Becoming Human Again

To All MOMS EVERYWHERE...you are so blessed. Blessed to be a mom. Blessed to expecting. Blessed to be adopting. Motherhood is definitely the highlight of my life. Every day a challenge-pushing me to be better, and to be a problem solver which has generated more knowledge than I was really ever hoping to acquire.

Mackenzie made this "card" for me. She is twelve, and her creativity stuns me. She wants to learn the guitar, so she picked up Daddy's guitar and found a youtube lesson, and...there she is...playing...singing...developing into the person God made her to be. I am so blessed.

Recently, I started righting a memoir and did a whole chapter on birth since the book is about my family, and my mom home birthed me. The chapter is pretty raw. I haven't even proofread it, but I can either write it again, or link it for those interested. I love the story because my mom is required to home birth by my Dad, and she is petrified.  Let's link to it.

I was looking at this blog, and there have been tons of comments and I never got them, so I read them today. Ugh. I am such a bad blogger. I need to read a book on how to blog or something....in all of my spare time. Please forgive me if I did not respond to anyone-well, everyone. I kind of wrote this blog as a way to honor pregnancy, natural birth, and squeezing out watermelons in the hot tub, but once I had Miley, well...things got sort of busy. 

I'm not sure why, but when you have your last child, and yes, I did say last. I think I'm too vain for a 15 passenger van...you go into a funky land-and it takes awhile to get back. I think I was in funky land for five years, and I 'm just beginning to feel human again. Maybe its' the only insurance God and my husband have against me having five more??? I liked birthing, and the whole process, but every person has to acknowledge their magic number, and I think mine is five.

Now, if I start blogging another pregnancy-tomorrow, don't judge. 

Our family talks ourselves out of pregnancy almost every day. And the more time goes by; the more I feel human, the more attractive another baby sounds-actually, when I write it like that I realize now I'm really struggling with a mental problem. I have taken FIVE YEARS to recover my fifth birth, and yet, I am PINING over having another child? 

Maybe I should go to Pregnancy Addicts Anonymous-or maybe I should start one. I know of several ladies from our church I could sign up, well, actually just one. I think she's on number nine-We could chat about our sicko addiction, and then talk each other into having another baby, and then get all excited that we are pregnant at the same time and have ladies church baby showers for each other, and co-write a blog.  Nope. I need to keep my addiction to myself and keep crooning over my five year old baby and begging her not to grow up. And also, to convince her to STOP CUTTING HER OWN HAIR after I've paid for a designer cut.

Well. All of that to say that I have just run a half marathon. Yes. You can clap for me now. 

I am having a 13.1 charm engraved for myself to put on my own charm bracelet and hope that someone standing in line at Target sees when I jingle the bracelet just right. Yes. I know you are jealous...although...Mark and I signed up for the next to slowest time available. They almost had to open the roads back up and let us just finish on the sidewalk.  Wow. There's a lot of fast people in Nashville.  30,000 to be exact. And, although it feels like cheating, we run 2.5 minutes, then walk 1 minute. Maybe that's why we are so slow.

Anyway. I have ten extra pounds on my body. I think its' all in my midsection, definitely nowhere near my boobs. I think I lose weight starting at my toes-they look more like little thin frail things once I'm at my goal weight, and of course, my face is one of the first to go-edging me to closer to a Mick Jagger look-super fun. Slowly, weight creeps off my body until FINALLY, the grand finale two pounds come off and I have a flat stomach again. And then, it's time to get pregnant again. JK. Ugh. So when Mark and I started training for this half marathon-in January-I felt like Fat Albert running down the road. 

My feet thudded heavily on the pavement and my backside wiggled and jiggled to the music piping through my headphones. I was sure I was dying, and I've always been a fit person, so nearness of death or passing out add insult to injury. 

Thankfully, I got that one minute walk after the two minute run, and it was my carrot that kept me running. When we ran the race, Mark seemed to suddenly think we were running the whole thing, and I just wouldn't do it. I did not sign up for a race. I signed up for a test of "survival". I just wanted to finish-isn't that the American dream?  Every time we passed an ambulance, I was thankful I was not being peeled off the pavement by the nice EMS person inside.

At the running expo, someone gave me some sort of jelly beans that make you keep going. Sports beans. I at a bean a mile. I hope they weren't laced with something because they sure helped. Thirteen beans later, I wasn't really even sweating that badly. Too bad I didn't know about the beans a long time ago!! A case of beans would have been helpful in January.

So, after we ran this morning-I realized I didn't feel like fat Albert anymore. I have only lost a couple of pounds, but I feel strong. Stronger than I have in a long time, and that's when it hit me, I'm becoming human again. Really, a better reward than a 13.1 charm. Although, I'm still getting the charm.

When I was pregnant, I was always pretty anemic. Postpartum, I still dealt with feelings of exhaustion-and lethargy. I read about getting vitamin B shots and those helped A LOT!! In fact. I was able to order them online, and Mark gave me the shots. They lasted about six days, and then I felt draggy again, so the seventh day was perfect timing for another shot. If you have pregnancy mask that has not gone away-take some B12 sublingual drops and it will go away in 4 weeks or less. For some reason, when we are pregnant all of the b12 leaves us...which is a feel good vitamin....

Another trick was Floradix Iron plus herbs. I was super tired last summer and one of my friends said she takes it every day and it helps her energy levels so much. I ordered the super sized bottle-and oila! what a big difference it made. I hope this helps all of those who feel like they could lie down on the sidewalk and take a nap right this second. 

My Mom's Homebirth Experience-1973

“But as for me, the nearness of God is my good.” Psalm 73:28a

HOMEBIRTH??? That was Daddy’s requirement of my mother. He “didn’t care if they had children together, but if they did, she would home birth”. My mom, a city girl who liked the chloroform she was given on her first three births, was chagrined. Her life was over. She wanted babies with this man, but she had no idea how to have a baby on her own.

Whenever a dilemma struck my mother, she headed to the library. There must be an answer there. And so her first visit to the downtown Nacogdoches library was in search of “how to have a baby.” Sure, she’d had three, but she had zero recollection of the births. Completely knocked out, she awoke to her new bundles of joy. 

Homebirthing seemed so primitive and outlandish, she wanted to be as prepared as possible. In her search for help, she found a record on the Bradley method of birthing. With the help of our record player, she listened to the nylon self-help recording over and over again. As the record spun round and round on our record player, Mom breathed, she stretched, she imagined, she embraced, she relinquished. 

She also found a book called “Natural Childbirth and the Family” by Helen Wessel. The book adheres to Dr. Grantly Dick-Read, the great pioneer of the natural childbirth philosophy, teacher of women and families, helping the woman to get in harmony with a natural and wonderful process, and to connect with God and with the baby in a supernatural process we call birth. He desired that women actively “give birth” instead of being passively “delivered.”

My mom’s book, copyright 1969, is now one of my most treasured possessions. All of her underlines draw me in to her soul, connecting me with her on a deep level. She underlines all the way until the last page. Sometimes its’ a green highlighter, sometimes it’s yellow, and then there are those times when she’s in the bath and the only highlighter she can find is that darn pen that hangs out by the bathtub, and she can’t help but underline yet another part: “The first chapter of Exodus reveals that the women in Moses day gave birth easily and often with out assistance. Moses himself was born to his mother without her receiving assistance, or his presence would have been known (exodus 2:2). The Hebrew midwives explained to Pharaoh that the Hebrew women were not like the indolent women of the Egyptian court and were often delivered of the children before the midwife could get to them…(and another underline),”In societies where women attempt to identify themselves with the men, childbirth and motherhood are not well regarded….” and on and on the underlines go, highlighting everything from theological considerations, to breathing, to coping with depression after the birth. 

She actually happened on a single “handbook” that has “outlived” all of the birthing books I have read since that one. The record she listened to, well, we don’t have record players anymore, but we have classes and support groups now that she did not have.

When I had my babies, I could see her, in my minds’ eye, listening to the records, breathing, and doing her exercises with every fiber of her being. Those black vinyls going round and round, her shiny black friends from the library, giving her the strength and confidence she would need to take on the task of birthing at home.

My parents moved into the hotel across the street when they arrived in Nacogdoches. Daddy knocked on the door of the Nacogdoches house, and after prying his way in, our family moved up to the two bedroom apartment within the house.

The Jones family had not yet moved out when it was time for the baby to come, so homebirth, was really apartment birth. Workers hammering, shouting, and pulling down old wallpaper, listening to mom groan and moan, preparing a home for the ten pound bundle, mom positioned herself so she could see the clock with the second hand. She focused on the road map she had mentally laid out before herself, once the contractions came, she breathed, lay on her side, and then breathed more deeply.

I came. I came faster than she expected. All of the preparation, all of the time invested into “being ready”, I almost came before she could think too much about the process. And with my arrival, power rushed in. A power she had never known, came into her soul, and she realized she could do anything she set her mind to do. 

Birthing, pretty much on her own, gave her something. Endowing her with she-woman status, not to the world, not to anyone else, to herself, it was one of the most empowering and defining moments of her life. she metamorphosed from a caterpillar to a butterfly in the span of two hours.

Dad may have seemed like a tyrant for the request, and the fallout from BOTH of their families was so intense, that she followed that birth with two humiliating hospital births, but she tasted something she realized was supposed to be for all women, for all time. It was something God created, that had been stolen and replaced with the fear of birth and although obligated to walk through the unknown “fire”, she came out another woman. She had discovered and happened upon a lifelong “gift” of empowerment that most women would never get to experience.

Trying to express what a life changing moment this was is difficult. Probably contributing to the life changing part was the fact that my mother was so spoiled as a child. She cried to get her way. She never had to endure very much, thus adulthood was a continual shock to her spoiled little girl system. And doing something that was “impossible” was a game changer.

Although I chose to homebirth, I felt it was not because my mom did it. Always independent, always looking to do things differently than my mother did them, I made up my mind at eight years old to home birth based on a distinctive realization coined in my memory. When I was eight, my father told me where babies came from. He also explained that that came out in a bed in the hospital. 

I was at the hospital all the time. It was my home away from home. I wandered the halls, I investigated the little drawers, I sat in waiting room, I knew that place like the back of my hand, and the groans coming from the rooms, the pallid fluorescent lighting, the occasional mean nurse and arrogant doctor, set my teeth on edge, even as a child.

When Daddy explained the whole thing, I made up my mind that no matter what, I would not be exposing my junk to the hospital crowd. No way. The whole thing sounded so gross, and then to think that I would be naked and groaning in front of others, “forget about it”. Maybe I was afraid. I can still smell Memorial Hospital in Nacogdoches, Texas. Bright lights and chemical smells and groans.

My mind was like concrete when it finally came time to talk about babies with my husband. It was final. I had decided things twenty years before this moment, but did not share this with him all at once. I slowly began brainwashing Mark about birth and how dangerous it was in the hospital versus the home. I gave him statistics and I interviewed midwives even before I was pregnant.

In the midst of my wife to husband real time propaganda, I had a dream. In my dream, it was time to birth the baby. We went to the hospital and I “played along” like this was going to go like everyone wanted it to go. In the dream, I knew that the bathroom in one’s room did not lock, but the one down the hall locked. I pretended to “go on a walk”, and locked myself in the hall bathroom when it was time to push, having the baby on the toilet.

When I shared the dream with Mark, it was a moment of unveiling my black box secret. He initially was a bit upset-“it sounds like you just are going to do what YOU want to do, not considering me at all!” But I think the dream relayed an undeniable element of truth-and we ended up home birthing.

My first birth was tough. It was long. I wasn’t dilated AT ALL and my midwives said-go on a really long walk-outside, and then they split-Midwives seem to know “this thing is going to take forever, it’s your first birth sweet pie”, a little piece of information they don’t dare share until later. To Starbucks they trot while I am feeling like someone has a noose on my insides. Mark and I to walk a couple of miles. They were so stoked when they returned and I was dilated to “1”. “Go on another walk the same distance as that first one”, they said. Meanwhile, I had been having hard contractions that whole walk, stopping to breathe on Mark while the traffic on Basse road zipped by us and concerned drivers stopped to ask us if we needed “a lift.”

I got in the tub and started moaning. I did not stop moaning for twelve hours until the baby came out, but it did come out. Holly (my midwife), did her first episiotomy, both of us thinking I did not need a local, the baby’s head on my perineum, and both of us being wrong as she made three decisive cuts right through very alive and very “I can feel this” skin.

But the 9.5 pound baby did finally arrive. 

After this moment, I actually wasn’t so intense about home birth, and thought, the insurance could just pay for the birth next time. Maybe I was just being melodramatic about the hospital, how bad could it be? I would probably just have it naturally and just as fast in the hospital next time.

Mark though, was hooked. He loved it. He loved being so involved and in control. He liked being in our own environment. He loved the midwife. He enjoyed the intimacy with whomever we wanted to invite or not invite. He relished that I could eat, drink, sleep, and get in the bath. He sort of had a Margi  Peace experience. It was one of the most empowering days of his life, and he still revels in that first night with his first born child.

Holly whisked me off to the hospital, as I had torn down to the rectum. She encouraged Mark to stay with the baby as hospitals feel they should keep “homebirth babies” for observation should they show up. I was not able to walk very well, so my father in law got an office chair and rolled me to the car-we silently drove into the darkness as Mark held Mackenzie. He said she just stared up into his eyes for hours while the midwife who had stayed behind cleaned sheets, kitchen, and got the house back into order. 

It was a rite of passage my husband had passed through, and he discovered a place of empowerment and joy-a gate swung open to fatherhood and independence that he did not know existed. The feeling was addictive, euphoric. He would get to experience this four more times, but the first birth would forever be etched into his memory, and unlatch something wonderful in his soul.

Coffee Enema Love Affair

It may seem strange when  a girl clutches her enema bag to her heart as if  it were a long lost friend before gingerly packing it in her suitcase. She would never think of leaving town without it. She rarely lets a day pass without doing a coffee enema.

 I wasn't intending on a long term relationship, it just sort of happened when I was least expecting. We met after my last birth. For some reason, my last pregnancy dealt my body a serious blow. I don't know if the hormones suddenly exploded inside of me and then talked to my whole body, and my brain, instructing it to do the opposite of what it had done my whole life,  but I felt toxic.

My nose ran for three months straight, my skin was broken out, my brain was foggy, and I looked like a poster child for the woman's midlife crisis clinic.

My body was saying "help me". And the intuition I had was that my liver was full. It was probably all of the lemon meringue pie, bean and cheese tacos, and heavy chocolate load I gobbled down the last five pregnancies. Or maybe it was hormone overload, whatever -I felt like a sick person. Boo. Hiss.

At first I looked at cleanses, and even ordered a super duper special liver "detox" powder that was black, gray, and had chunks. You were supposed to stir this in a glass of water??? I don't know what kind of water the person writing the instructions was talking about, maybe they meant whiskey and did not divulge the real plan, but at my house, the black tar clump didn't blend into a glass of water. So I ended up gagging it down in applesauce for five days straight. Each day of gagging motivated me towards something else-even the thought of sticking a tube up my butt was becoming more attractive than this.

At precisely the moment of applesauce gagging, I was reading; Dr. Max Gerson, Healing the Hopeless, by Howard Strauss (Max's grandson who graduated from MIT and then honored his grandfather with this amazing Biography).  I had heard of the Gerson Therapy, but I always like to know the  person behind the therapy.  The book is long-377 pages, but I treasured each and every word. Howard frames his grandfathers legacy and it takes my breath away. Dr. Gerson and his family escaped the ovens of Germany, only to come to America and endure the ovens of the American Medical Association, and yet he never quit fighting against cancer with truth, honor, loyalty, and was a pioneer of his time.

When I came to the part of his medical plan that includes using coffee enemas to help "clear the liver", I could not contain my excitement-it was fate. I ran to the freezer and got the Neiman Marcus blend of Christmas coffee which had resided in the freezer for upwards of two years. It was not organic (a must)-but it was the only coffee in the house and I was a desperate soupy nose blowing woman who needed de-fogging. I brewed it up, and sent it to a place where no coffee had been before.

Within twenty seconds, my runny close cleared, then my foggy brain cleared, and within a couple of days, my skin cleared.  It was an innocent yet desperate inauguration of our relationship, and that was three years ago.  I did a coffee enema every few days for a couple of months, then I felt so good, I forgot about it for a few months, then took it up again. There were so many questions that I had. The instructions were to let it "boil in a saucepan" at least 15 minutes, then strain it, then put it in the enema bag-a somewhat cumbersome method to get every bit of the goodness out of the beans.

Ugh. Dr. Gerson's recipe is taking too much time. Forget about it. One day I have a eureka moment-"Just brew the coffee in a coffee pot-it's better than not doing it at all".  All of the hard work of making the coffee a special way goes away and I am left with an easy plan.

I can multi-task. I can make the coffee at night, stick it in my rear while I shower the next morning. I then lay on my side for the appointed 10-12 minutes while I am reading a memoir, and then let it out.  Its' actually a very meditative time for me. I am forced to lie down for 12 minutes while awake-

Just this past week I added something to the coffee. It is a mix of epsom salt, baking soda, and lavender oil-like a bath salt. Just a teaspoon added to the coffee makes a huge difference. My liver seems to clear out more than normal, it's easier to retain, and is more comfortable than straight coffee, or coffee with cold water added to make the temp. around 98 degrees.

I have naysayer friends. Friends that point out the "unnaturalness" of it. Seeming so true, I could not rebut this for two years, and I was putting the groceries in the car a few weeks ago when the answer fluttered around my head, then landed.  In 1952, the government began to genetically modify wheat. 1952 was just the beginning, and then we modified it more and more, and still more.

Any product that we consume which contains flour (and most of us eat something with flour for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner) is made of this stuff. It's not a real food anymore. It is a scientific experiment we call flour. We don't always eat what's natural, and therefore, something that does not "seem" natural", but will cleanse both the liver and gallbladder, may in fact be an important key to health.

And so, all of the uncertainties and insecurities surrounding me and my bag fall away, and I am a girl in love...again. My brain clears every time I do this, and its' the cheapest high I can get. I have a friend who called saying she would have to "have her gallbladder out." I promptly sent her an article on the cleansing effects of the coffee enema on the gallbladder...."She'd rather have surgery" was the reply.

I don't blame my friend. Its' the "exit only" sign we cling to our bottoms-we'd rather have surgery than do this...unless we look like death warmed over and are yelling at our kids like some strange maniac demon possessed being that is supposed to be called "mom", hating ourselves for what we've become and realizing that we have two choices-take drugs, or order the silicone bag for $40 off of Amazon.

I'm way too cheap to buy drugs, so I opt for the bag and some organic grounds from Costco.

Rhythms of Time, Forced to Time Manage and Love it!

Easily, I could think I was unique in being "forced" to manage my time. I have five children, and a long list of to-do's every day, but the fact of the matter is, EVERYONE is racing against the clock in one way or another....even children nowadays have homework galore and deadlines from first grade on...I probably feel the HEAT of managing my time poorly, because I see or feel immediate results, but I am definitely not alone in needing good time management skills.

Organization is an area in which I am naturally gifted, but I still have pursued time management skills in every area of managing the house. Flylady, at www.flylady.net has been a great resource for me that's free and has lots of support, ie: radio/podcast show weekly, and other free information and outlets on keeping your home clutter free, body clutter-free, closet clutter-free...etc. LOVE Flylady! But really, when I summarize all I have learned and do on a daily basis, I have to say that I have said a little prayer about a "home area" or "kid issue", and God has consistently sent me an answer on how to do things. Either a book, news article, person, or just a "knowing" on what to do...He gets the message to me somehow.

I have little things that I do that seem to help the process along. I ALWAYS make a to do list at night or even in the morning. This one tip makes me so much more accomplished on a daily basis. If I forget to do this, I begin "wandering" through the day with very little purpose and by the end of the day have not really accomplished much. I got a fancy ap on my phone, but for some reason, the little crumple of paper seems to work best for me. If I lay it on the kitchen counter and look at it only once, my day is immediately more productive. I bake bread, make kombucha, finish school, read 10 books aloud, and paint a painting with time for a nap. On the days I don't "do" my list, I wander around the house, pick up things off the floor, check facebook 10 times, fold a little laundry, put the kids in front of videos, and then wonder what happened to the not-so-productive day at the end??

Another BIG trick is setting the timer. This is a Flylady deal. Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a chore you don't want to do. When it rings, stop doing the chore. Don't get into perfectionism, just DO IT for the duration of the Timer and feel awesome about yourself when the Timer rings. This one is for the down and dirties like cleaning toilets, washing AND FOLDING laundry AND getting it put away, and things like that. If you only set it twice a day, you'll feel like a champ for getting the rough stuff done each day.

I like to read books on organizing-well, to be an honest, a book a year. I read on book on "Speed Cleaning" how to clean your house in the fastest amount of time...Homeschooling, How to Organize Everyones's schedule....and these books, or at least one or two tips from each book, is part of my day.  I have a daily routine....school is routine, meals are routine, naps are routine, reading books to kids, bedtimes....all of those are MUSTS and many times I have typed out the exact TIMES just for me. It helps to look at these parts of the day pretty often, so that you don't run behind (at least for me). The routine makes the children very stable and secure. All of the "to-do's" get sandwiched between the "must-do's".

One thing I have realized, and the reason I named this article "loving it", is I have had a little resentment for HAVING to manage my time so diligently. I have been forced to manage my time for a decade now, and I think I have grumbled or complained more about this issue (inwardly and probably outwardly) more than any other. If I go shopping, it's not leisurely nor is it enjoyable. It's literally, me, running as fast as I can to the lingerie department, yanking my sizes off the sale rack, and yelling to the cashier to hold my purse while I make sure my boobs are still the same size....something about the intensity of that has made me a pouter more than once....until now. Now, I'm grateful. Time is precious, and I know it. I have figured out how to manage my time by force, but enjoy my time immensely and appreciate the minutes-those golden nuggets called minutes.

Finally, and really, I could write a whole book on this subject, I try to maximize each minute to the best of my ability. Appreciate time, and viewing time as precious, has been one of the motivators for my successfully handling "time", and not taking it for granted. Time is the one thing, if lost, I will physically cry over. Birthing 11 pounds, whatever........wasting 2 hours of time, let the tears fall and get the kleenex ready.

MUST brag on Rewards System for kids

This is too cute. I was going to facebook, but it's too much information, so I'm blogging it.

I have five children now, and the task is almost too daunting at times. What task, you ask? Name one. Potty training, schooling, reading EACH child their books....if you have one child, times what you do times five and then try to neatly organize all of it into each day.
One of the issues I have had, and other moms make it sound so easy, but I want to instill work ethic and reward system without breaking my back and spending too much time on it. I had a "star" system, which was a little row of pockets that I had made and popsicle sticks with glittery stars on them. When the kids did something great, or I wanted to reward them, they got a popsicle stick with the star and put it in their individual pocket. Things were great for awhile, but the kids started "re-arranging" the stars in the pockets as well as other "favorite pastime" items (with the handcrafted stars) that they so enjoy doing when I run to the bathroom.

SO THEN, I found an application for my phone called iRewardChart. Yes, I have an iphone, so you may have to make the wall chart if you don't, but for all of the busyness and really, how little time I WANT to spend on charting chores and which child did what, this has worked out AWESOME.

 You get to name your own rewards in the application for each child. Mackenzie was saving up and trying to get enough stars for Disney World (500 stars), but ended up trading in stars for money and got an American Girl doll and wardrobe instead. The excitement this sparked when she got her box in the mail was over the top. Megan and Max immediately wanted to make more stars and they ran out and cleaned up the entire yard, which has been our outdoor shoe collection area for a month. In the photo, Megan is cleaning off one of the shoes they found.

Michael, the three year old, is not that motivated by the stars, but I give him stars on purpose when he does certain things I personally REALLY want him to do on his own....wiping his bottom after poo-poo for instance, or DRESSING HIMSELF, for goodness sake....if he dresses himself, I make a BIG deal out of it, run get my phone, and let him give the stars to himself (they make a nice "ringing" sound with each additional star). I would give him 100 stars at once if he started dressing himself every day, but for now, it's two at a time.

Along with earning stars, one gets to LOSE stars. This is used sparingly, but lately has been VERY motivating for the kids at dinnertime. They don't eat, they lose 2 stars. No sweating, nagging, begging, bantering, and stomach upset...just put the "weight" of the deal on the kids. Now that they are enjoying some of the rewards of "getting" the stars, having them taken away is hard to swallow. No pun intended. Brussel sprouts and asparagus are now being eaten quite well.

With each child, I have certain things I want them to do as a habit alongside of the chores and jobs. For one, the girls like to wear their hair down but didn't like to brush it. For awhile, they could earn stars for brushing their hair daily. After it became a habit, the hair brushing star magically went away....I'm sure it was in the grocery line one day.... But that's how I use the star system with the iRewardChart on my phone. Not all rewards are monetary. Many involve our time-date night with dad is so many stars as well as video games on ipad....You can customize the rewards as well as the chores with each child that you have....I may start a chart in there for my husband as well as the dogs. Well worth the .99 cents or whatever this app cost for a mom of five.

Finally, the birthday day has arrived! No balloons or pink plates. Just a giant cupcake and a cute little dress. Wow. One year since I pushed out the 11 pound 3 ounce genius. Once you've pushed out that much mass, you never seem to quite forget.

I have SO enjoyed Miley. She has a super cute personality, she's laid back, and really adds depth to our family. The kids love having her to play with as well.

The biggest adjustment, is just adjusting. But, beyond that, I'm loving how the family has grown, and loving experimenting with pushing motherhood to the max. Miley has not yet had sugar and this cake was a sugar free experiment. I made it with xylitol, and just the word xylitol, keeps us all eating just a little less of it than if it were a sugar explosion. The top is whipped cream with a little stevia and vanilla. The first batch of (xylitol) icing I made was horrible. You hate to throw it away, but I could not think of one use for my big butterball xylitol mess, so I threw it down the drain. Xylitol is poisonous to dogs, so they were locked out of this party. Our dogs get fat when we have a highchair baby and then they thin out again after the fact.

I liked this cake, but for some reason, the middle took a LONG time to get done??? Not sure what happened on that, but the first day it tasted fresher and better than the second day. Anyway, would love to remiss the year, but I have another party to plan. Megan turns 6 next week, and I'm deciding all of the options for cake/dress right now. Would rather spend time sewing, than baking. I get so much more satisfaction from sewing, because it can be worn and enjoyed for a couple of years. Baking, not so much. Work work work, back hurts, sweat, throw out the butterball xylitol, work work work. Done. Eat it. It's gone.  There is SOME therapy in baking, but, it's gone in seconds....so I might buy a cake at Country Mart for Megan. Keep ya' posted.

Miley's First Birthday

Well, it's Miley's first birthday this Friday and I was on the hunt for the perfect first birthday cake. You would think after four kids, I would have a highlighted plan in a file somewhere for "first birthdays", but alas, no, I don't. Every time, I think, Oh, this isn't that big of a deal. We will invite no one and put a little party hat on their head with a number one and take a cute picture. Then, when it gets down to the wire, I start furiously knitting a crown with a number one on it, or making some crazy fun cupcake material outfit or whatever other hairbrained idea I get. This usually happens within one week of the day.

For Miley's birthday, I want to make her a special outfit, and in my head I had the "vision" of a cupcake for her, but that's just not going to be good enough, so I googled birthday ideas and found this GIANT cupcake pan (it's really a full sized cake in the shape of a cupcake). So cool. Not only did I find this giant pan, but I found instructions for making the cupcake look like it has a bright pink cupcake liner. I will blog my progress on this special day and keep you updated.

Swim Season-Outside tips with Kids

Well, it's swim season again. I'm really too busy and too stuck at home to do many sports...but I really like swim team. The kids learn a valuable sport that they can use for the rest of their lives...plus a life skill should they ever need it. Mackenzie and Megan both did swim team last year. It was a pretty pathetic team...sort of like the bad news bears, but despite the patheticness of it all, they learned all the strokes and were EXCELLENT swimmers by the end of the swim season. We didn't care so much about winning, just about getting really good at swimming. We are in Branson this summer, and thank God for the pathetic team we were on last year, because this year, they hopped right onto the awesome team and feel right at home.

Living in Branson has had its' own learning curve as far as having several little kids. They have ticks here. Bad. So, I'm learning what to do with that. Max found one on his privates today and proceeded to show everyone around "his tick". Basically, I thought you burned them with a match and they would would fall off. Not so. These guys know a good deal when they see one and won't let go for anything short of a beating. So, after hours of research I found you just pull it out with tweezers. Actually, we just had houseguests leave and they found one that had spent a few days behind their babies' ear (they had been home a week) and lo and behold, that tick gave their baby rocky mountain fever which can paralyze you or kill you. (I'm learning more every day. It has to stay embedded for more than 24 hours to give you the ol fever.) Oh yeah, and we have brown recluse spiders here. If you would like a quick fear jolt, google those guys and look at images. Yikes. I saw three in one day at the house. Two inside and one out. I have to remind myself that the spider is little, I am big, it won't hurt me.... I killed one when we first got here and left the spatula in the sink. The next day, the end of the spatula was melted in the spot that I had squished the spider.

Well, so what do I do with this? I'm so against pest control. I can hardly stand it. ESPECIALLY with a crawling baby. But when you pick 14 ticks off of your dog in one day...something's gotta give. On dogs, I found out that Advantix works much better than frontline...I just ordered a case. On the kids...I like to find out the poisonous possibilities in the area, and then find some good scriptures. There are some good ones on poisonous insects that I can proclaim in our home. If the insects avoided the Israelites, but bugged the Egyptians, the same can happen today, right? I then read blogs on the subject, finding people who have been bitten or stung and then "arm" myself with a plan before any event ever occurs. My new first aid items include burn gel (this numbs the pain and heals the burn) (Water Jel Burn Jel, Pain Relief 25 ea) and then my other new item is called an "extractor". This little dude "pulls" the poison out of a bite or a sting. You pick the suction cup size and it will extract everything from mosquito bite poison to ant stings to poison from a spider bite. Nice to have on hand!

Anyway...some of the other things I do in the summertime. I don't use sunscreen. I know, I know, it's really bad, but I figured out that the sun in the afternoon (after 3PM), does not burn you, so I usually like to swim with the kids after naptime. If they swim in the sun in the morning, I REALLY smooth on the sunscreen. Mackenzie is going to camp next week and they require bug spray and sunscreen in the packing list, and I found a bug spray/sunscreen combo from Avon of all places. It probably has as many chemicals as anything else out there, but because it's avon, I totally trust it. Also, you can get it in a pump spray (YAY). Has anyone else noticed that the aerosol sunscreen sprays only last 2 days when you have 5 kids? If you go to the beach for a week, you need at least 5 cans to make it to the end of the week. I'm thinkin' BULK product here, people! So, I was happy to find this little all in one item for camp. Speaking of camp. How exciting! She's going to Kamp Kanakuk, and I feel really good about it. We have a really close friend who was homeschooled all of his life, but his parents sent him to Kanakuk for one month every year starting at age 7. He thinks it is an excellent idea for homeschoolers. My little brother went to this camp when he was young and it was LIFE CHANGING for him. So, we are excited for her. Nothing like giving the little ones' wings while they still live in the nest. I want her to go on missions trips as soon as she turns 12 as well. But for now, a camp will do. This camp is located in Branson and they have 70 different sports available to the kids. I think the camp she's doing they sleep in tee-pees. There is a rigorous interview screening for the counselors, and basically, I just have a peace about it. So there you have it. The only other activity I have lined up for summer is a spelling bee coming up in two weeks. You know I can't stay away from spelling bees. Mackenzie  just watched Akeelah and the Bee and she's nervous about standing in front of "all those people", but we live in a little town and I think this "bee" will be more like little house on the prairie than the Scripps spelling Bee in Washington. The Bee is being held in Springfield Missouri at an old school house built in 1854. How totally cool is that?

Other items I'm working on this summer:

+ making my own kombucha (I have DETERMINATION in my soul...this WILL happen)
+lose my final 15 lbs. (baby is 10 months old, now)
+ Get my soap onto Amazon.com (should be up there in a week)
+ Learn how to do gel nails at home (they stay on for 2-3 weeks, would be great for doing girls' nails as well)
+ Read up on the Suzuki method for the violin. Mackenzie's been playing with a teacher, but I want to read Nurtured By Love as well
+ Get Max reading ready-
+ Get some really yummy kids pics at the pool and beach

Is the list too long? As long as I stay at home, anything is possible. I find the more I leave the house, the faster my time slips through my fingers. If I do an outside activity with the kids, it needs to be within 10 miles of the house. Right now, I'm getting my nails done and it takes 3 hours of my time. Drive-1 hour Nails-1 hour Drive-1 hour....it's things like that that PUSH me to learn yet another skill. (that's where the gel nail thing came from).

I'll give a full report as the summer progresses. We didn't quite finish school this year...so I'll have to fit it in here and there between everything else. Having a baby and moving to another place can put a monkey wrench in my plans...but God totally has graced me to do it all.

oh yeah, I've added Avon Skin So Soft to my first aid "armor". All the children get sprayed as they go out the door in the morning. Do you guys remember that stuff? It's really great for a body "pest" spray. Count your blessings if you don't need this.

Drive Through Carwash

The drive through car wash is the best idea of a monster that we can come up with . Especially a "day" type monster. It's loud. It's wild. You feel a little "stuck" and can't go anywhere while your car is stuck in its' mouth. And then, after many tears and sometimes hysteria, the monster calms down and spits you out, drying your hair a bit as you go, and all is well in the world.

All of my kids cry at the car monster. They stare at the windows and the loud SHUSSHING sounds and start getting more panicky by the minute. This time was Miley's first time. As you can see, she's not in the photo. She really could have cared less what was going on or even noticed any noise at all. Michael, on the other hand, who had reported BEFORE the experience that he was not going to cry...had to shed just a tear or two. He couldn't help it. And as all of his siblings looked on, his eyes and ears were intently focused on the windows of the car, the shaking and rattling noises, and the loud SHUSSHH sounds. Miley just tried to yell and giggle louder than the noises surrounding the car. Isn't it funny?? We are either focused on the SHUSSHING WHOOSSHING sounds, or we are relaxed in the car seat of God. Giggling, kicking, trusting, waiting for our car hair to get dried and spit out to the next errand. That's where I want to be spiritually....in Miley's carseat....knowing and trusting that God's got this thing, and whatever the wild noise is and the monster mouth idea surrounding me is about, it's just temporary. I'm safe, and the next season is just around the corner.

Weddings and Soap

The photo is of a soap I just finished for a wedding shower. It actually took a total of HOURS to do this soap. It wasn't the soap itself, but it was the darn tag. I wanted to print the tag myself and it just takes time getting the right fonts and the right colors and the right wording...but I enjoy a challenge, because on the other side of every challenge, when correctly and properly embraced, is a deeper knowledge of the subject and a tip or a change that could bring me to a higher level or have a deeper compassion for a friend or open a door that I normally would not have had opened if I was not ready for the challenge a second time. Now, when I do another wedding shower (or wedding favor), I have it in my hand within a few minutes to do. The hostess wanted it to be rough cut around the edges, but I COULD not get a rough cutter in Branson, and besides, the paper is so thick on this bugger that a rough cutter may not have done the job. Plus, the nature of the background already looks rough cut. So, I just cut the hang tags with a paper cutter and then corner cut the four corners with a romantic corner cutter. Oila! It turned out great. The one thing that has been a big blessing is since we have moved to Branson, the doors keep opening and opening for my soap. I've made the soap for five years, but never could see how to package it or how to produce it in too much bulk, so I didn't ever get that inspired to put it into a bunch of stores. When faced with a need for 1200 bars in January, it was just another one of those "challenges". It took a lot of extra time and dedication, but in the end, the challenge (being a larger challenge in the soap department than ever before), opened up all sorts of doors. They came off the hinges. Suddenly, I'm able to make lots of soap, which I have done, and boutique owners are requesting colors and flavors which has opened MORE doors. I was always concerned with producing hundreds of bars, and now, I see the need for testing fragrances, and for making up small batches in different fragrances for certain occasions, so I need different molds for this type of deal...but God is just working out every single detail along the way, with time to spare. He's so good. Today I made homemade sweet rolls for tomorrow's "Pink Friday". All ladies are invited! It's the first Friday of the month and I host a little ladies breakfast from 10AM to Noon and it's just food and fellowship. But, as I was making the sweet rolls, I could not get my mind or my eyes off of the soap and I realized that I have the grace to make soap, and make it every single day and make it in colors and fragrances....and it's definitely a grace. I didn't realize how big of a deal it was to me until the doors started opening and I realized how enjoyable the whole process is. Oh, and if you have a fat friend who LOVES sweets (she doesn't have to be fat...I am quite thin and would love this gift), check out soapcafe.com That girl makes soap cherry pie, doughnuts, chocolate bunnies, all in soap!!! What a cool and fun gift to get and give!!! I'm working on some chocolate soap myself and will produce photos when the final product is ready. Thanks everyone who likes my soap for liking it...it has so encouraged me to continue on this journey that has seemed like a strange "happenstance" along parts of the way, but has been a huge blessing in my life.

Swimming

I love this picture. The last time we were in San Antonio, we heated the pool and took a little "dip". Michael has on one of the girls' swim caps and he kept it on the whole swim. I love how happy all of the kids look in swimming pictures. There's something about swimming that melts away the gray and brings out the brightest most vibrant "colors" of life. I remember some of the happiest childhood moments were spent in the pool. The worst moment of those days was the one where mom said "it's time to get out!" and we all pretended we couldn't hear her anymore and suddenly lived on the bottom of the pool, emerging only for short breaths, trying to keep just our lips above as we savored the teeny tiny last moments of pool time. The next best thing to the pool was how darn hungry swimming makes you and the after pool snack. YUMMMMM. That was the best tasting food in the whole world....still is.

Teething....again....

Teething with all of the kids has been sort of a non-issue. Sometimes when I talk to moms I can tell they think their children are in some sort of immense pain and need drugs, but for the most part, it's a fleeting few hours and boom, they pop in. After five, I've finally begun to recognize the signs and not get too freaked out about the moodiness. With this one, she got six teeth in a period of 4 or 5 days...maybe more like two weeks, and then she got nothing for two months. Her mouth has been dry. no drooling. It's been really nice. All of a sudden, she started drooling and chewing a finger and I realized, here comes another tooth. The main thing teething seems to affect is sleep. It's hard for them to sleep sometimes because of the irritation and that's where I think moms find the comfort of Tylenol, well, comforting. This time around I approached it a little differently than in the past and had GREAT results. I just don't let her nap much at all. She can't really nap anyway, so I let her lie down about mid-day, but other than that, i just keep her really busy with food and toys and walks and more. She's not crying the whole time, just a little fussy, so I keep her up and as busy as possible. I did this last time and it worked well with the six teeth, and now, it worked just as well. Last night she was so tired she fell asleep at the breast. She hasn't done that in a couple of months it seems. I put her down, and the boys were wild and woke her up about an hour later, but I let her cry for 20 mins. or so and she slept through the night. This morning, her tooth was there...it had pushed all the way through and was cute and newly budded. Hurray! Her nap would have been perfect today, no fussiness, had I not smothered her with wool socks, wool blankets, and robeez shoes. I'm always over-blanketing my kids....

Another easy cure...Castor Oil...Eczema and More

I just wanted to blog on castor oil for a minute because I've recently researched a tiny bit and it's worth mentioning. It's cheap. Get it and have it on hand. It's for insomnia, eczema, and more....you can use it on pets or humans and you make a pack out of it and apply it externally. You just take a piece of fabric, soak it in the oil, cover the area affected (extreme bruising, swollen joints, varicose veins, moles, upset stomach, constipation, pink eye, just google it to find out more), cover the cloth with plastic wrap, and then put a hot water bottle on top of the plastic wrap. This will heat up the pad and make the castor oil go in through the skin. I have not tried this remedy myself yet...but after reading all of the testimonies on both vitacost.com and amazon and a site called earthclinic.com, I realized it was worth looking at. I stumbled on it accidentally as I am working on some shaving soap and castor oil is highly recommended.

Soap Nuts Update and Cloth Diapering Revisited

Well, I've washed some diapers with the new soap nuts and I have to say. They are fresh, clean, and soft. YES! Tide is about .20 per load, soap nuts are about .07 per load. This sounds little until you are doing 4 loads per day. Now, we are talking .80 cents versus .28 cents per day.

The instructions say to let the bag dry out between washes, but I'm washing so often that I don't think I fall into that "group". I did buy extra muslin bags in case I need them or something. If you did not read the last article, my midwife recommended soap nuts for washing your clothes as opposed to detergent. I ordered a bag from naturoli and they really work! I know they really work, because my diaper load smells like a funky skunk on a bad day, and even on the 2 hour front loader wash, I often have to wash them twice to get them clean. Today, with a single wash and some soap nuts, they smelled fresh.

On another note, I have to revisit cloth diapering. For those of you who may not know, I used to have a cloth diapering company. Therefore, I am very fond of cloth diapering and actually prefer it over disposables. I have fallen to the wayside a couple of times and used disposables, but, I always come back. When Miley was first born, we moved to Branson, and I was so overwhelmed with everything, that I immediately cut the cloth out and started both Michael and Miley in disposables. (actually, Michael was already in them), to help with laundry. This was nice for about 6 weeks, and then I had some real leakage issues at night with Miley. Disposables seem easier until you are washing sheets daily...hence, the time savings reverses.

In the meantime, I got a new assistant who has been really diligent with the laundry and helping me get it put away every day. I realized that I was o.k. plopping down tens and twenties for diapers....for about 6 weeks, and then it started eating on me. I just don't like spending money on trash. The main issue was not Miley, the main issue was Michael. When babies get to be toddlers, their poops get HORRIBLE and sometimes they will poop five times a day. When they hit that point, I switch to disposables, and I think it's worth every penny. But all of my babies potty trained between 1.5 years and 2 years old.

Michael (now 2 and 1/2 years old) proudly airs his bum full of poop and acts as if this is a lifetime habit. He (of all my children) never really liked the idea of "Infant potty training" AT ALL, so it looks as if it might be a few more months of laying down the tens and twenties. Alas, I had to come up with a backup plan....I'm not cheap, but I'm not dumb, either. I'd rather have dark chocolate goji berries in my grocery cart than huggies....so with determination in my soul, and my face set like flint, I have darkened the shadowy, grim corridor of cloth diapering a toddler once again. And, actually, it hasn't been too bad. Aside from secretly wanting a fireman's garb and mask as I rinse out the poopy cloth diaper, I have actually enjoyed cloth diapering him. I don't know what it is about cloth diapers...for me, the whole thing is sort of baby therapy. The clean cotton, the tight wrap that I do, and the pretty perfect capability of my diapers to hold everything just makes me feel good. Like, I'm doing the right thing.

Anyway, the way I deal with Michael is as follows. I have a great big countertop in the laundry room with a sprayer. I keep a changing pad in there and when it's poopy, I march him straight to the laundry room, lay him down on the counter, and start taking off the layers. His poops are so nasty that even top layers of clothing will retain the smell for days...so all of it goes in the washer. I toss the pajama bottoms and tops in the washer and carefully pull down his pull-up pants (these are on sale by the way at www.Bumkins.com...look in the clearance section...normally they are $14.99 and they are on sale for $9.50 or so....my favorite covers by far). THEN, I examine the situation. If his bottom needs no less than 50 wipes, he needs to be hosed off before I take care of the diaper. I turn the water faucet on the very coldest it can possibly be (which, in Branson in the wintertime is FRIGID). I then put him in the laundry sink and use a rag to help me while I hose him down. If the diaper has raised my blood pressure, I just hose extra body parts to get even. I hose him in the front, in the back, in the front, in the back, in the front, in the back, with sufficient LOUD screaming all in between, as the water is VERY frigid. Then, I use the rag to make sure he's all clean. Finally, he gets to lay back down on the changing pad and I don the extra thick blue gloves from Lowe's. I now turn my attention to the diaper that one would be tempted to burn in the fireplace, and I rinse it as well as I can. I use my gloved fingers to sort of push everything down the drain, and then take the wet soppy diaper ball and throw it in the washer. I let it hang out in there for hours sometimes as I gather more whites from around the house.

It's very therapeutic. You save money. You help the environment. You make your child pay for every slimy outgassing poop that you've had to change. And best of all, you secretly know that if your child has the smarts of a donkey, he will one day very soon wake up and realize that the potty is the most attractive appliance in the home, and he will want to make friends and share moments of intimacy with the porcelain throne.

Soap Nuts

O.K. So, this is a new one for me, but after researching, it looks like it's for real. My midwife, Holly, is SUPER sensitive to every chemical on the earth. She gets skin rash from all sorts of things (EXCEPT FOR MY SOAP, LOL). Anyway, we were talking about cloth diapering as it sounds like she will sell cloth diapers in her new birthing clinic and her new website. We talked about what to wash the diapers in, and she said she had been using soap nuts and really liked them (not for cloth diapers, just for all her clothes.) Long story short, they are some sort of fruit with saponins in them and they get the clothes really clean. I use Tide which is super expensive...but I kind of scratch my head every time I'm looking at the detergent section. I just haven't found anything that I really liked that much and I'm always distrusting a brand that advertises during the super bowl. I don't want to pay for that...I really just want good product. Anyway, I just ordered the soapnuts on Amazon and we shall see. Holly said they last her about 7 washes and then she tosses them. Her clothes get really clean and they are super soft.

To use them, you just put 5 nuts in a little muslin bag and toss the bag in the wash. When the nuts get squishy and gray (??), you toss them (into your garden if you have one-not me). I'll have to review the soapnuts when I get them. Also, Miley went off of her nursing strike exactly 7 days after she started. Every day I tried introducing my breast again and she cried about it. Finally, the morning of the seventh day, I woke up a little late and she was already hungry and crying. I didn't have time to pump before she ate, so I squirted some milk into her mouth from my breast....she cried for one second and then decided the boob was good enough for her. Babies can be so funny, sometimes.

CHicken Broth...the Liquid Gold of my Home

I'm sure you're wondering why there's a photo of my dirty 24 quart pot...but pictures help when you're trying to explain something. At a recent ladies' luncheon, the subject of chicken broth came up, and I think I've never gotten so many blank stares as I have with chicken broth (not just at the luncheon...). If you like my cooking....chicken broth is the secret ingredient. If you like my baking...coconut oil is the secret ingredient. But for now, I"m discussing chicken broth, a natural wonder that should make its' appearance in every woman's kitchen.

We live in a more rural area right now, but upon request, the grocery store gets me 6 whole organic chickens at a time for $65. (country mart...all you branson-ites), and these wonder-birds are used to make lots and lots of delicious dishes around here. If you cook the bird with the bone, you're going to get a FABULOUS flavor...so for anything "chicken", with shredded or cubed chicken, I like to throw a bird (or four) into the oven on a cookie sheet. I salt and pepper the birds and roast them for 30-45 minutes on 350. I then set them on the counter to cool and then de-bone the chicken. By de-bone, I mean, just pull all of the meat you can find and plop it in a bowl. Now you have chicken for soups, chicken enchiladas, chicken salad, chicken tacos, ...you get the idea. Not just ANY chicken. SUPER FLAVORFUL, yummy chicken. One idea is to roast your chickens on one day of the week (in preparation for the week's menus), and then store enough chicken per meal in ziploc bags. Then, you can freeze the bones for later, or make your broth. The above mentioned method is recent for me. Up until a few months ago, I ALWAYS made my broth by making Jordin Rubin's chicken broth recipe. After I feel it's "done", I pour the soup out of the large pot, through a strainer, into another large bowl. This gives me jars and jars of chicken broth (store your broth in 1 quart mason jars from walmart-they are about $1 a jar. Pour hot broth in the jar, but leave an inch of headroom so they won't break while freezing). After separating everything into three parts...chicken bowl, broth bowl, and vegetable bowl, I then put everyone's "soup" together for dinner. Each person gets a bowl of broth and then I'll scoop veggies in and chicken on top. Sometimes, I'll do pasta for a chicken noodle soup. This takes some work, but it's worth it. I use leftover chicken for the next day or two in dishes, the veggies get chopped into a meatloaf or something, and the broth goes into the freezer in jars. The night before I need broth, I put it on the counter to thaw, or I just keep rotating broth into the fridge as I use up the thawed out jar. I use the broth for rice, beans, soups, gravy, or just by itself as a delicious hot drink. The flavor is outstanding~

BELOW IS MY RECIPE FROM JORDAN RUBIN:

1 medium whole chicken

3-4 quarts of water

5 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

4 chicken feet (optional)

8 organic carrots

6 stalks of celery

4 zucchini

4 medium white onions

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

4 inches grated ginger

5 cloves garlic

1 large bunch parsely

5 tbsp. moist high-mineral celtic sea salt

fill the largest stainless steel pot you can find with purified water

add 1 tbspoon of apple cider vinegar

let stand 10 minutes

fill the pot with chicken, vegetables, sea salt, and other ingredients

boil

let boil for 60 seconds and lower heat

simmer soup for 12-14 hours add parsely 30 minutes beofe the soup is finished (i've never done this part). remove chicken from the bones and place the chicken meat back in the soup

remove and discard feet

This is actually from Jordin Rubin’s book: Patient Heal Thyself. He recommends eating this soup once a week for its’ healing powers. I make a huge batch of it, we eat it, and then I save the “broth” in quart jars for future chicken broth needs. When eating it, I like to add a dash of tabasco as well as an extra dash of salt.

Just use the ingredients that you have on hand or can get, but when possible, get the exact ingredients in the recipe. This is the tried and true recipe that Jordin Rubin used when healing from Crohn's disease. Chicken broth making is a "habit". I have the "habit" of keeping the whole birds in my refrigerator and I have a "habit" of making more when I'm down to only one or two jars. It keeps us in the good "habit" of eating chicken soup every two or three weeks. The ONE habit of making my own broth took my cooking up a whole new level. AND, it's better for you than store bought AND you have a substance on hand that heals the body while tasting delicious. The kids drink this warm out of a little cup if I give it to them. Miley drinks it out of a bottle. Yum Yum!

Now, the recipe calls for chicken feet...there ARE ways to get these...but most Americans are repulsed by parts....so let me know if you need help with that. The deal is, the marrow of the chicken has healing properties for the human's body. The feet of the chicken have an especially high amount of the gelatin????? or whatever the substance is that is so good for you. Chicken broth is known by the jews as their "penicillin" and has God given healing properties. Don't worry, you can still be spiritual and not eat the feet.

Birthday Hike

There's something wonderful, even magical, about exploring the "area" in which you live. The only time it wouldn't be magical (in my opinion) is if you lived in the desert. Maybe there's something exciting about the desert, maybe I've watched too many movies, but it seems like the sand and cactus get to ya' after awhile.

Yesterday was my birthday and I wanted some hiking shoes and to go on a hike for my birthday. My husband's so good! He gave me exactly what I wanted and Mackenzie came with us. We hiked at a local conservation area and it was a teeny tiny one, only 1/2 mile with an observation deck to climb at the top. The view was GORGEOUS and hiking always preserves a memory in my brain. I started hiking when I was very very young on the ranch in Texas and then I hiked in college (Pike's peak, girls' wasn't that fun!), and then I hiked in California when I lived there. Now, we're in Branson, MO and whenever I see the little brown signs on the side of the highway for state parks or conservation areas....I want to go see and explore. Right now, it's snowy on the ground, but the temperature gets up to 39 degrees, so it melts a lot during the day. The hike yesterday was paved, which is nice for strollers...and the like. There were two hikes at this park. One was the 1/2 mile and one was three miles. The three miler said it takes 3 hours to complete. I'm hoping it's paved as well so that the kids could maybe bring bikes or something. My favorite hikes are those that are just a little worn dirt path winding through rockes and caverns and trees. You're not sure what's around the next corner...then they open up into a vista view....but how to carry three of the 5 kids??? Maybe we'll stick to the 1/2 milers for now, and work our way up to the 6 mile vista views. I like sharing my life with our kids. Nothing has been more rewarding or more fulfilling than teaching, exploring, and living life with and through the eyes of our children. What a blessing. What a great birthday.

Bottles, Pumps, Breastmilk.....and a Nursing Strike

SO sorry the photo is that large. I copied and pasted and moved and grooved...and this is the best I could do.

Basically, one night I was nursing and all seemed fine, and the next morning, Miley WOULD NOT nurse. I did what I do best and after 1.5 hours of "persuasion", she sleepily nursed. She took a nap, then when she woke up, no nursing AGAIN. And profuse loud crying when she saw my breast. This was and is, definitely a "first" for me. All of the children so far have had the following things in common; they hated bottles, pacifiers, and the like and the breast was best. Thankfully, a few things were lined up and ready for me. One, Miley had shown an interest in bottles, so I had gone to Babies R us this last time and purchased a few (WOW! THOSE DUDES ARE EXPENSIVE), and then, I had been feeding chicken broth to her in a bottle just to curb her appetite, water, and silver water...so the stage was sort of set for her to drink milk out of a bottle. Also, I had JUST talked to a friend a couple of days prior about pumping, because, I was thinking I needed to leave at least a bottle or two for sitters in case I did not make it home or she woke up prematurely from a nap or something. We were JUST in Texas, and my pump was there. Every morning I woke up, I felt in my heart to go get my pump out of the closet (my in-laws live in my room right now), and I shook it off.

The stage has been set, but no pump, and I am majorly engorged right about now. SO, now what's a girl to do? I called the local hospital to see if they rented pumps. They stopped renting two weeks ago. Target had electric pumps for $250 (at least the kind that I had back in Texas), and we're on a strict budget right now. So, I went online and looked at the other pumps Target carried. They had a handheld pump by Medela on sale for $33. Not too bad. The thing that interested me about it was all of the positive reviews. I have to admit...I HATE my electric pump. You have to be "plugged" in to a wall, and it's loud, and I never could get the suction "just right", but I have always assumed that was the best way to go. Needless to say, I drove to Target as fast as my car would go, and I bought the handheld Medela pump for $33. On the way home, I jerked up my sweater and started pumping as fast as I could go. By the time I careened into the garage I had four ounces and was in love with a new best friend....the harmony pump by Medela. It says "for occasional use" on the package, but don't let that fool ya'...it's an all time best friend. I stuck it in my purse and pumped in the church bathroom that night, proudly presenting a "warm" bottle to the church ladies in the nursery.

Needless to say, the emotions run high when your baby won't suck your boob. They just do. Especially if you think it's your last. Well, anytime, I think it would be emotional. But, God has awesomely gotten me through this one. I woke up and praised and praised for two mornings in a row and prayed over Miley, and God is SO good. He's just helped me with the whole thing.

My review of the pump is as follows. Easy, comfortable, and the pump/handle part swivels, so you can change hands or positions or whatever you need to do to pump faster or in a different position. I like it better than the electric pump because it's portable, it's small, requires no batteries or electricity, gives my forearm a little workout, is more discreet, is quieter, and is easy to clean.

The next part I need to review are bottles. I have a tendency towards "organic". I will automatically skip playtex or any of those type that you can "smell" the plastic wafting out of the bottle. Read for yourself on plastics, pthalates...hormones going into your baby...anyway, my review is coming from that consumer "position". When I had purchased bottles in Texas, I purchased two different kinds to try. Avent and Born Free. Avent, I had always heard was the "best" bottle. Babies liken it to breastfeeding...yada yada yada....and born free had the cool glass bottle. PLUS, all bottles come with a newborn nipple (what a waste), and I needed the older baby nipple. What to get? Size 2, size 3, size 4???One of each? Then, I had gotten two different brands which took different nipple sizes. Oh brother. This is getting to be a big deal. So, I got the Avent bottle and size 3 or 4 nipple and the Born Free bottle and a size 2 nipple. (I don't even know if she will LIKE a bottle at this point). She DID end up liking the bottle, but the bigger girl nipple seemed to make her feel like she was choking on the flow, so I backed it down and gave her the Born Free glass bottle with a stage 2 nipple. Ahh, she liked that. But, the bottle is a little heavy and I don't want the kids TOUCHING it or feeding her with it.

After ALL of this, I come back to Branson from Texas, and Miley goes on a nursing strike, and thankfully, I already have some bottles, but I bought little 4 ounce bottles, and she is now six months old and she sort of "despairs" at the end of the bottle....like it's not enough food. But, but the time I pour more milk in and warm it up, she feels a little full. THen gets hungry again in 20 minutes or so. SO, I wanted to order one more bottle (to add to my collection, right?) and I found the coddlelife bottle on Amazon.com which came in record time and free shipping. It is AWESOME. I can't say enough about this bottle. I think it's totally new to the market and so you can't find any reviews on it, but it's a super lightweight space-age glass that is harder to break and you can submerge in boiling water without it cracking. The bottle itself is smaller around, so easier for baby to hold. For $4.99 you can buy the silicone cover that is also food grade. The nipple isn't smooth, it has tiny "bumps" on it like your breast has and it's stretchy and more shaped like the breast. The stage 3 nipple (I got that one), has an "air release" system that is super cool....it's silicone. REALLY, these bottles are the bomb! And, they are the same price as an avent or a Born Free. I like the glass on these so much better than the Born Free because it's lighter weight. (the Born Free are kind of cool because they remind me of the old fashioned glass bottles-think gerber baby jar or something), but it's worth it to look into the Coddlelife.

I'm out of words. It's been an interesting few days, but the adjustment happened very quickly. I pump, she drinks, she sleeps longer in the morning. I think it's her teeth. I pinch her when she bites and she got four teeth at once on the top and it's almost as if she doesn't know what to do with them and doesn't want to get pinched. Me either.

Earrings and when to do them....

You can't even see them, but Miley's ears are pierced in this photo. I picked the cute little pearls and I pray that they stay in tact for at least five years.

When to get ears pierced was an enigma for me. Why do some moms wait and others do it at birth?I wanted to interview moms on my first girl, because what I WANTED to do was to get her ears pierced at the beginning. But.......I waited. Not sure why. I guess I thought beginning piercing was a cultural thing and maybe white moms weren't supposed to do it. Well...I've changed my tune. The thing is, if you only have the all American one boy and one girl family...well, you have time to dab their ears morning and night and rotate them and all of the to-do items one has "to-do" with newly pierced ears (for six weeks OR MORE). But after waiting for six years, Mackenzie FINALLY got hers pierced, and the piercing was just the beginning of a long ear "treatment" session that involved me treating them at first, then she couldn't wait for me to get everyone to bed before swabbing her ears, so she did it, then she spilled the ear treatment stuff, then we went on vacation and I forgot the leftover of the spilled stuff and had to come up with my own idea (you don't use alchohol anymore), then I decided on butt wipes because they come in a convenient can of 50 and are already doused with witch hazel (which is a nice astringent), but she forgot to wipe her ears and then they got infected, then I had to get involved again...do you get the drift????????? I think the whole ordeal went on at least 6 months, I'm not kidding. We were travelling so much and that's what would put a ringer in the healing process.....with Miley, I'm changing her diaper, I'm swabbing her ears, that's it.

If you're poppin' out babies like a river rat, you have to have a better plan than that. I have to strategize every move I make, every turn, every groove, every prayer, so that it maximizes my time and minimizes my efforts and ear piercing later....is....for the birds. I'll never do that again. If I have six more girls, the closer it happens to birth, the better, as far as I'm concerned. Miley cried for 45 seconds per ear. It would have been 45 seconds total, but the second lady wasn't at my favorite ear-piercing place to do the second ear at the same time (that was AWESOME last time, plus, Danette was with me, that was fun), but I didn't care. We were getting Miley's ears pierced today and I took all five kids with me and some cheetos and Mackenzie got a couple of photos and Miley got her certificate of bravery and we left Merle Norman on 1604 without breaking anything in the store. Whew! What a relief. And, she looks so feminine and pretty with her little pearls in. I love it. It makes me want to comb her hair and do the bow thing (i'm sort of a tomboy).

I know I'm not the typical mom. I know I need to stop and smell the roses and enjoy the moment a lot more than I do, but really, ear piercing is just not one of those sentimental moments for me. My memories of ear piercing were that I wanted my ears pierced SO BADLY all of my life and the answer was always no...until my parents got divorced and then I ran to the mall within 24 hours and did what I always had wanted to do anyway. Then, I wore the biggest earrings I physically could find for at least four years. Well, maybe I'm still doing that. ANYWAY, I guess that's why ear piercing is an enigma to me. Why the white mom waits....still not sure. Trying to find a good reason for it, but I've decided to let some of the hispanic out and just do it. And it feels good.