It's just ONE day :)

I know everyday can't be like this, but ahhhhhh I love these kinds of days. After an incredibly busy weekend and even busier Monday, I decided as I crawled into bed at 1130 last night that today would be a complete rest day with my babes. (I wish baby boy had gotten the memo and not woken up over 6 times to nurse.....yes he is 8 months not 8 weeks)

So I got to do something today that I don't normally get to do and that was literally play with my kiddos all day long! I know this can't be an everyday reality, we have things we need to do and although we do our best as mama's to juggle it, I end up usually feeling drained one way or the other from needing to be 5 different places at once. I always wish I could not worry about the dishes, dinner, laundry, cleaning, lists, etc and just sit and play for a whole day. I have read a lot of posts lately urging women to put down their lists and just sit with their kids and I wholeheartedly agree! But I think even if you set out to do just that, the reality is that your kids and husband get hungry -- so you need to unload the dishwasher so that you can get the cutting board to chop stuff for dinner, oh but then you need that pan that you left in the sink so that you could, ya know, be a good mom and spend time with your kids instead of always cleaning, so you wash that one and soon need something else so end up just washing the whole sink full, and before you know it kids are pulling on you asking to play trains and you feel again that struggle in your heart! How do I do both! I also recently enjoyed this article about it not being your job as a mom to entertain your kids all day and I love that. I can remember countless times my mom telling me to go play outside cause she needed to cook or lesson plan or whatever and I DIDN'T DIE!

So obviously it is all about balance. 

As is everything in life, but this means that I can't sit and scroll facebook or instagram all day while ignoring my kids, but I also need to be ok with telling my girly to go play so that I can clean up the messy kitchen from our forts made that morning. 

I enjoyed today SO much. I loved being able to take time and watch my 2 year old build her block towers and see her little mind working. I loved being able to enjoy playing with them instead of thinking "oh! They are both entertained happily I should DO something really fast!" 

We played trains and cars, we painted and used a whole sheet of stickers, we filled the kiddy pool and layed in the sun, we had smoothies and made bread together (paleo of course lol), we napped and went for a walk and it was a great day! 

 I think I'll make it something I do once a month :) 

Have you ever done this? 

Less is More

I know I am not the first mommy to jump on the "less toys!!!" bandwagon but last week I felt like I had finally had it tripping over a gazillion toys in my toddler's room. But it wasn't only the toys everywhere that was bothering me, she was seeming to play in her room less often because there were simply too many toys in there. It was impossible to keep clean. This is a disgusting first world problem I know, but yikes..........it's reality. She has a little room and I have to work against my urge to throw EVERYTHING out. I don't like clutter and I have more than once regretted my ability to be very detached from items that have been tossed out/given away (my husband is the opposite, isn't that funny how that works!)

So we have created a system that keeps both of our slightly extreme tendencies in check. 

Things that are simply TRASH (i.e. used stickers, that random string of beads, PAPERS from church/preschool, etc) get tossed out. 

We then have large plastic bins that are marked "Toys for Later" that we rotate out. So I fill it with the toys that she hasn't played with in a week or two and sometimes bring one or two things out that she hasn't seen in a few months. It's like new toys all over again!

The room is left with a more simple set up toys wise. I have found that she is SO much more content playing in her room because she has less to choose from and can actually see her toys! She has her books, train set, and several things in her toy chest instead of barely being able to close the toy chest!!!  If any of you mommies are considering clearing out the clutter I say GO for it! Pass on the items your little one is done with and simple put away the ones you aren't sure about :) 

Happy Spring Clearing !

 

2 ingredient Carpet Cleaner

I found this ridiculously easy carpet cleaner on Pinterest and with very low expectations decided to give it a go.

This stuff is AMAZING.  A little.....addicting!

Once you start you may find yourself running around the house with your burning hot iron trying to find more things you can get stains out of.

When we bought our house, we decided to simply clean the carpet in my daughter's room instead of ripping it out -- BIG mistake. That carpet taunts me everyday with it's disgusting stains that seem to appear in dozens by the day. They are SO gross and coming up from underneath.

This cleaner literally couldn't be easier. It's a 1 x 1 ratio of HOT water and Ammonia (grab it at dollar tree), and iron and some old cloths.

This is the post I read and followed, I am sure there are others on Pinterest but this is where I found it.

  
1. Combine your hot water and ammonia in a spray bottle.
                      -- I got one at dollar tree along with the ammonia
                      -- use a 1 to 1 ration (for example 1 cup of ammonia and 1 cup of HOT water)
                      -- shake it up!

2. Spray the carpet stain/spot liberally
                      -- I figured out if you really worked the liquid in there and soaked it through it came                          out better
3. Place a cloth on top an start ironing over the stain

                      -- it is PRETTY cool, you will see the towel soak up the brownish color of the stain                          instantly
                      --I discovered that a very hot iron works best! Don't be afraid to really work it back                         and forth over the towel to get the stain out

4. Be amazed and find more spots :)

Grass-Fed or God-Fed?

I have recently found myself swept along (and in my opinion rightly so!) with those who are becoming increasingly disgusted with what the average American consumes as "food" and what are diet as a culture consists of. 

I hate that we are eating pink slime and think it's beef, I hate that MSG is in everything and that it not only is USED to fatten rats it kills brain cells, I hate that farmers have to abide by a whole host of rules and regulations brought on by large companies, and I hate a lot more things about our food industry. 

I have become slightly obsessed with reading articles, buying grass-fed butters and meats, spending my FREE TIME watching food documentaries and yes, reading more and more and more articles or at least pinning about them to show that I am appalled by the norm. 

However, I have also had a recent wake up call about how I was spending not only my time and attention, but things more important like my thoughts, my plans for my days and my hopes for my family's life. 

I, along with the rest of you fellow paleo-ers, want to consume less garbage and simply eat the REAL food God put on the earth for us to eat. I want my kids to grow up healthy with limited health issues and not be addicted to having sugar in everything they touch, and I want to promote a healthy culture and planet which is all very important  ...... BUT, why do I want to do all these things? If you asked me, I would say because I want to have a long life to share the love of Christ with those around me and not be bogged down with feeling sick. But how am I spending the time I already have been given now? 

While there is truth to the fact that I need to eat a certain way so that I am literally not sick all the time, there is more truth that while my physical body is being taken care of like a pristine item, my soul can be starving and dry. 

And while there is truth to the fact that I love and enjoy reading articles about food and there is no harm in that, I somehow have no time or energy left to read my Bible or even just sit with my Lord. 

This challenge is for my fellow Christians who like me, are doing their best to care for the needs and bodies of their family, but quite honestly, are spending our days trying to paint and perfect a burning piece of wood. My body has a function, yes it needs to function well so I need to take care of it as a temple of God, BUT it is a body for my soul. How can we not see that we are spending all our time working to preserve something that will die instead of the spirit which will live on?

We go to such lengths to make sure we ingest less toxins and chemicals yet don't care about what we feed our souls. We watch things that we shouldn't that fill our minds with ideals and standards that are not set by God but the world on how we should live. We are like a soldier who is training and training with the perfect physically strong body but we never see battle. 

I write this as much to myself as to you. I can recite articles and quotes and recipes that further my knowledge about clean eating yet........... where is that verse again? The one about salvation offered to all men? I don't know it because I don't KNOW it well. I know those recipes and quotes because I do and say them over and over and over again. 

I am not advocating that we eat junk and trash our bodies, that is clearly not Biblical. But neither is the idolatry of putting what we eat and consume physically above what we eat and consume spiritually. Colossians 3:1-3 says,

 "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

Of course it's not bad to eat primal/paleo/real food and take care of our families. But keep directing your mind and attention back on Him, back on eternal things that will last. If you spend your life and days and hours focusing on taking perfect care of your body you will be devastated one day when you face death. I noticed that the more time I spent in front of my computer reading about what I should be eating the less I spent time with God (duh!).  When people think of me I want them to know I am the one who is passionate about the love of Christ, not passionate about what you eat and would defend it till blue in the face. He is what matters, love him and love people. 

Take care of your body with the balance of taking care of your soul and the countless souls who are dying daily without ever even hearing the name Jesus. 

 "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day." 

2 Cor. 4:16

Free Time ...

NAP TIME is always a struggle for me. 

Not the literal process of getting my kids down -- well actually that can be quite the struggle too -- but I am talking about those rare occasions where BOTH kids are napping and I have free time. 

As soon as I realize they are both down my mind frantically goes through my options:

"Get all the dishes done, exercise, EAT, Pick up as many toys as I can since I have 2 FREE HANDS, Blog, read/do my Bible study, read that parenting book that's been sitting on my night stand for weeks unopened, shower.....that is necessary, relax and veg out, NAP, go outside and just sit, do a project that gets my creative juices flowing, read articles about food (yes I actually do this....), Clean the bathrooms, organize baby/kid clothes......I could go on and on and on....but you get the gist.

Sometime I spend too long deciding or trying to start 2 or 3 of them that one child wakes up and bam, it's over! But my struggle lies with how to spend that time, to refresh myself and gear up again. 

Let me explain......I have never, ever felt refreshed or ready for my kids (now full of energy selves) when I have spent that 20 min - 1.5 hr scrolling facebook or on the couch watching TV while I "fold laundry" (lets be honest, I can fold while kids are awake). I am not saying there aren't times where laying on the couch the ENTIRE nap time has been not only enjoyable but necessary. But when I truly close my eyes or focus them on something and get myself away from this glowing screen that seems to suck the life out, I feel so different. 

It takes effort, to be purposeful in my day and is something I am learning lately. I want to be closer to God and be intimately in communication with him, yet I "never have the time" to sit down and focus my attention on him and what he has given me. But I somehow find the time to comment on 5 friends pictures and read yet another grass-fed article. Isn't it strange that we think to ourselves, "if I could just get 5 minutes to sit down alone I would be refreshed and ready" yet......at least for me a lot of the time......when we have that time we waste it or simply don't use it wisely.

Today after putting the baby down finally and then laying with his big sister till she fell asleep I collapsed on the couch, lap top and phone right there with me. But I just knew, as I always do yet don't always act upon, that this would not fill up my empty tank. Just as after a much needed girls night out or time alone I can still be burnt out. 

I simply need time with him. I need to focus my attention on him. It transforms the rest of my day. This doesn't mean I sit there praying for and hour (though that is necessary a lot of days!) but it means I am redirecting my attention on him while I clean up little toys, paint, clean or exercise.

 I am thanking and praising him as I go. I am praying for a friend while I put lids on markers (only to be taken off again shortly :). And I am sharing my heart with my savior while I scrub dried food off counters and fold little shirts and pants. 

These mundane tasks become an act of worship, but it must start with my heart. And I challenge myself and you that it is difficult to direct our thoughts and heart on him while staring at the computer or TV. 

So today I drug my bones off the couch and wrote in my journal, exercised, and began to make a snack when I heard the sweet sound of "mommmmmmy" :) And it IS amazing, that on the days where I spend my time like this I am refreshed and ready to play with those babies. I don't know why I don't purposely act everyday. Usually it's because I plan to just sit for a minute and look at a few things.....but the computer has a way of pulling you in and suddenly all your time has passed (right?!?!)

This sounds a bit like a ramble as I read it back, but I just am writing this for myself (and maybe you too) to work on turning my attention always on him....but starting especially with nap time to be my time of purpose -- even relaxing can be purposeful :)

Pumpkin Grain-Free Pancakes

These pancakes are absolutely amazing you won't even miss the flour. As I type this at 10:15 pm I am snacking on a few from the fridge left over :) I also love that they are super filling yet you don't feel "heavy" like you do after eating pancakes full of flour and sugar. 

Here is the Recipe:

1/3 cup Coconut Flour

1/4 cup coconut sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon clove

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

pinch of salt

6 eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

1 cup pureed pumpkin

2 tablespoons Butter

2 tablespoons honey

Mix all your dry ingredients together with a fork

Combine wet ingredients, add in dry and use blender or immersion blender (clumps aren't yummy)

This grass fed butter is YUMMO

Melt coconut oil or butter on the pan and make sure not to poor too much batter for each pancake, this is because they take quite a bit of time to cook through and if it's too heavy it will be hard to flip. Make sure the burner is on medium otherwise they will burn (like this first batch did :) and flip carefully when they begin to bubble. 

Serve with a big slab of grass fed butter and fresh berries ! These pancakes are so moist but still have that warm bread feel of real pancakes. They taste like pumpkin pie cake! 

And of course ham and eggs too......what can I say, I need a large breakfast to make it till lunch :) 

ENJOY

Baby to the PICU :(

I'm sure I echo the rest of the NATION when I say......

"I am done with sicknesses! Come on Spring".

I already don't like winter -- [other than the boot socks, because, come on, they're adorable] -- 

so add in nasty flu bugs, rain that keeps you inside, cold that keeps you inside even when it's not raining, and darkness that makes the day end at 4:45 it's not my favorite time of year. But just like watching your child become their adorable playful self after a long flu bug, sweet spring will come after cold and darkness (am I comparing winter to one long nasty flu bug? maybe.....)



I had written that last paragraph before the last few days where sickness hit our house even more :( On Tuesday morning early I could tell my baby boy was running his first fever. I was praying "Please let him not be like his sister and have fevers for 5 days, I can't do that with both my kids!" By afternoon after hours of him screaming which is NOT normal I really just felt like something was off. I went to urgent care so he could get checked out where we were finally able to get some medicine down him without him throwing it back up. I was really confident that would make him a much happier baby! Unfortunately by evening his coughing was worse and he was not happy at all :(
 He started laboring very hard to breath in and out so we took him in the bathroom hoping the steam would help. Those few minutes were some of the most stressful of my life. Juliana had woken up from nap on the wrong side of the bed and was whining and hanging on my legs, I am also sure she picked up on the stress in our voices as William started to breath worse and worse. He began to sound like a seal when he breathed in and out and his chest was going in super far when he inhaled. I noticed his hands turning purple and I can tell you, that is the worst feeling cause there is nothing you can do! In my head I was going through options, more steam, call 911? -- even they wouldn't get here in time,  how to do CPR in case he stopped altogether -- what were the instructions for babies again???? pray pray pray. Thankfully we were able to really calm him down (the crying was making it worse!) and his breathing slowed down a lot.
SO THANKFUL. 
We decided to to the ER -- oh wow what a place. I actually had never been! A midst the circumstances Jeremy and I actually were having fun watching all the crazies. Not sure who entertained us most..............The guy who checked himself in with a folder stacked full of articles he'd printed from online describing his new disease, the pregnant girl bringing in her old boyfriend who's eye was broken in 20 places and bleeding everywhere (we heard later cause he ended up in the room next to us :) or the man who kept coming within a foot of my face and staring at me while blood dripped out of his mouth, yuck excuse you!
------needless to say I bundled William up and we waited out in the fresh air for most of the time.
Hours later after waiting, testing, waiting, and more testing they diagnosed him with croup and RSV. I could tell it wasn't going to be good news when the Dr who had previously been running in and out so quickly he barely listened to my description of his symptoms, then came in and sat down, sighed, and said "so.....he has RSV. And we take this pretty seriously especially under 6 months so we want to transfer him to be admitted". We were definitely surprised, we were sure we would be home in bed in the next hour and instead we weren't sure what the next few hours would hold. I kept reminding myself that things seemed scarier than they were. Transferring your baby by ambulance seems scary, even though the process is not that bad. Needing him to be hospitalized seems scary but I knew he was breathing fine, that it was a good place for him to be, and that we wouldn't be there long.





Unfortunately I got so carsick in that ambulance. I apparently don't do well after not sleeping for 48 hours, not eating or drinking in way too long, then being strapped by a 5 point harness to the wall of a large van where all the windows are reflective and all you can see is yourself. Yikes. It didn't help that the paramedic next to me showed me videos of his girlfriend's toddler for the hour drive to the hospital. Even as they were pushing the gurney into the elevator and up the hospital stories he was still showing me pictures..........how many times can you say "awe he's so cute" while trying to keep your eyes open and focus on your own sick baby :(


The PICU at this particular hospital is amazing. They were quick, caring and so helpful. I felt so at ease there. William didn't appreciate being hooked up but I was grateful to be able to hold and nurse him.
 We were discharged later that day and 2 days later we are still not in the clear but they say it is very unlikely he will have another breathing episode. Just got back from the Dr and his oxygen levels are good. He just sounds like a bad smoker now :( I can't wait till he is back to his usual self.




We are SO SO SO grateful for all our family who took care of our 2 year old, cleaned our house, held William so we could sleep (finally!!!!) and all our friends who have emailed, called, and texted. But most of all for all of those who prayed for us and him! I am sure he will be fine :)