February 25, 2012

lost and found

 I have a bad mommy confession…in the past week, I have lost Noah not once, but TWICE! He has this bad little habit of darting off before I even know what hit me.

Both times we were outside, enjoying this crazy warm weather with neighbors. The first incident occurred last Monday while I was having a quick little one on one chat with Tay (for not sharing or something like that). I look up, and Noah is gone. We live in townhomes with no back yard, so we play in a big green space around the corner from our home. Two other moms were helping me in my search of backyards, streets, and other little hiding places. We finally found him in the street a significant distance frrm where we were playing. 

And then it happened again on Thursday. We were on our back porch and I saw Noah disappear behind our fence. I put the cap on some bubbles I was holding, went to go get him, and he was out of sight. I swear this kid is going to give me a heart attack. Anyways, another neighbor found him behind a row of cars in the street. How is a 2 year old so stinkin’ fast?

I really have no idea what to do. We NEED our outside time, a fence is not an option, and I am afraid DCs might get called if I put a shock collar on him (KIDDING)! 

So, do you have any ideas on how to contain him? He has no fear whatsoever of being on his own. In fact, I think he really likes it. I need help.

And because every post should include pictures of my cute kids. Maybe they will make you forget the awfulness of losing my child :)
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February 18, 2012

the Cheese

I have a love/hate relationship with Chucky Cheese. I love that my kids love it and that it wears them out so that they would theoretically take good naps (not true today). However, it tends to make me an anxious ball of craziness. Mainly because there are 300 kids running around screaming, but also because I have a Noah. Now if you know Noah that makes sense. But if you don’t, let’s just say that he is a VERY active child.

Noah was also quite funny at Chucky Cheese. He loved to watch kids play games and ride the rides. He even liked to get on the rides. But as soon as it started to move, tears started to flow. Notice his face in the pictures. If he is crying, the ride is moving. If he is tearless, he is at a standstill. 
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February 15, 2012

au naturel (and I am not talking about naked here people)

Before I step up on my soap box, because that is what’s about to happen, let me tell you the main reason I write this. If you remember, back in November, I wrote that I was having symptoms that suggest I have hashimoto's. The first step I took in trying to improve my symptoms was to have allergy testing done to determine what foods I am most sensitive to. After finding those out here, I took all of them out of my diet and then had my thyroid test redone. I wrote about the results at the bottom, also in italics. That way, if you get tired of reading the rest of the post, you can just scroll on down to the results.

Most all of us feel some kind of emotion when we hear the words; “alternative therapy”, “natural medicine”, “holistic”, “homeopathic”, “natural medicine”…you get the picture.

These words can almost always spark up a conversation and they tend to be controversial topics.

On a scale of 0 to 10 concerning feelings about medicine, 0 being “I HATE all types of natural medicine” to 10 being “I will not use traditional medicine and I will absolutely NOT put anything foreign into my body”, we fall around a 7.

We do not vaccinate (I know that one is a hot topic). We try our darndest not to give our kids antibiotics. We hardly ever use aspirin, ibuprofen, tylonol or any of the other pain relievers. We do go to the chiropractor. We do eat healthy. We do take multi-vitamins, probiotics, and fish oil.
I do think traditional medicine has its benefits and its place.

Are we prefect at these things? Absolutely NOT. We occasionally eat out, order pizza, indulge in sweets, and my kids eat goldfish crackers.

I do NOT write this to tell you how you should live your life or the decisions you should make for your family. Everyone is different and what works for our family is not going to work for yours. I write this because I think we all owe it to our families to do what is best. 
You might research the heck out of vaccinations and decide that we non-vaccinators are crazy and the benefits far outweigh the risks. Maybe you have tried to help control your child’s behavior by eliminating certain foods only to find out it made things worse. The important thing is that you researched it or tried it and made a wise decision for your family.

Let me give you a couple of examples of how alternative medicines have helped us to avoid more traditional approaches;

Taylor had multiple ear infections as a baby. Our pediatrician at the time told us we needed to put tubes in her ears. I was not comfortable with this idea, so we got a second opinion from a more natural doctor. We went on a Tuesday and the doctor told us to completely take her off dairy and put garlic ear drops in her ears twice per day. We went back that Friday to have her ears checked again. The level of fluid in her ear went from 90% on Tuesday to less than 10% by Friday. We avoided surgery for my 1 year old simply by taking her off of dairy.

Mark has had major stomach problems and sinus infections since he can remember. Once he changed his diet and began going to the chiropractor, he no longer has IBS and his sinuses have cleared.

Now for my hashimoto's…I took all these foods out of my diet for 6 weeks. After about one week I stated to notice an increase in my energy levels, my eczema disappeared after 2 weeks, and I had ZERO fever blisters during this time period. I had my blood work redone and my Thyroid Antibody Panel, which is the main indicator of energy levels, went from being low to normal.
I do have to say that I still have lower levels of energy than I did before kids. My next step is to completely eliminate gluten (a major cause of inflammation) and begin taking zinc, copper, and selenium in hopes to increase my energy level even further.
I go back in April, so I will give you an update then!

Ok, I am getting off the soap box. Peace out.

February 13, 2012

WOW! and sou cow

Some of you may know that we had a fundraiser this past weekend. We worked together with my parents to host a dinner and silent auction at their church in Cookeville. And when I say “we worked together”, I mean they worked their rears off and we did a few things. Seriously, they were awesome!

Let me start with Saturday morning, the morning of our event. We woke up to snow falling, a dusting covering the ground, and some slick spots on the roads.  Now, it was not much snow, but for Tennessee, it was enough to make me wonder if people might just stay in that night.
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Then we got a phone call…the couple who was supposed to be our entertainment for the evening, the couple who so many were excited about seeing, had 3 inches of snow in their driveway. They live 4 hours east of Cookeville and could not make the drive. So within 1 hour of waking up, we were feeling discouraged and defeated.  

But God…

My parents called their pastor and asked if he might have any suggestions. His words were “do not worry about it; I will take care of it”. We called him at 8:30am and he managed to have something put together (including music) by that evening. We (my mom and me) were both crying. One, because after you plan for so long, it stinks to have something fall through last minute. We place NO blame whatsoever on the couple who were going to provide the entertainment. They stayed right where the needed to be. But it was hard to hear that news. And two, because they have a really awesome pastor who had just told us not to worry about it. This is a man who is preaching on Sunday morning and I am sure had much better things to do on Saturday. Complete coolness.
Oh, and the snow stopped about noon and the roads cleared soon after. Another praise.
Our event began at 5:30pm and it went GREAT! The decorations were wonderful, there were over 170 auction items, and Max (my parents’ pastor) was hilarious! I even met a couple who is thinking about adopting. I just love hearing about others who are considering this journey…so fun.
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Now here is the reason part of the title is “WOW”…we had hopes to make around $2,000. That was our “pie in the sky” number. Do you know much God brought in?
$5,500!!!! 
Can you believe it? God is SO good. I know I have said this over and over again here, but PLEASE do not let the cost of adoption hold you back from it. If God has called you to it, HE will provide. 

And now for the other part of the title, we got a cow. Well, actually my granddad got the cow, several cows to be exact. We took a little field trip to his farm to pick out the perfect cow. We made a very educated decision based on how quickly she came when called and how she ate. And now my Granddad is going to fatten her up so we can eat her (sorry PETA). 
Here she is…
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Her name is Chanel No.14. I would tell you the reason, but I am afraid you might not think it was as hysterical as we did, so I will just leave you to guess at how we arrived at that name :)

February 5, 2012

Bad mom? Cool mom? It could really go either way


Every Sunday we meal plan for the week. We make our grocery list and Monday is grocery shopping day. 

I am pretty driven by food, so when I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I think about is what I get to eat that day. Well, when I got to dinner for an evening last week, I could not figure out what we had planned. Turns out, I had somehow missed a night. 

So I did the only logical thing to do. I made popcorn and chocolate smoothies and let the kids eat on the couch while watching a movie. I like to think it was because I am super cool and laid back and that’s just the stuff we do. But in reality, we had nothing to feed the kids and popcorn was our best option. And in my opinion, what better thing to do while eating popcorn, then watch a movie?

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February 1, 2012

Cookeville – you don’t want to miss this!

We are gearing up for our (hopefully:)) LAST fundraiser! Fundraising has taught me numerous things, but it has mostly taught me to humble myself and ask others for help. Fundraising is NOT easy and it has taken many friends, family, and strangers to help us in our efforts.

The cost of adoption is a major hurdle for almost everyone who is called to adopt. It can be overwhelming to see the cost of an adoption and it is enough to turn some away.

But I know that God is bigger than any amount of money. He can and will provide. I have seen it over the last year as we have always had enough to cover our adoption expenses and I know I will continue to see it as more expenses become due.

Now for the fundraiser details…

We are having a dinner, silent auction, and “Love Story” at Cookeville United Methodist Church on February 11th.  The silent auction will open at 5:30pm, dinner will be served at 6:00pm, and Woody and Lucy Adams will tell their love story beginning at 7:00pm.
Tickets are $12 and can be purchased on the right sidebar of this blog or by calling 931-372-8828. 

We have been overcome by the amount of love and support we have felt from the people in Cookeville. Silent auction donations have been POURING in and I am so excited to tell you about some of them here.

Gift certificates from:
32 Frozen Yogurt Lounge
Bellacino's
Blue Coast Burrito
Borden Jewelry
Char Restaurant
Chili's
Cracker Barrel
Crawdaddy's
El Tapatio
Fazoli's
IHOP
Jersey Mike's
Logan's
Mae Pearls'
Mamma Rosas
Marble Slab
McDonald's
Copy, Pack and Ship
Deuel's Photography
Kroger
Olan Mills
Olive Garden
Papa Murphy
Red Lobster
RSG Prom and Pageant
Ruby Tuesday
Shoneys
Southern Traditions
Sun Tan Village

Other donors/items donated
Oil changes
Artwork
Courageous DVD
Cumberland Pet Grooming items
Delmonico basket
Hay - 100 square bales
Golf outings from Cookeville Golf Club, Ironwood, and White Plains
JJ Jax bracelet and necklace
Lollipop Shoppe backpack and lunch box
Karate for Kids 6 week program
Matilda Jane bag
Millie Moo's Children's Store sleeper
Photography by Amy Callahan
Visa gift card - $30.00
and many more...

In addition to these wonderful donation items, we have several people working behind the scenes to make this event one to remember. My mom has friends who are working hard to make the evening elegant and inviting, Grade A Catering will be providing a delicious entrée, and the Adams have worked hard to provide us with wonderful entertainment.

We hope that you will join us for this enjoyable and memorable evening!