Sunday, March 23, 2014

New Hobby!

Ok I am going to state this now... I am OBSESSED with essential oils right now! A friend of mine had been trying to get me into them for a while and I always refused, well she let me sample some when I was pregnant and they worked but I wasn't sold. Well then came little squirt and she gave me a few more samples and let me tell you... I'M HOOKED!

Let's see, in the first month I have gone, optionally mind you, to 4 different classes. I have watched webinars and threw my own party because I love it so much! I have converted my mom -who started before the party that she was just coming for support but not to buy anything- I converted my best friend, and a few other people.. Just within my first month! These oils are the most amazing things on God's green earth and I will swear by them till the day I die now!

I know so many people, I was one of them, who thought it was just like another MaryKay, or Premier Jewelry or Thirty-One bags, all of which are great! But not for me. So I refused and ignored all the invites from my now mentor because I didn't want to get involved in this "new thing." Well I am SO happy I did! I use them multiple times a day and it is now my first goto! Here are some of my amazing stories!

Story number 1:

I got my oils and within the first week my husband got sick. He never ever gets sick and when he does, it's like death warmed over in our house. Well he cam home Friday morning after his night shift, crawled into bed and said "I think I'm getting sick." Of course when he woke up I bombarded him with oils! I rubbed some on his feet, back and jaw line as well as making him take a shot of water with some of the oil in there. Not only that but I rubbed some on his chest so that he could breath better. We had till Sunday to get him better before going back into work so I was on top of things! Every hour I would come in and do it all over. Of course he complained and didn't want too but guess what! By Sunday night he was feeling much better!! Thank you oils.

Story number 2:

A few days ago I started to get an earache. I don't think I've had one since I was probably 12 and before that maybe a baby. So I never get earaches and had no idea what to do! My husband, being a nurse and always getting earaches said it's probably water stuck in there so we pour rubbing alcohol in my ear and let it sit. It didn't really work so we just went to bed and hoped it'd be gone by the morning. Well, my little family was planning on going to downtown the next day and watch them turn the river green for St. Patricks day. I have always wanted to see this but miss it every year (St. Patty's day is also my birthday ;) Well I woke up that morning and started getting ready. Woke little squirt up, fed him and got him ready as well and the darling husband was coming back from fishing so we could go. I had been up for about 2 hours when my ear started to really hurt. I started not walking straight and feeling sick. I was so depressed because we couldn't go to see the river! So my husband tried more rubbing alcohol as well as hydrogen peroxide and nothing was working. I had read online somewhere to basically stand on your head so... I sat with my head off the bed and butt in the air trying to drain my ear and nothing was working :(

Meanwhile, in the back of my head I kept thinking, I know Melaleuca oil would help, if only I had this...  

So after trying all the "medicinal" ways, other than going to the doctor, I finally thought, my oils may help! Keep in mind that this started Friday and it is now Monday! Well that wobbly, sick feeling started to come back as we were getting ready for Jude's swim class and my birthday dinner. Now, I have this nifty book that if you ever get any oils, you need to get this book! I call it my Oil Bible haha. I looked up vertigo and nausea in the book because I figured it would help a little bit. I ended up using 3 different oils and within 10 minutes, my earache was gone and it hasn't been back!! 

Story number 3:

As you know my son is 5 months which mean teeth will be starting and guess what. They did. The other night was so bad that I ended up sleeping with him on the couch because he just wanted to be held. It was heart breaking. But before I moved to the couch I opened my oil bible and looked up what can help with teething and it said Lavender on the jaw line, so I walked in and put some on his jaw and within minutes he had calmed down! He of course still wanted to be held because he wasn't feeling well but he slept in my arms the rest of the night! It was crazy to see!  

Story number 4:

Another one involving my cute bundle of joy! He has been a regular pooper since he was born, until about 1 1/2 months ago. All of a sudden he would go days and days without pooping but it wouldn't seem to bother him until about day 5, 6 or 7 and I would have to give him 2 ounces of organic apple juice to help flush it out and it always worked but I hated giving him juice. I decided to try and oil instead! Much more natural and better for baby! 

Note: 
I'm not saying juice is bad! I just don't want to have to give my kid juice in order to poop

So in my oil bible I saw which oil it told me to use and so I put 1 drop into 3 pumps of his baby lotion and rubbed it all over him one night after his bath. What do you know, he pooped the next day! On top of that it helped with my sons reflux! Instead of throwing up after every feeding it's now only a few times a day! This was a double hit for us! So I decided I would try it again the next night and what do you know! 3 poops in one day! I have never been so happy! (Gosh, you know you're a mom when you get excited about baby poop!)

Story number 5:

The other night my husband wasn't feeling well. He woke up at some point and ate 7 or so Tums and then climbed back into bed. A little later he then took some more yet he still wasn't feeling well so he told me he was going to run and get some Pepto-bismol and through the course of the day took 2 cap-fulls of that. Finally, that night when he still wasn't feeling well I took my oils out and made him run some on his belly and bottom of his feet along with a drop under his tongue. Of course he hated every minute of the process but about 20 minutes later I asked how he was feeling and what was his response? Much better!

I love that he always protests and then when it works is happy about my oil obsession :)

Story number 6: 

(last one, I promise!)
This morning my husband, again, woke up with bug bites and they were driving him crazy! So after learning the past few times to just go straight for the oils I did and put some on his little bites and viola! The itchy-ness had stopped :)

Anyway, needless to say, I am a huge fan and supporter of essential oils now and am trying to get everyone to try them. At least give them a shot! Can't knock it till you give it a whirl ;) 

If you have any questions or have a specific problem please, please comment or send me a message and I will PROMISE to help you! We will figure out which oil(s) are best and you can try them! Although I would love to sell a whole bunch from this post, that is not the point. I am just sharing my joy and excitement about my new findings and want to pass this little knowledge off to anyone and everyone! 



Have a Blessed Day!

Friday, March 21, 2014

Chilis, Yum!

Sorry it's been so long since a post! Having a newborn is very busy work as I'm sure a lot of you know or at least have an idea! Lets see where do I begin...

Well my little squirt turned 5 months on Wednesday! I can't believe how big her is getting, I keep telling him that he's not allowed to grow up yet but he doesn't seem to listen yet. Guess I'll just have to remind him daily and I'm sure he'll catch on ;) Anyway, 2 days before he turned 5 months he rolled from his front to his back! He had done it once before but it was more of an accident than anything, but this time was for real! I was in shock! One of my girlfriends was over and we were watching our favorite show eating pie (yes, we love to eat!) I'm sitting on the floor with my little man and next thing I know he's rolling over! I of course have a huge mouth full of pie and so I try to scream of joy but sadly nothing comes out. I look up at her to see if she saw and she was so captivated by the show that she missed his first roll haha. It was quite funny.

Oh, another story for you guys. My husband, Jude and I went out to Chilis on our way home from the beach one night and it was getting really late, we were both hungry and Chilis was no wait so we went for it! Along with that, Chilis is my favorite place to go out too so it worked out nicely for me.

PAUSE

It's been very... eye opening to see peoples reactions to Jude's fingers and toes. When he was just born, no one hardly ever noticed because he was so very tiny that his fingers and toes looked normal. Well now that he is growing, more people notice or even stare. 

PLAY

So while sitting at Chilis, the tab;e next to us was very close, close enough where I felt like I needed to whisper to have a private conversation. Anyway, there was a mom and 2 girls probably about 7 or 8 years old sitting at the table next to us. Now Jude was nicely sitting in his car seat for the first 20 min or so and all the girls were looking at him, ooing and ahhing at how cute he was. Once he started fussing I naturally took him out so he wouldn't start screaming. As soon as I did, one of the little girls said -quite loudly I might add - "Mommy look at his fingers! They look so weird. What's wrong with him." The mom just responded with, "I don't know, just keep eating." I was so upset and really wanted to just let into this mom on teaching her child manners and that she should be respectful but being the nice person I am, I kept my mouth shut and look at my perfect little boy and whispered "you are perfect and don't listen to what other people have to say about you." We continued eating and left but it got me thinking. Thinking about all the kids out there who's parents don't teach them to be polite or respectful or even at least be discrete in the manner! Once of these times, someone is going to go off and that little girl and she wont know why and that's what breaks my heart. Not that she said what she said about my son but that she just hasn't grown up with any of that and doesn't know any different than to say what she said. Hopefully this all makes sense... Either way, I'm happy that I will be able to teach all of my children, no matter how many we have, to be polite in that aspect. To be quite honest I think I would have taught that but not as much as I will now. Now that I am a mom of a son with a disability, my heart goes out to every mom in my shoes or even worse. You are all awesome!


I will post Jude's 5 month picture as soon as I can take one!

Have a Blessed Day!

Monday, March 10, 2014

Here we go again

Nothing has really been happing too much in out lives the past few days other than a birthday and funeral. All in one weekend so even though I say nothing's going on I guess there was a lot! All in all it was a nice weekend, everything for the birthday and funeral were well done. Although I didn't get to attend this part of the funeral it's too pretty to not share.

A dear friend, David, passed away and after the funeral everyone went up to a campsite, his favorite place to go, and let balloons go. They all wrote a note and tied it to the balloon and released them into the air! It was one of the coolest things I think I've seen in a very long time. Mental note everyone, I want this done at my funeral!


After this we attended my husband's cousin's birthday at a gorgeous park nearby. Let me add that it was the most perfect day for this! Thanks Gabby for choosing this day to be born ;) 


Here is my adorable son :)

All in all it was a nice weekend! I hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend just as much! 

Have a Blessed Day! 


Thursday, March 6, 2014

This year!

This year will be the year the Jude has his surgeries. That just hit me. By the end of this year, if all goes accordingly, my little man will have had at least one surgery and maybe even more. I'm terrified! What a scary thought; my 1 year old will be going under to get his little fingers fixed. Wow! I don't get how you mommies do it where your child goes into surgery right after they're born. My prayers are with you!

Wanna know something though? I'm not going to worry about his surgeries. At least not yet :) Even though when I think about it I want to hyperventilate, I know that it will be ok! I have a strong little man who is a fighter and will pull through!

Ok, sadness over for the day and moving on! 

Jude is starting to teeth which is rather insane because that means he is growing up and that is not allowed! I love how tiny and snuggly he is and how he always wants to be with me. A total momma's boy but I am perfectly ok with that :) Dad on the other hand... haha.

Fun story

I had to go to a meeting tonight that was an hour away from where we live so I left dad in charge. Well Jude cried the whole time and dad didn't quite know what to do because he tried everything! Well I got home, and after my husband had fed him multiple times, I fed him, rocked him and he was out (:

Oh a mothers touch (:

This was the other morning that I got to snuggle with him! How can you not love that sweet, innocent face??!


Sorry for the jumbled post today, it's late and I had a lot on my mind but I hope you enjoyed it anyway :)


Have a Blessed Day!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

These Are Perfect

So as a mom of a child with ABS you prepare yourself for comments and questions that may be said. You prepare yourself (or so you think) for how you will respond and act in those situations.. Little do you know that it will always catch you off guard.

When jude was first born, you hardly noticed his hands and because I almost always had socks on him, you hardly saw his little toes so no one ever commented on them. Well now that he is getting bigger and older it is becoming more noticeable. I had someone once ask if there was hair wrapped around his fingers... I'm sure she was curious about what happened and just didn't know how to ask but still. I wanted to respond with a "yes, we wrap hair around his fingers for fun" but because I know better I responded nicely. I was able to tell her no that he was born this way and go into detail about ABS. That was one of my first experiences telling someone what happened to my child.

Another time I had someone say that they liked his toes (the ones intact) better because they were perfect. That they liked that foot better because all the toes were there and the other foot wasn't perfect because it was missing toes. Now, this person didn't know any better because they are young but still, as a mom you just want to hug your child and cuddle them and tell them it will be alright. Even when they are so young and don't know any better.

Another thing most people don't think about are the hand and foot prints at the hospital, or anywhere for that matter. Most people take that for granted, having their child's footprint on an ornament or a craft from school or making a hand turkey at Thanksgiving... What about my son? What about his hand turkey?? I know it may sound silly but those things are ideas that cross your mind now.

We got a thing to make an ornament hand print for Jude's first Christmas and I was so excited! I couldn't wait to make his hand print. We even joked about getting 2 since both hands were so different. But when it came down to it, I didn't end up ever making it because it was hard to pick. Do I use his little foot? How about the "perfect" foot? Or maybe his right hand, but then what about the left? We just threw it away because I couldn't decide but again, most people never realize that when they have a child with 10 fingers and toes. Now I'm not saying this to make anyone feel bad! Please, that is not my intention, I am just trying to make people aware of things that cross my mind that parents of children with missing fingers, toes, hands, or full limbs have to think about now. So I don't mean to offend anyone by saying that (:

I know that these situations are just preparing me for all that is about to come. As the mom, to be there for my son when he comes home from school crying because he got made fun of. Or the times we go to the store and people stare because he's not "perfect." Well let me tell you what world, my son is perfect! At least to me he is and that's all that should matter. But it's not. I have my days of weakness when I can't help but blame myself for what happened. Even though there was nothing I could do, it still happens. I have to remind myself constantly that it's alright, that we will raise our son in a way that he will be able to respond to bullying or questions or staring with love. That he won't be mean to kids who ask or to people who look a little too long. I hope that we can raise him where he is proud of his lucky fin and that nothing can stop him. I know that he will do amazing things in this life and that's all I can hope and pray for!

As a parent you always want the best for your child. Well with my son, I want better than the best because I know that he will be able to accomplish anything he puts his mind to. Even if his hands or toes aren't perfect to the world or by anyone else's standards; they are perfect to me!

With that said, I want to share this video of a guitar player who has 1 hand yet is rather good at playing guitar! Click the link below to see his newest song.


One more thing, I just want to have a little shout out to one of the most amazing men I have ever met, David Giddens. He was a close friend/mentor to my husband and he passed away today. Thankfully we were able to visit him before he passed but he is missed dearly. He had an awesome impact on us and will be forever loved. Heaven gained a wonderful angle today. We love you David!



Have a Blessed Day

Monday, March 3, 2014

Ten Fingers Are Overrated


Today I am sporting the lovely shirt by the Lucky Fin Project! 


I figured that since my husband got asked so many times what it meant that I would wear mine as I ran all my errands today and guess what!? Someone asked me what my shirt meant! I was sitting at the bank and while waiting this man was sitting across from me and said "So I have to ask, what does your shirt mean?" And I got to share! I got to tell him how Jude was born with ABS and what it exactly meant! He then proceeded to ask if doctors could help and what we were going to do and again, I got to share more of my story! Told him that Jude will be perfectly fine because he has his pointer finger and thumb and then he has all the bones in his foot so there wont be anything he can't do.

All because of this shirt I was able to have a conversation and educate one more person on what ABS is. Not only that but I got to hear about his family and all about his 2 grandkids. This shirt started a conversation that then led to another person asking and joining into our talk about ABS and kids and grandkids. It was such a great little wait at the bank! It was probably no longer than 15 minutes but it made me happy to know that Jude's story is getting out there!

Not only that but he woke up from his nap and was all smiles and so happy! He showed everyone there that nothing was going to stop him!


Have a blessed day! 

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Here Goes Nothin!

Where do I even begin?? This will be the first post of many, but don't expect them daily. I am a new mommy who is trying to find the balance of being a wife, mom and keeping up with the house.

A little background on us:

My husband is a nurse and works the night shift 3-4 times a week so needless to say that those nights and days can be long. But he works his butt off so that I can stay at home and raise our son and be with him as much as possible. We are very blessed to have this opportunity to do so and we will take full advantage of it while we can! Who knows what will come in the future but now, this is what we do (:

Before having a baby I worked a few different jobs, all the same type though: administration. As weird as it may sound, I love doing admin work! Organizing, phones, schedules, you name it and I love to do it, but with the baby, again, we decided it would fit our family best if I was home with Jude.

Please don't think that I am saying being a stay at home mom is the only way to go. I know there are plenty of amazing moms out there who work full time or even part time and for that, you're my hero! I can barely keep up with my house and family as it is now! I can't imagine working on top of all of this! And a big shout out to all the single mommies! You guys have a superpower that is incredible.

Anyway. Back to our story.

We are very blessed to have a child at all let alone one with a disability. We are honored that we were picked to be his parents and to raise him!

That we can now share and spread the knowledge of what ABS is and what can be done to help kids with ABS. Not only that but that we are not alone in this, that there are so many other people out there who deal with this and are willing to help get all of us 'newbies' through. That's ultimately why I decided to share our story. I spoke with a lady online, through one of my mommy groups, who just gave birth to a son who was affected by this and she was freaking out. I couldn't help but remember that feeling and the uncertainty of what would happen next and what was wrong with my baby. Those feelings and emotions are still very fresh, sometimes I have to fight off the worry daily but we push through. So I couldn't help but message her and tell her it was going to be alright and to share a little bit of my story. I could tell that she was calming down and she knew at that point that she wasn't alone.

Another time, by that I mean this morning, my husband and I were at church and he was wearing his "ten fingers are overrated" shirt from the Lucky Fin Project. Now, there were a decent amount of people at church and obviously not everyone knows that our son is missing fingers and toes. Some of our friends still do not know. Anyway, he was asked multiple times on what his shirt meant and we were able to share and show them what ABS was and how it is a part of our life and family now. Again, more people now know about ABS all because of a shirt!

After my son was born I questioned why this happened. My husband and I prayed specifically for a healthy baby with 10 fingers and 10 toes and we didn't get that... Why? That was my biggest question but I think I figured it out. If I can share our story and help or educate even just 1 person, that it's all worth it and I know that my son will be ok!

We hope to raise him in a way that he will be able to handle questions and kids wondering why he doesn't look like them. We hope to learn from others who have been in this situation and then to be able to pass on what we have learned. I am an open book. Ask away.


P.S. I apologize now if any of my posts are jumbled, confusing or just bits and pieces of my thoughts. I am by no means a writer. Just a mom trying to help others who are in the same boat and educate the ones who are not... As well as just share my heart  :) 

Have a blessed day!