easier for my body to recover and not have to reproduce the lost blood.

Let me just say that as soon as I woke up I felt like I was completely better. Nothing felt even the slightest bit 'off'. My belly was 'deflated' and felt so much better than it had before - when I got to the hospital I looked like I was still 6 months pregnant. The dr. told me after I woke up that he cleaned out 1.5 litres of blood and clotting from my uterus. WHOA - that's a lot of stuff.

After the surgery, I spent the rest of the night in ICU on all kinds of monitors, IV's and even a morphine pump for my pain. The dr. came back around 11 this morning and performed another ultrasound and gave me the all-clear and told me my uterus looked and felt wonderful and that I was free to go home once I got my catheter out, walked around and went pee!

The nurse got me all unhooked and while she was working on my discharge paperwork, I walked around with Michael, my parents (who had arrived at around 11pm last night), the kids and a couple of friends who had arrived while drinking a lot of water!! I completed my requirements and then was released to go!!

Let me just say that I am so blessed to even be alive to tell this story today and that I also still have all of my reproductive organs - thought I doubt I'll ever be reproducing again. More than one dr. in the last week has recommended I not ever get pregnant again and though it's hard to swallow, I definitely agree that my health and the needs of my family should come first.

I think I'll have to ask Michael to write a post on what this whole experience was like for him because his mom was here for a few days and could help out with the boys, but I'm sure he felt split in 100 different ways and I can't imagine what was going thru his mind when I was going thru all these difficulties. Thankfully, I'm still in one piece and God is so good to have allowed me to pull thru this.

A little of this and that...

This post will be just totally random stuff that is happening in our lives or just going on in my brain...

* At my 35 week checkup this week Rachael's heart rate was 180..... the nurse said "woo, she's a bit active this morning, eh?" She was doing what felt like cartwheels at that moment!!

* Eli might actually be getting this potty thing afterall! My original goal back when we got pregnant was to have him completely potty trained before the baby arrived. I totally gave up on that after some serious 'unready-ness' on his part and we waited a while before we started trying again. We even bought him his own special little potty to sit on because it turns out he doesn't like the toilet. He likes the little one much more and I like that he can sit on it anywhere! He only wet 2 diapers yesterday and so far, only 1 today!! So, there is hope after all. If I can get him totally trained in the next 3 weeks I will be in heaven! Jacob was 100% daytime trained by 25 months, so I had high hopes early on with Eli, maybe I had my sights set too high.... oh well, this parenting thing is a learning process and every child is different. We were at Walmart this morning and I let him pick out a pack of undies for being such a 'big boy' - he chose Diego! We're going to give it a go after naptime.

* 3 weeks ago Jacob came down with what turned out to be some random virus. It started with a severe (almost debilitating) headache that lasted 3 days and could only be eased by ibuprofen and as soon as that wore off it came back. I ended up taking him to the dr. the 4th day because it's just not right for a 4 year old to have that bad of a headache with no trauma or anything. By the morning I took him in, he also had puffy circles under his eyes and a low grade fever. She diagnosed it as a virus and said he's probably get some other minor symptoms, but it would probably go away in a few days. He did get other symptoms. He got a scratchy throat and ended up almost losing his voice and a smidge of a cough. But, like she said, he was better in a few days.

Fast forward a few days after he was better..... Hubby woke up on a Sunday morning feeling icky with a bit of a sore throat and achy. I made him start guzzling liquid Vitamic C to try to stave it off - to no avail. He ended up sicker than I have ever (in almost 10 years) seen him. He didn't just get a scratchy throat - he got an on fire, swollen, red, inferno throat and also almost lost his voice - he also had horrible headaches, flu-like symptoms of fever, achy muscles, etc. (but it wasn't strep). He went to the Dr. Monday morning and was so bad they put him on quarters (for you non-military peeps, quarters is basically when you're ordered to stay home from work and they can't call you in or 'make' you come in). So, he took almost 2 full days off and slept THE ENTIRE TIME. Must be nice to actually have a day off AND get to sleep!!!

Michael was really sick for almost a week and during the end of it, Eli started getting it. However, I think he got it the easiest - he had a croupy cough for a few days (had to have some saline nebulizer treatments) and a scratchy throat and hoarse voice. He never complained of anything really though.... Eli has been better for about a week and I thought I was in the clear since they all got it so quickly to one another.

WRONG - I have had a scratchy throat since Tuesday with nothing else so I have been praying that would be the extent of it. However, I'm thinking it may not be. Since I got up this morning my throat has gotten progressively worse and now hurts and I can barely squeak out any words. I have no other symptoms though. So, in an attempt to pre-empt a raw and horribly sore throat, I've been drinking lots of hot tea and hot water with lemon and honey and even gargling with salty water - BLECK! I really don't want to be that sick at 35 weeks pregnant and with 2 very noisy kids at home with me. The only good thing to the timing is that it's almost the weekend and I can rest, since Michael will be home, if I do end up getting worse.

* My mother-in-law will be arriving from Oklahoma on September 10!!! Yipee! We haven't seen her since Feb. so the kids will enjoy some time with grandma and we'll enjoy having some extra help with the kids for 8 days. My c-section is scheduled for Sept. 12. It will be nice to have her here to help with looking after the boys while Michael and I get a little rest and I take care of myself and Rachael. She'll also get the added benefit of being at the hospital when Rachael is born (I've already arranged for the boys to be with a friend all day that day) and the first grandparent memeber to see and hold Rachael. The other grandparents all live in Florida or Australia.

I guess that's all the rambling I'll be doing for now. I think I'm going to go be a vegetable since my house is fairly clean and I only have 54 minutes until Eli gets up from his nap.

What were you doing at 2:30 this morning?

I was getting myself and Eli dressed for a trip to the ER..... Let me just say now that I am totally over croup. Did you hear me? Totally.over.croup. This poor child has had croup more times than any child should have to deal with it. He doesn't just get a mild case of it, he gets it bad. He had it the first time when he was about 11 months old and in the 13 months since then he's probably had it 15 times to some degree or another. Most of the time though, it's really bad.

He had a bit of a runny nose on Thursday (and that's usually all the warning we get) and about midnight Thursday night he started the tell-tale barking cough. UGH. I gave him some juice, propped him up on his pillows and prayed it was just a fluke. Nope. He very quickly got much worse. So, off to the steamy bathroom we went. Did I mention that it's about a gazillion degrees out and we don't have a/c, yeah, and we're going to steam up the bathroom with the shower running full hot, oh, and I'm 28 weeks pregnant and hot enough anyway...... The things we do for our kids! 10 minutes in the steamy bathroom did nothing but make me feel like passing out and Eli cry because he was hot. So, we went back to bed and I prayed some more.

After more coughing and gasping I remembered the dr. gave me a nebulizer a couple of months ago!!! However, I didn't have any saline solution for it so I just used the Albuterol asthma medicine in it. Really, we were just looking for cool mist (croup is typically more common in the winter and we just bundle up and go sit out on the porch for a while to get the cold air in the trachea) and short of actually climbing in the freezer, there is NO cool air right now. The nebulizer helped quite a bit and he was able to get back to sleep around 4:00 - but still got up at the normal 6:30.

He was OK (not great - but OK) during the day Friday so I had hoped he would be ok last night, too. WRONG. He was worse and the steamy shower and nebulizer didn't help at all the the poor kid just couldn't sleep. Soooo, we got ready and went to the ER for a steroid shot (to calm the inflamation in his trachea and larynx). I really didn't want to go to the ER with it being a holiday and all. I figured it would be full of all the stupid ridiculous people who had injured themselves while setting off illegal fireworks, so I was pleasantly surprised when we were the only ones there when I arrived. They saw Eli immediately, gave him his shot and we were on our way home within a half hour of arriving (and I got saline solutin for the nebulizer for future use)! All total, we were only gone an hour and 20 minutes (that includes 20ish minutes of drive time each way)......

I got him back in bed a little after 4:00 and he slept until 7. Thankfully, after I stripped his bed because somehow he'd wet his bed and his shorts and his pullup was totally full even though I'd changed him while he was up..... Michael was gracious enough to let me go back to bed (because I felt very ill, dizzy, woozy, etc. from lack of sleep) and I slept until nearly TEN O'CLOCK!!! Yay, for great hubbies!

He has felt much better today and been able to breathe better and had less runny nose and cough. He's been asleep for about 2 hours now and I haven't heard a peep out of him. Praying that he'll rest peacefully for the remainder of the night.

Whew, that ended up being a long story.....

Mish mash...

~1~ The new garden is going fairly well. I'm not sure what's going on with the strawberries (they're almost goners), but everything else seems to be thriving!

I have several tomatoes that should be ready in a couple of weeks! They looks so yummy already, now if they'd just hurry up and start ripening.....

No sign of any peppers yet, just one little bloom on a jalapeno plant.

And since all I did with the lettuce was take the 2 packets and shake them out over the side of the garden where I wanted them (no rows...) I have lettuce sprouts coming up all over that area. Thankfully, none of the seeds strayed to other parts of the garden before I got a thin layer of soil over the seeds when I was planting!

~2~ Eli has had a fever of 103+ since yesterday morning and I have no idea why, he has NO other symptoms.... Ibuprofen doesn't really seem to be helping much. He's such a trooper though, other than being nearly lethargic because of the high temp. and not eating more than about 5 bites today, he's trying really hard to be normal.

We had a play date scheduled for this morning at a playground and he would go play for a little while and then come back and lay down in the stroller for a few minutes and have a drink and then go off and play some more and repeat it again. However, his 'play' was very muted and more of just meandering around on the equipment, never really sliding down the slides or anything, just kind of walking around. Then he took a 3 hour nap!

The rest of the day consisted of a short trip to the mall (him in the stroller most of the time), a trip to Target (Eli lying in the basket part of the cart with his blanket) and lots of lying on the couch.

~3~ Why the Target outing with a sick kid, you ask? Jacob had earned a new 'toy' for learning all 50 states. He has learned where all 50 states are on a map and can name them on request (we ask "where's _________" and he points to it)!!! He's not even 4.5 yet and I'm very proud of him! We chose to let him get a digital camera. Not a fancy-shmancy one, just a generic $19.99 one with no screen, zoom, etc. It has 3 settings for image quality and a couple other settings and only 2 buttons! It's small, has changeable face plates and an arm strap. Michael got it set up for him and taught him how to use it tonight!! He had fun with it and about half of the photos he took the first go-round had his finger in them! So, he's learning how to concentrate and not get his finger in the photos.

~4~ Since Eli hasn't been well, I didn't get to go to the Farmer's Market yesterday evening :-( And Jacob didn't get to go to t-ball practice because Michael was at school, so Jacob was bummed about not going, but he has a game on Saturday that he's looking forward to.

~5~ I finally chose the fabric I'm going to use in Rachael's room for parts of her bedding and accessories. The rest of the bedding will be sewn from coordinating colors of the pattern fabric I chose. You'll just have to wait to see some of the finished products though......

An ultrasound! But a very long day.

I didn't have time to blog about this because by the time we got home last night I was too exhausted.

Yesterday was a super busy day for us. And add into the fun that Eli is sleep depriving himself and won't sleep enough so he's been mostly miserable for the last few days....

We woke up around 6 and I got showered and ready and the boy I take to school arrived around 7:45 and we left a few minutes later to take him to school. Then we headed to Sam's to get gas (for those of you with Sam's memberships - the one close to me usually has gas for about $.15 cheaper than the local gas stations!!). After getting gas we headed on to the dentist.

Both kids had checkups today - for Eli this was his first. Jacob is a champ at the dentist and never fusses or anything. Eli did reasonably well for his age. They had to call me back to sit with him once the x-rays were complete. He sat on my lap and once the hygienist gave him the sucky-straw-thing to do his own suctioning, he was fine. Both kids got a clean bill of tooth-health and we're scheduled to go back in 6 months.

We were there for an hour and 15 min. so once we got home it was time for me to get lunch ready while the kids played.

After lunch it was time for naps, at which time Eli decided he was only going to sleep for 1:05 and he needs 2:30 to be non-miserable. So, the afternoon was already starting out bad because we had another appointment to get to.

Snacks were served and we left at 2:50 for my appointment. I have these little bumps in the skin under my eyes and the OB had no clue what they were - the only suggestion he had was clogged tear ducts (but after research on the internet I determined that was NOT what they were as I had none of the other symptoms associated with this). Turns out I have clogged oil glands under my eyes and the only treatment is hot compresses on the area to dissolve the oil and make it drain out. This is apparently a result of the extra oil my body is producing with this pregnancy (even though I never had these in my other 2 pregnancies...) Anyway, there's nothing seriously wrong with my eyes.

Back home for about 1/2 hour, then Michael gets home and I have to leave to go get the babysitter (she doesn't drive yet, however, she is 17). Get home and Michael has fed the kids dinner - YAY! so we leave for my ultrasound.

This did not go as planned for me. The baby is perfectly healthy but we could not get a good shot of the gender..... UGH. I rolled on my side, I sat up and then laid back down and I poked on the little one. This child had it's legs closed so tightly it was ridiculous. Best guess is girl, but I'll never convince myself to buy anything unless I know for sure. So...... we'll probably pay for an ultrasound at one of the local "ultrasound places" just to satisfy our curiosity. However, my guess all along has been girl for several reasons - including the fact that my pregnancies with the boys were almost identical and this one has been very different for me and I think there is some truth to the old wives tales about heart rate.

Since we had a babysitter (who didn't have a curfew), we took some time to have a little mini-date last night after the ultrasound. We went to Carino's for dinner and took our time and enjoyed each other's company!

Must go - it is yet again time to get breakfast ready and take Jacob and friends to school.

Oh my spelt bread heaven!

I made homeade bread for the first time today. Well, that's not true really, I've made quick breads before, but never real bread (you know the kind that actually have yeast rather than baking soda/powder and salt and you have to knead them and let them rise, etc)!

The bread I made was spelt bread and I used this recipe. Let me just say that it was super easy and much quicker than I thought it would be. Since I don't have a bread machine I thought it would take ages to do all the kneading and rising, etc. But I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe.

It's actually suppose to be baked in two 9" pans, but I had one 9" and one 8" and the 8" one puffed out the top and was really tall (that's it in the photo)!

This is the yummiest bread I have ever tasted and it's totally 100% healthy!! The spelt makes it so light and fluffy and the taste is perfect. Because I live at high altitude (6,500') I had to alter it just a little and ended up using around 5 1/4 cups of flour rather than 4 1/2, but if you live at high altitude you already know that you must add more flour (or less liquid) to make baked good work properly.....

Why am I making homemade bread? For two reasons:
1) It's way cheaper and this recipe made more than a commercial loaf of bread. I figured it up to be $1.70 for this recipe and the commercial (non-hydrogenated, non-high fructose corn syrup) loaves costs $3.17. Yikes, that's a savings of 54% per loaf!
2) Eli was recently diagnosed with asthma (he currently has pneumonia to go along with it) and now that I actually know what has caused all of his lung issues (croup as many as 10 times and RSV at least once, but I think 2x) since he was little I am going to start combatting the illness 'holistically.' Right now he is using a nebulizer with steroids to get his lungs back to normal since he's been really sick and I really don't want him on medicine for the rest of his life when asthma can be directly related to diet. He also has severe eczema which is also directly related to food sensitivities. Wheat is a huge contributing factor for both ailments (along with dairy, soy and sugar). We already don't do soy products for various other reasons, so I'm going to start testing him for sensitivities to those other items listed. I'm going to completely cut out everything on the BAD list (over a period of time - not gung-ho because they might revolt and not eat at all if I did that!) and see how he does and then we'll add things back one at a time every couple of weeks to see if I can determine what his sensitivities are. The eczema will probably be easier to figure out, the lung issues may take more time. Or this may be a permanent dietary change for all of us.

So, I tried the spelt bread recipe today to see if we would like it and if it would be a viable option for a wheat alternative. I also made homemade pizza yesterday with a spelt crust and homemade sauce and it was sooooo yummy. I really like the flavor of spelt, have I already mentioned that!? We will also be experimenting with non-wheat pastas and I bought rice crackers today and the boys really liked them. As far as sugar goes, I already use stevia some and another organic non-refined sugar so I think we'll just have to get accustomed to the stevia (contrary to what the research says, I DO think it has a bitter aftertaste....) and start using that as a sugar replacement. The dairy will be the hardest for Eli (I don't mind so much for myself because I only tolerate cow's milk in my cereal and have been on a dairy free diet before and milk and cheese alternatives are fine with me). Eli loves cow's milk and cheese, etc, however, I've known for a while that he had some sort of dairy sensitivity because he drinks lactose free milk. We'll probably switch him to almond milk (YUMMY!!!!) or rice milk with alternate cheese as well. We've also added a calcium supplement to the boys' regimine since we won't be taking in as much dairy. They now get a probiotic, multi vit., whole food supplement, calcium and cod liver oil daily.

Any suggestions from anyone who has cured/controlled their own or their child's asthma by diet alone would be greatly appreciated. I already have one friend who has done this with her 2 children and walked another friend thru it and all have been symptom free for over a year now! Not even a sniffle or winter cold for the first friend's kids (don't know about the other friend).

16 week update and daily INJECTION...

Yep, ladies and gents., I said injection. I mentioned in a previous post about there being a good possibility that I would need to start blood thinner injections (Lovenox) for the duration of this pregnancy - due to a DVT (blood clot) I had when Eli was about 6 weeks old. I spent some time in the hospital and was treated effectively, then had to spend the next 6 months on oral blood thinners and go in to a Nurse Practitioner EVERY week to have my "thinness" checked. So, because blood clots are extremely dangerous and sometimes even fatal, I was advised that it's better to give yourself a daily injection (can't take oral because it crosses the placenta and has a 90% chance of causing birth defects) than to risk another clot and put yourself and your unborn child at serious risk. I COMPLETELY AGREE.

Here's how it works:

Simply pinch up a huge chunk of skin on your belly, wipe with an alcohol pad to sterilize the area, pop the cap off the premeasured syringe, stab yourself and depress the plunger. Voila! Sounds so appealing, doesn't it?!! Oh, and did I mention each poke leaves a bruise (because it's a blood thinner....). So I have small dot-like bruises (maybe 1/8") all over my belly now. Absolutely beautiful!!! Oh, and one other thing, it has to be done at the same time every day - need I say cell phone alarm!

In all seriousness though, it's not really all that bad and it's totally worth it to keep us both healthy!

In other pregnancy news, I am now 16 weeks and am feeling fantastic! I haven't had difficult pregnancies anyway, but so far this one absolutely takes the cake! I had a grand total of 2 weeks of nausea and about 4 weeks of extreme exhaustion - but my body adjusted quickly and I'm feeling wonderful! Oh, and I've only gained 6lbs (as of my appointment this morning)!!! That is a HUGE change from the first two.

I go back to the dr. on May 2 and then have an ultrasound scheduled for May 7 and I'll be 20 weeks!! After checking to make sure all is well, hopefully this little one will cooperate and we'll get to find out if it's a he or a she. Yes, people, I must know. I'm a planner and since I have the option of knowing and I'm having the ultrasound anyway..... well, you get it!

Getting back to basics

I believe that God has called us, as believers, to not only surrender ourselves spiritually, but to surrender the physical as well. The mom's group from our church has been studying Joyce Meyer's book Look Great, Feel Great and I am being super convicted by the Holy Spirit. I don't have a problem with weight and I do exercise regularly, but my (our family's) diet can definitely use some tweaking.

Most of you that know us and know what we eat in our homes probably wouldn't think what we do is all that bad, and you're right, if you're comparing us to the world. But God's word teaches us to be wholeheartedly devoted to His teachings and to treat our bodies as a temple.

"1) And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your
bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind He
will accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much
to ask? 2) Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God
transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you
will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and
perfect His will really is." Romans 12:1-2 NLT.

"...19) Or don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,
who lives in you and was given to you by god? You do not belong to
yourself, 20) for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God
with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT

A lot of us know these portions of scripture, yet for some reason do not take them to heart and let God teach us exactly what He wants from us/for us. For our family, we are entering a season of taking this scripture in its literal meaning and being mindful of what we are putting in our bodies and the habits and what we are teaching our children with regard to health and how it affects our whole self - including our relationship with Christ. It's a season of learning and a lifetime of change.

I believe that if our spiritual and our physical are not in sync and we are not striving toward excellence in both areas, we cannot truly understand what all God has in store for us or how He wants to use us.

My goal is to continue posting the normal happenings around here and also take you on our journey right along with us. I will try to post about new things that we are trying or changes we are making, etc. So, now you'll hear me talking of using fresh, whole grains and soaking or sprouting them, making my own sauces, making breads and tortillas, homemade yogurt, cream cheese and sour cream and having my own "small" garden. I've been reading a great site of another believer - who is a stay home mom striving to do God's will for her family and be a true Proverbs 31 woman - who is many steps ahead of me and am finding great inspiration in her posts, her tools, her methods, books she's reading and the overall ease and cost effectiveness of not relying less on processed or prebagged, etc. items and how great an impact it is having on her family.

For now, if you have ever been interested in the journey to better, more Biblical health, I suggest you pick up these 2 books: Super Baby Food - yes, it's mostly about preparing food for your child, but has some invaluable information about the homeade process of many of the things I listed we are going to start doing - along with her website; the other is The Maker's Diet - this book will knock your socks off if you aren't prepared for it - and there's also a supporting website. It is an indepth analysis of God's word and His directions and teachings on foods that we are and are NOT suppose to eat and many of the reasons why and what health implications straying from God's direction can have (based on his own personal life struggles).