Healthy Children

Question #2 - What do I use to healthify my children?

I do use oils and vitamins. I started taking classes from Dr. Christopher -  He's local here so it's easy to find his products. I'm not sure how easy it is to find his products elsewhere but they are available online.
  I've started reading a really good book called "Disease Proof Your Child" - basically the first line of defense is feeding them right. It's filled in a lot of holes where I had questions before (plus it has some tasty looking recipes I'm excited to try). Dr. Christopher says similarly that we create an environment in our bodies where disease can thrive by what we eat/don't eat.
  
  Everything that I go on as a "foundation" is found in the LDS Scriptures - particularly The Word of Wisdom - Daniel's story in the bible has been really helpful for me as well.The others are just "programs" I guess that help me to know how to apply truth. That being said, as a general rule I shy away from things that seem "fad-ish". Lots of essential oils (though I'm just starting to learn about it) are VERY strong and many people use them as a replacement for eating healthy. Not that I'm against oils, I just like learning about all the methods and applications from a non-biased standpoint so I own the knowledge more and know better how to use it. (plus, honestly, I'm cheap and I hate paying for multi-level marketing mark-ups). If you're interested oils I've HEARD (still getting into it) that Butterfly Express is a quality company, but much less expensive than other brands...

  Last - there are a MILLION things I've found in studying about different illnesses you can do to help remedy them.  Usually, in the middle of it, I don't have time to do them all and I sometimes feel overwhelmed trying to decide what is best. God knows everything. When I pray to him about my children, who can't really pray themselves (esp. babies), I am amazed at how fast answers come! He really loves them and wants what's best for them and us. They are His, and I love how he works through me to to care for them!
  Everyone is different, which is the best thing about going to God. He works through the same basic doctrines and principles (which don't change from person to person), but he knows us each individually and what we need (what level we're on and what our specific body needs are). I recommend continued prayer through the process of know what is best for you and your children.

 Oh - some other recipes sites I love -
www.passionatehomemaking.com,
www.superhealthykids.com,
www.momessentials.net

Good luck!!

Nurturing = Small and Simple Things

 "Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children." (The Family: A Proclamation to the World). I titled my blog after this crucial role and yet I find myself still striving to understand what nurturing really means.

Nur·ture

 [nur-cher] Show IPA verb, -tured, -tur·ing, noun

verb (used with object)

1.to feed and protect: to nurture one's offspring.

2.to support and encourage, as during the period of training or development; foster: to nurture promising musicians.

3.to bring up; train; educate.

 *From Dictionary.com

 I just loved this definitions! When I feed my family dinner, I'm fulfilling my divine mission. When I potty train my three-year-old, I'm nurturing. When I read the scriptures to my children, I am am example of a righteous woman. Those simple, seemingly mundane things I do every day are crucial to the development of my children and the success of my home. 

  God wants all of this children to be happy. In fact, when if we are obedient to His commandments, we qualify, through Christ, to obtain a state of never-ending happiness after this life (Mosiah 2:41). It is through this we can know that obedience to each of God's commandments will bring us a portion of that happiness. 

 So, why not? When I do a clean & put away a load of laundry, when I wake up to comfort an ill child, and what I'm making the seemingly 5th meal of the day (which is all too real with a toddler at home), I CAN BE HAPPY because I am fulfilling my divine mission to nurture my children. It doesn't have to be anything grand or famous. In fact, no one may know about it but me and God. Truly, "by small and simple things, great things are brought to pass". 

Hypnobabies: Afterbirth

 Right After Birth: 
  Kory went through a bunch of medical precaution drama right after birth. It meant for a really tired mother!! I was grateful again for my hypnosis for many reasons including:
1. During afterbirth pains, I didn't have to take any medication. I must admit that I forgot that they existed until the day of his birth (he was born in the middle of the night) and was surprised and frustrated by the pain a felt. When I prepared to nurse him each time after, I tried to prepare by putting myself in center-switch first, which helped immensely. I was still completely medication free.
2. In the seemingly LONG hours he was in the special care nursery, I used hypnosis to help me relax, when I couldn't be in an actual bed to sleep. It helped me to think level-headed so I could make better choices. It helped me with patience and most of all hope that my baby would be healthy and normal (though I must note it was only one factor to this end).

 Adjusting to a new "Normal": 
In the months following Kory's birth, I struggled to feel like my "normal" self again and to adjust to having him as part of our family. Hypnobabies helped me in the following ways:
1. I used the After Baby is Comes script, which I borrowed from a close friend. It helped me to relax before sleeping and to remember my priorities.
2. I still (5 1/2 months later) use my off switch to help me get to sleep at night. I'm a busy mom of two children and our house is hectic! It can be difficult to find time to think, but also difficult for me to turn the thinking off. Use my off-switch - goodbye emotions and thoughts, hello sleep! I love it!
3. It still seems difficult for me still to apply what I've learned to the rest of my life. A relaxed, optimistic (yet still impressively productive) me did not really exist before hypnobabies (at least outside of vacation). I still find myself stressed and struggle to balance life. I wish there was a script for everything...perhaps if I use my off switch more often or put myself in center while I try to memorize meaningful scriptures.

Reflection:
 In my quest to have this birth, I became passionate and desired to help other women find what I have found birth can be (which is not necessarily a "natural" birth experience). I recognize now though that extreme caution comes with such the sharing of such personal experiences. Not everyone wants a natural birth and even more, not everyone can have a natural birth experience. Yet every woman can have intense joy and wonder at choosing to partake in such a beautiful miracle; in giving bodies to God's precious children. I do not desire to make anyone feel shamed or guilty because they have not experienced an unmedicated vaginal birth.

 Instead, I hope that I can positive and encouraging of each unique mother and her beautiful baby. I hope I will have many more opportunities to testify that our purpose as women truly to is give bodies to these precious children of God. It is to nurture them by teaching them, loving them, and directing them to Him, their loving Heavenly Father. We should not be comparing or judgmental. We should not be negative or depressed. Pregnancy, birth, and motherhood are not easy, but that is all the more reason we need to cheer each other on! We can do it! It is our calling from On High and we will surely have His help as we seek for it.

Parenting the Terrible Two Year Old

  I've been struggling lately to be a parent to my little 2 1/2 year old boy (Cadence - Cade for short)! I am grateful for this article - "Yes or No? - Parent Choices".
  Cade's favorite book is No, David by David Shannon. I bet you can't guess what kind of parent I am? I learned a lot about myself by reading the article and even more in the coming days as it heightened my awareness of my parenting style.
  In general, it left me reflecting again on how difficult it is to parent.

Kory's Beautiful Hypnobabies Birth

On Monday morning, March 21^st, 2011, I decided I wanted to sleep in, for no particular reason. I felt awake but just wanted more sleep. I finally got up at about 8:30 a.m. and had breakfast with my two-year-old. I had two appointments Monday morning – at 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. – to visit teach (visit some women in my church with a gospel message). The first was cancelled because the sister was sick. I started getting ready for the second and felt some pressure waves (contractions) and it made me not really want to go, but I went anyway. It was a good visit and helped me stay distracted from the pressure.

When I got back at about 11 a.m., I realized I didn’t have plans for the day, so I decided to start getting more ready for the baby to born. I made an overnight bag for my two-year-old, emailed our birth/baby preferences to my husband to print, and started charging my camera battery and my IPOD (which is what I’d been listening to my hypnosis scripts on). In the middle of doing this, I was trying to take care of making some more urgent appointments and answering phone calls. I made one appointment for Sunday and even told the lady that I was 9 months pregnant (thinking that I probably would not end up going).

Noon rolled around and I got on google chat to ask my husband (Austin) to come home for lunch because my waves were getting more intense and I really wanted to focus and do a hypnosis script. He said he couldn’t make it until around 1 p.m. I told him not to bother because by then my two-year-old would be napping and I could lie down to do a script. I was hoping to fall asleep (like I had in my script practice the last couple weeks) and wake up having the waves calmed down.

I barely got my two-year-old lunch and in bed. It was getting much more difficult to handle him. I lay down on my bed and started the deepening track. I loved this track because it helped me feel so deep in hypnosis that, even if I didn’t get a full nap, I could wake up feeling refreshed. That didn’t happen this time. I was conscious during the entire script and came up at the end of it, still feeling the intense waves. I called my husband on the phone and told him to come home.

Actually LEARNING in church?!

Do you REALLY think a two-year-old can learn something about God during church? It seems so often we just bring stuff to entertain them (don't get me wrong - I'm a Disney fan too!) so that we can focus on what is being said and feel some sort of spiritual inspiration.
Just the other day I thought, "this just isn't working". Cadence has very few "quiet" toys, so he was getting bored pretty fast. Plus, I learned the majority of "quiet" things we usually do together at home, so he always expected me to help "entertain him" - which leaves both of us not receiving any spiritual upliftment! If we sit near other kids it is a disaster because they're either having a great time with lots of loud laughter, or fighting over toys with lots of loud frustration.
The answer to my original question is: YES! They don't go to nursery (our 18 month to 3 year old class in our church) to just play with toys and be babysat while mom and dad learn the gospel. They go there to learn about God. We have a BLESSED nursery leader in our stake, who has spent so much time magnifying her calling by making books and other manipulative toys that are cheap, yet still gospel centered. She buys stuff from the local thrift store, uses old church magazines, and re-crafts Christmas cards. She has INSPIRED me! Here are some of "my" creations:

What is Processed Food?

When I try to explain to people that we have been giving our diet a healthy makeover, one of the first things I mention is that we've cut out most processed food (we're still working on it too). I often hear the question "What is processed food?".
I have also noticed that when I talk about something that is "homemade" or "I made from scratch", many people will claim they do the same, when in fact, many of the ingredients in their "homemade food" are not from scratch.
I thought I might answer some of those questions from our perspective, after about 6 months of changing our diet and lots of research too!

This is HARD work...

So, I have a confession to make. When I was growing up I always wanted to be a mom. It seemed like it was going to be easy. I liked to clean and cook and "I'm so a hard-worker so FULL of engery! What's the confession? It's not as easy as I thought it would be. In fact, it is hard work being a mom.

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Please follow this link to watch the video. It is for mothers. It is for those considering motherhood. It is for those who wonder about motherhood and those who doubt motherhood. This video is for everyone to watch and remember the importance of this divine, eternal calling.

It's been awhile

So, it's been forever since I wrote on my own blog. We've been so busy and the family blog gets all of my attention these days because I am trying to re-vamp it. Still, I wanted to PAUSE....
...to say how grateful I am. I can't believe how quickly the time passes. My son is almost a year old and my husband and I celebrate 3 happy years of marriage this month. When I look back at that time, I try to remember what I used to be like. I think I can say I've changed for the better. A little reflection is always good.
I'd also like to say that this attitude of gratitude that seized upon me by looking back, has helped me to slow down a little (surprised?). Austin and I are both busy-bodies. We like to be doing. In fact, even Cadence likes to be doing. There is always a check-list, always something more to get done. I realized recently that if I had all the time I need to finish the list, I'd just add more anyway. So I've slowed down some. I'm not as anxious to blog right away (or blog about every little thing). I'm not so anxious to keep my sink spotless (surprised mom? - heehee). I'm not so anxious to be in control.
It's been a good change for me. There is still a lot happening, so I guess it's mostly my outlook on things. I give myself the time to stop and play (and I have a really cute 10 month old excuse). I give myself the time to ponder. I don't watch the clock during scripture study, or feel I have to "finish". My husband put it pretty perfectly when he said - "There are some things you don't have to check off your to-do list. They are just a way of being". I like this new way of being.

So many good things...

...Aren't there just so many good things to do that sometimes it is hard to know what you should be doing? I was just thinking that looking at my blog (and how empty it is).
On the topic, I have decided to quit teaching voice and piano lessons after July. It's a great thing, and just a couple of hours a week, but it leaves me stressed on some days. I feel like I could be doing so many more good things enjoying my baby. I went back and forth trying to decide, because I really do love teaching! This week has been a real confirmation (blessing) because I have had a lot of students out of town and have really enjoyed the non-stress week with Cadence. I will continue to teach some once-in-awhile lessons (I teach voice to my brother once a month).
Someday I will take up teaching voice again. Right now, I love performing in my kitchen (while I cook or do the dishes) to my little 5 month old! He is definitely my biggest fan. He always stops what he's doing and stares at me, followed up with a huge smile at the climax of the song! I just have to stop and laugh sometimes. I tell him often that I went to school for 4 years so I could learn to sing him lullaby's. In some ways, it's very true.
Being a wife and a mother is the best part about my life. Why would anyone choose anything else? I believe that when anything gets in the way of your family, it's not really worth it. Everything should support and sustain family. Everything you do should bring family closer together. When I remember those simple things, all of the sudden it's much more clear what good things I can do without.

I beamed...

... Today when I got on the ward directory online to look up a phone number & saw that Cadence John was listed under our names!! It somehow feels more official now. I'm so happy he is apart of our eternal family.

I paused...

... last night when for the first time in, I can't remember how long, I rolled onto my stomach trying to get comfortable.