How Young Living Essential Oils have changed our home

OK, I have been reluctant to do a post about oils, because I don't want things to get too sales-ey in here, but so many people have been asking recently that I have decided to share our experience with them.
5 years ago when we were struggling with infertility but desperately wanting a child, I started to evaluate the products that we were using on our bodies and in our home and I began to research what the ingredients really did to our health. I was really disheartened by what I learned  ( namely at finding out how many pseudo estrogens there are!) so I began throwing things away and replacing them with more natural alternatives. Shortly after that, along with making some small changes in our diet, we found out we were expecting our first child. I knew right away that I wanted to keep chemicals away from our little one. After talking to some friends that had started using essential oils, I purchased a bottle of Thieves. I assumed I would just use it to replace the hand sanitizer that I was heavily addicted to. I loved it, it smelled great and I actually caught less colds and viruses than when I was using alcohol based hand sanitizer all day long. So I bought a few more oils...and things snowballed from there :) Now I am an independent distributor with Young Living Essential Oils and have replaced ALL of the chemicals in our medicine cabinet with these precious oils from plants.

In our home we use oils for anything and everything: cuts, scrapes, burns, coughs, sore throats, teething, eczema, diaper rashes, sleeping problems, tummy upset, constipation, diarrhea, headaches, grouchy kids, stressed out or exhausted momma,asthma, sore muscles, focus while we home school, cleaning, acne blemishes, the list really could go on and on and on! It feels great as the mom to be able to solve all of these issues without using products that may have toxic, harmful ingredients and that might cause side affects!
If anyone is interested in learning more about oils, please contact me. If you want to sign up, please feel free to use my member number 1549134,  and I will send you a free essential oils pocket reference for joining my team!

Real Food Chocolate Banana Pops

Over the past year we have been working hard to eliminate processed foods from our home.  We still make an effort to find healthy, chemical free ways to enjoy our old favorites though. Here is a recipe that I made with a couple of 3 year old helpers this morning. It was a huge hit!

Real Food Chocolate Banana Pops
Bananas-we used 6
1/2 cup Coconut oil- melted
12 Tbsp. Cacao Powder
4 Tbsp. Raw Honey
pinch or so of salt

Peel and halve bananas. Skewer them with a popsicle stick, lay them on a cookie sheet and freeze them.

It is important to freeze them first so that the coconut oil with harden instantly. The chocolate mixture would also be a great replacement for Magic Shell on a sundae! When your bananas are ready to come out of the freezer go ahead and mix up the chocolate mixture. It is helpful to use a tall, slender cup. We have an abundance of sippy cups around here, so that is what we used, and it was perfect. Then just go ahead and dip those nanners and enjoy! Bonus points for double dipping if you have extra chocolate :) If you plan to add nuts or any other topping you will have to be speedy because the coconut oil hardens very fast.

Wrap any leftovers in parchment paper and stick them in an airtight container to freeze for another day.

One of these things is not like the other

Breastfeeding Then from Jake- Give me the boobs! I live to nurse, don't want to waste a drop, don't ever want to be away from the boobs!

Breastfeeding Now from Amelia- Ehh, I guess I should eat a little. (Deep Sigh) Maybe if I nurse for 5 minutes this crazy Mom lady will leave me a lone for a while. I will give her the ol' lazy latch and just let most of it run out of the corner of my mouth and all over our clothes because I know she will forget the burp cloth again haha.



It is funny how different babies can be from one to the next. And even how one momma can be different from one child to the next. With Jake I couldn't pump 4 ounces to save me life (with tons of herbs to up my supply), but now I have 60 ounces in the freezer and I feel like some kind of rock star!

It just blows my mind how different my kids are in so many ways. They look nothing alike. Jake is a tiny copy of my husband ad Amelia looks like me. Jake HAD to be held all the time and would not go to sleep without nursing.  Amelia prefers to be left alone on the floor or in her bouncy seat and almost never nurses herself to sleep.

Either way, I have no complaints. They were both very happy, sweet babies who let me sleep most nights. I am so blessed to be their mom.

Surviving Motherhood

Growing up I always said I wanted a big family. 5 kids was my normal response....until I had one. I cant even complain because Jake was such a happy, easy baby who slept all the time but it still turned my world upside down. Fast forward two and half years when I found out I was expecting again I nearly went into panic mode.  How in the world was I going to care for two kids and maintain our house at the same time when I was struggling with only one?!?!  I went through the house room by room de-cluttering and organizing and fixing every tiny scratch on all the walls. I wanted everything to be perfect before this new baby came into our lives. I wanted to be one step ahead of the chaos.

Well that got exhausting and overwhelming in a hurry. Amelia was born and I took a couple weeks off, not lifting a finger while my mom was here taking care of all the household chores and cooking.  When she left I was determined to keep up the amazingly high standard that she had created for us while she was here. I nearly ran myself ragged that first week alone trying to keep up with everything...laundry, diapers, dishes, cooking real meals from scratch...not boxes from the freezer.  Because good moms only cook real food don't they?

I was going to end up in a mental institution if I didn't give myself a break. I realized that I was going to have to lower my standards a bit. We didn't need to live in squalor...but my house is never again going to look like something from the pages of Martha Stewart living...or pinterest.

Thank goodness I am married to a man who doesn't say much about the state of our home, at least not until we get that dreaded call that someone is coming to visit...and then he helps my shove the clutter into the dryer, oven, or anywhere else that we can stash it temporarily.

I had to find a routine that would keep things in order, but not end up killing me. A client of mine told me before baby number two was born that having another would make me more organized.  She was spot on. I could get behind on things with one child and eventually I would catch back up but if I get behind with two children and a husband to pick up after, I think our family would be featured on the next season of Hoarders. I would be the one buried under piles of broken John Deere toys, dishes and cloth diapers.

I decided that if we were going to make this work without me being stressed out and feeling like a failure that I would do one thing a day. Besides dishes because, lets face it, if you leave those sit around it just gets worse and takes more time when you do finally get around to them.  I don't schedule it like I have seen other homemakers do though. We go with the flow. I do the bathrooms once or twice a week, I choose these days based on when Jake decides to try standing up to pee. I do laundry as needed, I sweep once or twice a week. Kitchen gets a quick once over ever morning while the breakfast skillet is warming up.   I gave myself a break on food too. I was only cooking these beautiful, complicated paleo meals and it was too much all at once. Now, I cook eggs in some form every morning, maybe once a week we will just do cereal or fruit. I also cook a real diner most nights. Last night was crazy so I sent Paul to pick up pizza on his way home from work and I don't feel bad about it. And lunches...who cares if my toddler has peanut butter sandwiches 3 days in a row, at least he is eating something better than McDonald's.

We will all survive. Everything doesn't have to be picture perfect all the time because that is just unrealistic. So this is how I get by. I also once in a while, when the stars align just right, get to take a nap during the day. I take all the time I need to enjoy my kids and share their childhood with them. We read books, listen to music, and (gasp) watch a lot of tv- but we are doing it together and that matters more to me than anything.

Starting out as a family of 4

Well, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind! Amelia was born and my mom stayed with us for two weeks (which was awesome!) so that I could just rest, heal, and enjoy my kiddos. Last week was my first alone with just the two of them and it went surprisingly well. Jake has adjusted better than I could have imagined to all of the changes, and has even stepped up and is going to sleep by himself and staying in his own room all night long! He is however getting more mouthy by the day. Over the weekend we were going to my parents house to visit and he told me to slow down and drive with two hands, and this afternoon when the dryer beeped, he yelled "The laundry is done, Woman!"  It looks like 3 is setting it's self up to be a very entertaining age :) His birthday party is this weekend and he is very excited about it.
I got baby girl's birth announcements in the mail today and they are super cute so I need to get on with sending those out. I took her to her first ICAN meeting last night and she slept through the whole thing. My hope is that I will be able to show both of my kids that birth is normal and not something to be afraid of. I know it will benefit my daughter when she is older and thinking about starting a family of her own, but I think it will make Jake a more compassionate partner for whoever he ends up with also.
We have new neighbors and I have not met them yet, but Paul has a few times and says they are really nice. Which has been great since our mower broke last week and the neighbor was kind enough to let Paul use theirs until he can track down the parts to repair ours. Looks like he is going to have to rebuild the entire engine so it may get interesting around here :) Last weekend he pulled out all of the crappy old shrubs around the house and hauled in her dirt to fill everything in and it looks SOO much better. I'm kind of sad that I didn't get before and after photos though.

I did it! Amelia's Birth Story

On Friday May 4th, at 42 weeks and one day pregnant I woke up still feeling like I had another week to go. I spent the day babysitting and then we had dinner at my parents house that evening. We got home around 8 in the evening and I started the bedtime routine with our nearly 3 year old son, Jake.
Right at 9pm my husband, Paul, was tucking Jake and I into our bed and just as he shut off the light and closed the door I felt a pop and instantly knew that my water had broken. I yelled for Paul to bring towels and I made a dash for the bathroom. I called our midwife to let her know what was going on but told her that I felt like it would be a while since I was having no other signs of action.  I would just call her back when I needed her.  I also called my mom and doula and gave them the same heads up.
Jake was wound up from me yelling and jumping up from bed so quickly that I decided to give him a little while to settle back down while I started laundry and picked up his toys that were all over the house. When I went to lay back down with him I was really uncomfortable. I decided that Daddy was going to have to do bedtime, so I got up to get him and before I got to the bedroom door the first contraction hit. It was not some nice, easy, warm up contraction either, it was POWERFUL and had some real pressure behind it, and I had to sink down to my knees to get through it.
My first thought was that I was just being dramatic and that I was scared from my first traumatic birth experience and it probably only felt so strong because I wasn't relaxing into it. So I stayed there on the floor of my bedroom to wait for the next one. I was going to be sure to relax and just let it wash over me and surely it wouldn't be as bad as the first one. But 2 minutes later I got another and it was every bit as strong as the first. And the next 6 were all the same and all about 2 minutes apart. I decided that it was time to call the birth team back and ask them to come.
My doula had suggested that I get in the shower because that might help me relax and might even slow the contractions down a bit and I thought that sounded like a great idea. So I got into the shower while Paul was putting Jake to bed.
The heat felt nice but I couldn't stand up through the contractions I had to just sit in the tub and let the water spray on me. I was still very uncomfortable and I had to hold myself up with my arms or I felt unsteady and out of control. Paul peeked in on me and I just started screaming there was so much going on with my body and I wasn't sure how to deal with it. I started to doubt myself and thought "Holy Cow, there is no way I can handle this for hours and hours."  I heard my phone ringing but couldn't move my arms get it so I told him to grab it. It was our midwife calling to check in. Paul put her on speaker phone and after hearing me screaming, she just told me in her "midwife voice" that this baby was coming faster than we thought it would and that it was ok. She told Paul to get some towels and blankets close to me. She asked me if I could feel the head and I checked and said I wasn't sure (Now I know that, yes, I was absolutely feeling the head starting to come down). I just closed my eyes and let her voice guide me through the sensations that were happening and listened to her constant encouragements.  Right about then my mom showed up and was quickly by my side.  I asked our midwife how far away she was and she told me not to worry about that and just to stay in the moment and to just take a deep breath and blow everything away.  I felt so much better then, not so alone and I was able to stop screaming and bring my sounds down to the low tones that I knew were better. I was able to stop fighting what my body was trying to do now and just let the process happen.
I asked our midwife if I could get into the birth tub and thankfully and she said yes. Sinking down into the deep warm water felt really nice. She asked me again if I could feel the head and I said I thought so but part of me was still in denial a little. How could this all be happening so fast?!?
Then there was a knock at the door and our doula/birth assistant walked in and I immediately asked her if she knew what a head felt like and if she could check for me. She said yes and grabbed a glove and told us that the head was only a fingertip in. I couldn't believe it, I hadn't even  really TRIED to push yet and my body had worked my little one down that far already on it's own! It still seemed so incredible to me that this was moving at such a rapid pace. I had a couple more contractions and reached down to feel a little head starting to come out. I told Paul to get the camera- I knew I would be sad later if we didn't end up with any photos. My mom was still sitting next to me and I kept asking her for my water in between contractions because my throat felt raw from the crazy sounds that were coming out of it.
I heard the midwife- still on speaker phone- say she was here and Paul moved to let her in. I was so glad to see her, I had never even considered the possibility of needing to be prepared for an unassisted birth. She quickly came over and checked baby's heart beat, which was just perfect, and then she started to set up the rest of the room.
Reaching down and feeling the progress of your baby's head as it becomes more and more visible is something really amazing. My doula kept remind me to let my shoulders relax and she had me try a couple of different positions. I was really feeling a lot of pressure in the back of my hips during contractions and I didn't like that at all. They calmly told me that once baby's head got past that area that I wouldn't feel that sensation any more so I pushed a couple of times and sure enough they were right, my hips stopped hurting. But then my legs started to go numb, which I also didn't care for, but at least I knew it would be over sooner than later.
I really wanted it to be sooner...so I pushed with my contractions and a few minutes later I felt SWEET RELIEF and heard my midwife say that the head was out! My doula asked if I wanted to feel baby's entire head and I said no because I felt like I really needed my arms to hold myself up. With the next contraction and a little push our baby came out of my belly and into the world at 12:13 a.m. I looked down and saw little arms and legs moving around in the water and then the midwife handed baby up to me. Words cant even describe how amazing it was to hold my brand new, still covered in birth fluids baby on my chest! Paul asked what I had given us and I checked to find that we had a baby girl! I just got to hold her and rub her back and watch her change colors. No one took her away from me, no one tried to make a pin cushion out of her or roughly suction her nose and throat, it was so peaceful.
I asked my mom to go get Jake. I knew he had really wanted to watch the birth but he actually slept through the whole thing in the next room! He was so sleepy he wasn't really interested in her right then, he just wanted to go back to sleep. Shortly after that I birthed the placenta and handed baby off to her daddy after he cut her cord so I could get out of the birth tub.

 They helped me out of the tub and checked me over while feeding me strawberries. Once they got me squared away they put baby and I into a nice warm herbal bath. Paul came in and the three of us had some alone time.  We chose a name for our sweet little girl, Amelia. We had not even begun to talk about middle names so that part would have to wait a few days.
While in the bath Amelia nursed for the first time and it came just as easily for her as it had for her older brother.
We soaked for a while and then it was time to get out and do her newborn check. Miss Amelia was 8 pounds 15 oz and 21.5 inches long. I needed a few stitches and oddly was more afraid of that than I was of giving birth but my wonderful midwife and doula team talked me all the way through that process too.
It has been one week since her arrival and I am still riding the high of giving birth naturally, at home, the way I always wanted to. It is incredible what a difference giving birth in a loving, supported environment makes!!! I cant even come up with words to thank my birth team, they knew exactly what to say to help me through every step of the way and that made all the difference.
 I feel like this labor took off exactly where my son's birth started to go awry. Almost like this was me getting a second chance to finish something that I started 3 years ago.  This was a second chance that I so badly needed, even though I have done a lot of healing since Jake's birth, I feel like I got a piece of myself back that I had been missing for a long time. I feel whole, and powerful and proud of myself. I love myself again, and I haven't really felt that way since my first birth. More importantly I feel like I can be the mom that I want to be to my babies because there is nothing holding me back anymore!

Getting back to normal

It has been a crazy few months. Morning sickness really kept me down for a while, and right after that let up it was time for the busy holiday season. So glad that all of that is past us once again. Now it is really past time (at 27 weeks) that I wrap my head around giving birth again and start preparing for this new member of our family to come. I was finally able to wean my big 2.5 year old, even though he still isn't very happy about it. He is still co sleeping with us though, but I'm not ready to break all ties to his babyhood yet :) The past couple of weeks we have been working really hard at potty training and it isn't going very well. There have been a lot of changes in a short amount of time though so I'm trying very hard not to put much pressure on him. Hopefully good things do, in fact come to those who wait :).
Also I have been planning my slightly less ambitious garden for this year. I would like to get some seeds started in the next couple of weeks but it is currently 20below here so I don't think they would make it even under the lights in the garage...guess it will have to wait.

Until I make it back here again...
Allie