This is almost 4 weeks delayed - we've been telling family and friends here and there and are ready to share with the blogger world. Will likely be another few weeks before any facebook announcements are made.
______________________________
Hi Baby! This morning your dad and I found out that we are pregnant with you! Super exciting news! We've been anticipating your arrival in my tummy for a few months and are overwhelmed with joy knowing you are in there!
In addition to being super exciting, we are realistically nervous too. We will trust God to take care of you and know his plans are greater than our own if something may go wrong.
Right now you are the size of a sesame seed. In the next 2-3 weeks we will be able to see your heart beat for the first time! I've already made all the phone calls to figure out our first Dr. visit so we can see your little heart and make sure everything looks okay for us. Welcome to pregnancy baby - you and me will be getting to know each other in a very special way for the next 9 months!
As of right now, only your dad and I know you are part of our family. Your sister Autumn told me I was pregnant a few days ago, but she doesn't actually know she is going to be a big sister yet! We will carefully think through when we want to tell all of your grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins and then when we tell the rest of our friends! They will all be excited to know you are growing and will make your entrance sometime early in October.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
First Portriat Session!
Here are the photos!
I'm just looking to practice and my friend's daughter's birthday was a great opportunity to offer a free beach photo session! We had so much fun and I'm quite happy with the results!
I'm just looking to practice and my friend's daughter's birthday was a great opportunity to offer a free beach photo session! We had so much fun and I'm quite happy with the results!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Haiti Blog
I've put stuff up from this blog in the past. This post is especially visually powerful. Praise God for those serving in the 3rd world to rescue children from death and also teach them about God's love.
http://brittanyinhaiti.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-is-kwashiorkor-malnutrition.html
Also scroll down to the January 21st post for encouragement! So cool how proper nutrition and care makes such a drastic difference in a matter of months.
http://brittanyinhaiti.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-is-kwashiorkor-malnutrition.html
Also scroll down to the January 21st post for encouragement! So cool how proper nutrition and care makes such a drastic difference in a matter of months.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Dolphins
On Sunday we met some of Aaron's college friends at Kamakahonu beach for some fun. Everyone else was getting ready for a snorkel when we spotted a pod of spinner dolphins in the bay. All the SUPs and kayaks were rented except for a single kayak - so Autumn and I hoped on in and took off. At first I thought the dolphins had gone, but their were still a bunch of kayaks and SUPs sitting around out further. We kept paddling and then we spotted the dorsal fins coming right at us. Blowholes grunting, tails flapping, jumping... they just made circle after circle around all the people. What a show! Autumn saw them and had such a ball. They stuck around so long that she finally got bored and decided she needed to be the one paddling! We head back to the beach with her holding onto the middle of the paddle 'helping' me. I was certainly a moment imprinted in my mind for ever! Autumn has been with us when we see them from the shore, but I don't think she has ever actually seen them. So this was fun for her to really experience them!
After some beach play we all headed back out on SUP boards, me with Autumn sitting on the front of my board. Amazingly the dolphins were still hanging out, and this time closer to we didn't have to paddle very far. Again they came feet from our board and jumped all around us. Autumn would exclaim "dolphins jump" and one would come flying out of the water less than 20 feet away! Crazy crazy fun!!!
What a treasure - I definitely had the "I love this place, I never want to leave" thoughts while we were out there! God is so great and we get to experience his creation in such a beautiful way all the time!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
First Job!
I had the pleasure of getting to shoot a friends vacation rental this evening! I learned so much, being my first time shooting indoors without the ease of good natural lighting. I used tricks similar to these to help me get enough light into dark places. I still struggled and didn't get any photos I really liked of the living room because of the harsh lighting coming in the windows. I'm going to need to go shoot a few more pictures in them morning when the light is pointed the other direction. Here are some previews.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Dinking with online editing software
pixlr.com I had no idea that free online photo editing was available - it does many of the things I do in Photoshop and has some fun automatic edits and retro things!
Monday, January 23, 2012
3 Foot and Glassy
Technically it was more like 2 foot and windy - but it was such a nice evening. Our friends that live in our building have invited us out to their surf spot multiple times and it just hasn't worked out for us to join. This weekend we committed and had such a nice time. It is a whole group of friends that has children and surfs together at Pine Trees. We all brought potluck food and took turns with our spouses surfing. The waves were smallish and I wasn't sure that I wanted to paddle out. Then my friend talked about taking the kids out. We had Autumn's life jacket, but hadn't taken her out before so I wasn't sure about it, but wanted to try! My friend showed me how to paddle with her on the front of the board and took her on her first wave. No standing is involved, so it is a bit more like boogie boarding on a surf board, but it is a fun ride! Autumn crawled over to my board and we rode a few more. Daddy headed out, I think mostly because he was nervous - but it turned into a really fun family surf session! After a few more waves Autumn asked to surf with Aaron and so we switched boards and she rode with him. We even paddled together and they rode next to me while I popped up and rode one in. It was so much fun and she just loved it! Even the water in the face as we'd paddle back out didn't bother her. She's a charger! We have no photographic evidence of the surf session or the whales on the horizon as the sunset! It was such a fun evening with new friends, fun waves, and whales - definitely makes us want to keep going back for more!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Pursuit of fine photos...
I have a little dream to be able to run a side business of taking affordable professional family photos at the beach. I got my first DSLR camera today, which is the same as my mom's, so I put it together and headed to the park! I'm hoping to study and practice and see nice improvement in my photo's over the next year! Here's day 1!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Autumn 2 years 4 months
Autumn, instead of a detailed monthly report of your development I think I'm going to switch to intermittent "A day in the life of Autumn" written/photo journalism reports!
Today we had so much fun. You ran into our room at about 7, crawled up in our bed, snuggled for about 2 minutes before you started asking questions like. "Mom and dad, did the sun come up?" Daddy final crawled out with you when you requested cereal. Once you got to the living room, you became much more interested in doing puzzles than eating. I got up and went to change you and asked if you would go sit on the potty. You didn't want to, so I had Elmo doll go and try. You decided to as well and made a little pee pee in the potty. We then ate breakfast and said good bye to daddy. We had a girls day out planned! As we walked out the door you shouted, "bye daddy" and gave him a skype hug (which he couldn't see)! On our way to Waikoloa the sky was so clear we could see all the mountains. They are volcanos - which you adorably call 'lavacanos.' We talked about them and when I said, "That is Hualalai." You asked, "We live on that lavacano, right?" "Yes, we do." Lately you've been trying to figure out where we live. We talk about Kona, the Coffee Villas, and the volcano mountain we live on and our island. It is pretty complex stuff for a two year old. We started talking about family and you asked if they live on their island. It is good logic - if we live on an island - they must too! I tried to explain that they live on a continent, but it is just a bit too complex for the time being. You do recognize the Big Island on a map of Hawaii and always ask us, "Is that our island?"
We got to the Hilton public parking and walked in. You wanted to see the dolphins first so we walked that way. You spotted pink flamingos that I didn't see and haven't noticed before. After checking them out you wanted to touch all the statues of animals and people. It was a theme for the morning!
We got to the dolphins and they were doing programs where people got to be right down with them. 
Surprisingly you had no interest in watching or being the one down there right next to them. We walked over to the other holding ponds and watched the mamma and baby for a bit. 
That didn't last too long before you wanted to ride the train. They have a light rail and boats for guest to use to get around the property. The plan was to right the train out and take a boat back - but the boats we're going to start running until after we left. 
We walked out to the grass and played for a while on a cabana before you decided you needed a snack. 
We changed your diaper in a gazebo before hoping on the train back to the lobby. We rode the elevator one last time before heading to the car and then to Arby's for lunch. We practiced saying Arby's a few times as you kept calling it Ardy's. (-: We shared a roast beef sandwich, curly fries and water before we went out looking at flowers and coy fish. 
We even found a little train to play with. 
We then went in the hat store to look around. You busted through the door and yelled, "Are there hats in here?" Everyone laughed and commented on how cute you were. I thought you would fall asleep as soon as we got on the highway, but you were still awake as we approach Kukio, so we drove to Kukio Beach to see if there were turtles to look at.
It was a great stop, you loved walking along the sand beach looking for shells, there were plenty of turtles and I got to see a whale splashing on the horizon. We even got to sit and watch a turtle climb down the beach out to sea while another one climbed up to take a rest.
On our way back to the car Kait called and you played nicely 'driving,' honking and crawling around in the car while I caught up. We hit the road and you were out in like 2 minutes! 
You slept for the drive home and then woke up as soon as I took you out of the car. Thought you might transfer, but no luck. We came in and you cuddled for like 3 minutes before looking up and me and saying, "can we go play." We played for a bit after getting cleaned up. You love playing with your little people, you even had them all sat up in chairs around the play table when we went to play. You move them around, have them talk to each other and take care of each other.
We had such a fun day! Love you baby girl!
Today we had so much fun. You ran into our room at about 7, crawled up in our bed, snuggled for about 2 minutes before you started asking questions like. "Mom and dad, did the sun come up?" Daddy final crawled out with you when you requested cereal. Once you got to the living room, you became much more interested in doing puzzles than eating. I got up and went to change you and asked if you would go sit on the potty. You didn't want to, so I had Elmo doll go and try. You decided to as well and made a little pee pee in the potty. We then ate breakfast and said good bye to daddy. We had a girls day out planned! As we walked out the door you shouted, "bye daddy" and gave him a skype hug (which he couldn't see)! On our way to Waikoloa the sky was so clear we could see all the mountains. They are volcanos - which you adorably call 'lavacanos.' We talked about them and when I said, "That is Hualalai." You asked, "We live on that lavacano, right?" "Yes, we do." Lately you've been trying to figure out where we live. We talk about Kona, the Coffee Villas, and the volcano mountain we live on and our island. It is pretty complex stuff for a two year old. We started talking about family and you asked if they live on their island. It is good logic - if we live on an island - they must too! I tried to explain that they live on a continent, but it is just a bit too complex for the time being. You do recognize the Big Island on a map of Hawaii and always ask us, "Is that our island?"
We got to the Hilton public parking and walked in. You wanted to see the dolphins first so we walked that way. You spotted pink flamingos that I didn't see and haven't noticed before. After checking them out you wanted to touch all the statues of animals and people. It was a theme for the morning!
We got to the dolphins and they were doing programs where people got to be right down with them. 
Surprisingly you had no interest in watching or being the one down there right next to them. We walked over to the other holding ponds and watched the mamma and baby for a bit. 
That didn't last too long before you wanted to ride the train. They have a light rail and boats for guest to use to get around the property. The plan was to right the train out and take a boat back - but the boats we're going to start running until after we left. 
We walked out to the grass and played for a while on a cabana before you decided you needed a snack. 
We changed your diaper in a gazebo before hoping on the train back to the lobby. We rode the elevator one last time before heading to the car and then to Arby's for lunch. We practiced saying Arby's a few times as you kept calling it Ardy's. (-: We shared a roast beef sandwich, curly fries and water before we went out looking at flowers and coy fish. 
We even found a little train to play with. 
We then went in the hat store to look around. You busted through the door and yelled, "Are there hats in here?" Everyone laughed and commented on how cute you were. I thought you would fall asleep as soon as we got on the highway, but you were still awake as we approach Kukio, so we drove to Kukio Beach to see if there were turtles to look at.
It was a great stop, you loved walking along the sand beach looking for shells, there were plenty of turtles and I got to see a whale splashing on the horizon. We even got to sit and watch a turtle climb down the beach out to sea while another one climbed up to take a rest.
On our way back to the car Kait called and you played nicely 'driving,' honking and crawling around in the car while I caught up. We hit the road and you were out in like 2 minutes! 
You slept for the drive home and then woke up as soon as I took you out of the car. Thought you might transfer, but no luck. We came in and you cuddled for like 3 minutes before looking up and me and saying, "can we go play." We played for a bit after getting cleaned up. You love playing with your little people, you even had them all sat up in chairs around the play table when we went to play. You move them around, have them talk to each other and take care of each other.We had such a fun day! Love you baby girl!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Astonished
Today at lunch Autumn made a totally random comment about using knife to plant plants. I figured that she must have seen Tutu do that at daycare and said that my grandma used to plant her plants that way. Autumn asked, "Grandma Nona?" I explained to Autumn that she hasn't met this grandma because she went to heaven before Autumn was born. Then she asked, "Does Grandpa Alfred have dollies?" We said that yes there are dollies at their house. Then she asked, "do they have hats?" Our jaws dropped because she must be remembering the last time we were at their house - in July. Yes, they do have hats. Grandma has a couple of dolls that stay on the couch that have crochet hats that Autumn plays with when we are there. She kept going, "and they had a stunk?" A what? "A stunk" Oh, a skunk. Aaron, Autumn and Grandpa drove the 4 wheeler around and there as a recently dead very stinky skunk that she remembered. I continue to be in awe at her little memory - I never dreamed that she would be able to recall specific memories from 6 months ago back when she was 21 months old! She remembers lots of other things that surprise me, but this is the first time it has been something a long time ago that we haven't talked about since. We aren't going to be able to slip anything by her... (-:
Friday, January 13, 2012
The Future?
God knows the future - and it is a good thing because we sure don't. We live a funky life, one that is not real settled. We have secured housing through May 31st, one way tickets to go see family in Maryland and then... we have no idea. We have hopes to settle and feel like one community is home base. It is looking more and more like Kona is where we will put in some deeper roots. But the timing is unknown. God's provision of income sources, desires for me not to work much for another chunk of time, desires for where and when we have our next child all play heavily into what our next move is. I think we'd like to take a summer mainland break and then head back to the warmth of "our island" (that's what Autumn calls it), but the above factors muddle that idea. So Lord, one day at a time help us see your will and direction for our family.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
2011 Year End Review
2011 is over! Seems totally crazy. A year ago we were in Pullman, WA just starting our next adventure away from Colorado. We had a 16 month old who slept in a pack and play, only had a few words and was still nursing 3-4x a day. Now we are in Kona and have a 2 year 4 month old that talks in full sentences, sleeps in a big girl bed and is learning to swim. It has been a full, blessed and wonderful year. Thank you Lord!
Here is a summary of where we were when and what we were doing.
January, Feb and 1/2 of March we were in Pullman, WA. We lived in Kaitlin and Phil's 1st level for about 6 1/2 weeks and in a farm house with a family for the other 4. I worked 4 days a week at a nursing home in Colfax helping older folks get better and Aaron worked many many hours on a project for Group Publishing in a closet office. Although very cold and fairly stressful with us working a lot, being away from Autumn more than we were accustomed, we look back on our time in Pullman with smiles. We pretty much attribute this to the amazing time we had bonding to the Watson's - sharing fine meals, going swimming, shopping and just living everyday life together. We sure miss them!! The other perk was that we made money for our Hawaii/Asia adventure.
In mid-March we took off on a 6 week adventure. Aaron's best friend and his wife live in Myanmar and so we thought going to see them in SE Asia was an opportunity not to be missed. Since frequent flyer miles could be used for 1/2 the miles to get to Asia from Hawaii, we decided that would be a good starting, hang out with friends and finishing point for our 10 days in Asia. We started by flying into Maui and seeing our dear friends there, then onto Kona to reconnect with our ohana there. Our amazing former landlord in Kona let us stay in our old apartment for free for almost 3 weeks - it was a treat to have our own space for the first time since before Christmas. We really enjoyed seeing everyone and soaking in the sun. We had shipped our green car from Washington in preparation for our move out to Hawaii in July. We didn't know that we were going to end up in Kona for the 2011-12 school year, but this time sure made us miss it and talk more about what it would look like to move out here. We wrapped up our time in Kona, packed our car to store for a few months and headed to the airport. Off to Asia! Here is my very lengthy journal entry about our time in Thailand and Myanmar. On our return we spent 2 days in Waikiki relaxing and adjusting to the time change, 1 day in Molokai and then a few days including Easter with the Hassell's again in Maui. All in all we were gone 43 wonderful days.
We returned to Seattle, flew to Pullman, spent a day with the Watson's and packed the other car to drive back to Colorado. We drove through Utah and spent a couple of wonderful but chilly days catching up with Connie and Ryan. It was so cold and Autumn just wanted to play outside! We arrived in Glenwood Springs, hugged on Papa and Nana for a couple of days, unpacked our car headed for NoCo. There we reunited with Aaron's family before hopping on another plane to Maryland to see my brother's family and our friend's in Arlington. Here are some crazy stats (ones that Aaron has no intention of us ever repeating) From April 8th until May 13th we didn't spend more than 3 nights in any one bed, we were on 19 different airline flights and drove about 1300 miles. Praise the Lord for safe travels and thank you so much to the 7 families that hosted us!! We love you all and feel so blessed that we got to see everyone!
We spent the rest of the summer jumping back and forth between NoCo and Glenwood Springs spending time with friends and family. Amazingly, because Aaron just needs phone service and internet to work, he pretty much worked everywhere we went except for in Asia. Up until early June we had assumed that we were being placed in Maui for the 2011-12 school year. The OT gal that took over in S. Kona schools when I left in 2008 informed me that she was moving to an early intervention position. We waited patiently for weeks and finally on July 1st found out that I had received the contract placement back in my old position. We were so excited about this for a few reasons. We consider Kona our Hawaii home, and although Maui would have been nice we felt like it would have been another 10 month vacation from real life and being able to integrate ourselves into a community that we plan to make part of our life for a longer time. Also the job in Kona is less stressful, most of our friends are in Kona and we honestly just like life on the Big Island better. YEAH - we were so so so excited!!!
Mid July we started packing up, shipped our second car and got ready to be gone for 10 1/2 months. On July 20th we flew to Kona and got a ride to our car (thank you Ang for being our taxi/rental car :-)) Unfortunately the car wouldn't budge... after one mechanic made us certain we'd need to tow it, Aaron's brother and our Kona Mechanic convinced us to hit the gas harder as it seemed likely that the brakes had rusted. Luckily they were right and we were on our way with no ill consequences. We started the process of figuring out priorities - food, housing, daycare, belongings... it was a long few days of looking at housing/condo rentals with the complexity of nap times, snack times and tantrums. We made it through without permanent damage and secured a top floor condo 3 miles from my work and a few units away from some friends. The next weeks were filled with yard saleing, thrift store shopping and craigslisting to find everything we needed to make it more homey. Luckily beds and most necessary kitchen items were found during the first weekend!
Aug-Nov.: We've been living a mostly routine life of work and Autumn going to daycare. We celebrated 8 years of marriage with a night in Waikoloa, had Aaron's brother and our niece out for a bit, I completed my first Olympic sized triathlon, celebrated Autumn's 2nd birthday on the beach and I turned 30. I also started volunteering at the Christian pregnancy center in town by helping Thursday nights and teaching pregnancy nutrition and infant safety classes. We've had a fair bit of illness which slowed us down, taught Autumn deeper compassion for pain and unfortunately we're still dealing with aftermath. We haven't made it to the beach as much as we'd like and are still figuring out navigating island life with a 2 year old. We've spent some time with friends and look forward to more of that in 2012.
December: Family month! Aaron's whole family got to spend a week at the Aulani in Oahu. Aaron and Autumn got to join them for the week and I got to go for a long weekend. It was a nice time with a lot of time spend on the slides, hot tubs, on the beach and in the lazy river. They had great entertainment with shows, story tellers and crafts. Autumn thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her Grandma, Papa, all the cousins, Uncles and her Aunt! We all went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for an afternoon, then dinner and the Ha Breath of Life show (which was amazing). The last night Aaron, Autumn and I met Jeremy and Camry in Waikiki for all you can eat sushi and everything else under the sun buffet. Yum yum yum! Autumn even enjoyed the octopus!
5 days after we returned to Kona, we packed up and met my parents for a week in Kauai. This is the last of the major islands we had yet to see. It is called the garden isle for good reason - both for the beauty and the intermittent and random showers. All the islands are so different and beautiful! Kauai is certainly a treasure! We had a great time exploring and relaxing, Dad and I even got to do a helicopter tour - so spoiled, what a treat! Autumn really loved shoulder rides with Papa, bath times with Nana and all the other time with extra attention and playmates! We all flew back to our home on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas enjoying special gifts, cooking and playing at Kua Bay. We ended the year in Waikoloa enjoying our last condo stay after seeing a bunch of turtles at Kukio Beach!
Na Pali Coastline from the Helicopter
All in all it has been a pretty dreamy year with a lot more adventure than we ever imagined having with a small child! We continue to learn, grow and have God shape our hearts. Our compassion for the poor and suffering and our world view continue to define who we are and what we want to spend our lives doing. We really sit with a blank slate for the coming year. We will continue to dream and let God sort out where and what we will be doing a year from now.
2011 Reflection Questions:
1. What was the best thing that happened to me this year? Do I have to choose 1? Getting to spend so much time with Kait, my life long dream of seeing Thailand, getting to spend this school year in Kona
2. What did I do this year that I'm really proud of? Completing an Olympic Triathlon, being more generous financially
3. Who did I really help? My clients at the nursing home and my students
4. Who do I need to thank and acknowledge for having been there for me? During our fight with MRSA I really appreciated the calls and check ins from friends and family - there are many of you.
5. What are the top three lessons I learned? I need to spend more time having fun with Autumn, I need to be less controlling (this one is so so so hard, especially after the MRSA), face to face time is so valuable.
6. What increased my happiness and joy this year? my husband and daughter
7. What's something I got through that was really tough? our awful experience with a MRSA infection on Autumn
8. What did I avoid that I must pay more attention to in 2012? I wouldn't necessarily call it avoiding - but I would really like to spend more time in the Word of God this year.
9. What character trait did I develop most this year? Patience with difficult 2 year old behavior- it is slowly but surely developing...
10. What new people did I meet that are now in my life? the Teagues, McNeills, Tresters, Erin and Natalie
A few fun adventure stats from 2011:
Number of nights in hotels/condos/bungalows/resorts - 39
Average price we paid per night - $31 (thanks to heavily subsidized family vacations)
Number of nights staying with friends/family (rent free) - 79
Individual Airline Flight segments - 29
# of employers - 4 in 3 states
Goals for 2012!
1. Get pregnant again
2. Spend 20 minutes 5x a week in God's word
3. Spend more time learning Aaron's business so I can work for him some
4. Keep a prayer journal 3-4x a month
5. Surf 3-4x a month until I'm 15 weeks pregnant (when ever that might be)
Here is a summary of where we were when and what we were doing.
January, Feb and 1/2 of March we were in Pullman, WA. We lived in Kaitlin and Phil's 1st level for about 6 1/2 weeks and in a farm house with a family for the other 4. I worked 4 days a week at a nursing home in Colfax helping older folks get better and Aaron worked many many hours on a project for Group Publishing in a closet office. Although very cold and fairly stressful with us working a lot, being away from Autumn more than we were accustomed, we look back on our time in Pullman with smiles. We pretty much attribute this to the amazing time we had bonding to the Watson's - sharing fine meals, going swimming, shopping and just living everyday life together. We sure miss them!! The other perk was that we made money for our Hawaii/Asia adventure.
In mid-March we took off on a 6 week adventure. Aaron's best friend and his wife live in Myanmar and so we thought going to see them in SE Asia was an opportunity not to be missed. Since frequent flyer miles could be used for 1/2 the miles to get to Asia from Hawaii, we decided that would be a good starting, hang out with friends and finishing point for our 10 days in Asia. We started by flying into Maui and seeing our dear friends there, then onto Kona to reconnect with our ohana there. Our amazing former landlord in Kona let us stay in our old apartment for free for almost 3 weeks - it was a treat to have our own space for the first time since before Christmas. We really enjoyed seeing everyone and soaking in the sun. We had shipped our green car from Washington in preparation for our move out to Hawaii in July. We didn't know that we were going to end up in Kona for the 2011-12 school year, but this time sure made us miss it and talk more about what it would look like to move out here. We wrapped up our time in Kona, packed our car to store for a few months and headed to the airport. Off to Asia! Here is my very lengthy journal entry about our time in Thailand and Myanmar. On our return we spent 2 days in Waikiki relaxing and adjusting to the time change, 1 day in Molokai and then a few days including Easter with the Hassell's again in Maui. All in all we were gone 43 wonderful days.
We returned to Seattle, flew to Pullman, spent a day with the Watson's and packed the other car to drive back to Colorado. We drove through Utah and spent a couple of wonderful but chilly days catching up with Connie and Ryan. It was so cold and Autumn just wanted to play outside! We arrived in Glenwood Springs, hugged on Papa and Nana for a couple of days, unpacked our car headed for NoCo. There we reunited with Aaron's family before hopping on another plane to Maryland to see my brother's family and our friend's in Arlington. Here are some crazy stats (ones that Aaron has no intention of us ever repeating) From April 8th until May 13th we didn't spend more than 3 nights in any one bed, we were on 19 different airline flights and drove about 1300 miles. Praise the Lord for safe travels and thank you so much to the 7 families that hosted us!! We love you all and feel so blessed that we got to see everyone!
We spent the rest of the summer jumping back and forth between NoCo and Glenwood Springs spending time with friends and family. Amazingly, because Aaron just needs phone service and internet to work, he pretty much worked everywhere we went except for in Asia. Up until early June we had assumed that we were being placed in Maui for the 2011-12 school year. The OT gal that took over in S. Kona schools when I left in 2008 informed me that she was moving to an early intervention position. We waited patiently for weeks and finally on July 1st found out that I had received the contract placement back in my old position. We were so excited about this for a few reasons. We consider Kona our Hawaii home, and although Maui would have been nice we felt like it would have been another 10 month vacation from real life and being able to integrate ourselves into a community that we plan to make part of our life for a longer time. Also the job in Kona is less stressful, most of our friends are in Kona and we honestly just like life on the Big Island better. YEAH - we were so so so excited!!!
Mid July we started packing up, shipped our second car and got ready to be gone for 10 1/2 months. On July 20th we flew to Kona and got a ride to our car (thank you Ang for being our taxi/rental car :-)) Unfortunately the car wouldn't budge... after one mechanic made us certain we'd need to tow it, Aaron's brother and our Kona Mechanic convinced us to hit the gas harder as it seemed likely that the brakes had rusted. Luckily they were right and we were on our way with no ill consequences. We started the process of figuring out priorities - food, housing, daycare, belongings... it was a long few days of looking at housing/condo rentals with the complexity of nap times, snack times and tantrums. We made it through without permanent damage and secured a top floor condo 3 miles from my work and a few units away from some friends. The next weeks were filled with yard saleing, thrift store shopping and craigslisting to find everything we needed to make it more homey. Luckily beds and most necessary kitchen items were found during the first weekend!
Aug-Nov.: We've been living a mostly routine life of work and Autumn going to daycare. We celebrated 8 years of marriage with a night in Waikoloa, had Aaron's brother and our niece out for a bit, I completed my first Olympic sized triathlon, celebrated Autumn's 2nd birthday on the beach and I turned 30. I also started volunteering at the Christian pregnancy center in town by helping Thursday nights and teaching pregnancy nutrition and infant safety classes. We've had a fair bit of illness which slowed us down, taught Autumn deeper compassion for pain and unfortunately we're still dealing with aftermath. We haven't made it to the beach as much as we'd like and are still figuring out navigating island life with a 2 year old. We've spent some time with friends and look forward to more of that in 2012.
December: Family month! Aaron's whole family got to spend a week at the Aulani in Oahu. Aaron and Autumn got to join them for the week and I got to go for a long weekend. It was a nice time with a lot of time spend on the slides, hot tubs, on the beach and in the lazy river. They had great entertainment with shows, story tellers and crafts. Autumn thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her Grandma, Papa, all the cousins, Uncles and her Aunt! We all went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for an afternoon, then dinner and the Ha Breath of Life show (which was amazing). The last night Aaron, Autumn and I met Jeremy and Camry in Waikiki for all you can eat sushi and everything else under the sun buffet. Yum yum yum! Autumn even enjoyed the octopus!
5 days after we returned to Kona, we packed up and met my parents for a week in Kauai. This is the last of the major islands we had yet to see. It is called the garden isle for good reason - both for the beauty and the intermittent and random showers. All the islands are so different and beautiful! Kauai is certainly a treasure! We had a great time exploring and relaxing, Dad and I even got to do a helicopter tour - so spoiled, what a treat! Autumn really loved shoulder rides with Papa, bath times with Nana and all the other time with extra attention and playmates! We all flew back to our home on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas enjoying special gifts, cooking and playing at Kua Bay. We ended the year in Waikoloa enjoying our last condo stay after seeing a bunch of turtles at Kukio Beach!
Na Pali Coastline from the HelicopterAll in all it has been a pretty dreamy year with a lot more adventure than we ever imagined having with a small child! We continue to learn, grow and have God shape our hearts. Our compassion for the poor and suffering and our world view continue to define who we are and what we want to spend our lives doing. We really sit with a blank slate for the coming year. We will continue to dream and let God sort out where and what we will be doing a year from now.
2011 Reflection Questions:1. What was the best thing that happened to me this year? Do I have to choose 1? Getting to spend so much time with Kait, my life long dream of seeing Thailand, getting to spend this school year in Kona
2. What did I do this year that I'm really proud of? Completing an Olympic Triathlon, being more generous financially
3. Who did I really help? My clients at the nursing home and my students
4. Who do I need to thank and acknowledge for having been there for me? During our fight with MRSA I really appreciated the calls and check ins from friends and family - there are many of you.
5. What are the top three lessons I learned? I need to spend more time having fun with Autumn, I need to be less controlling (this one is so so so hard, especially after the MRSA), face to face time is so valuable.
6. What increased my happiness and joy this year? my husband and daughter
7. What's something I got through that was really tough? our awful experience with a MRSA infection on Autumn
8. What did I avoid that I must pay more attention to in 2012? I wouldn't necessarily call it avoiding - but I would really like to spend more time in the Word of God this year.
9. What character trait did I develop most this year? Patience with difficult 2 year old behavior- it is slowly but surely developing...
10. What new people did I meet that are now in my life? the Teagues, McNeills, Tresters, Erin and Natalie
A few fun adventure stats from 2011:
Number of nights in hotels/condos/bungalows/resorts - 39
Average price we paid per night - $31 (thanks to heavily subsidized family vacations)
Number of nights staying with friends/family (rent free) - 79
Individual Airline Flight segments - 29
# of employers - 4 in 3 states
Goals for 2012!
1. Get pregnant again
2. Spend 20 minutes 5x a week in God's word
3. Spend more time learning Aaron's business so I can work for him some
4. Keep a prayer journal 3-4x a month
5. Surf 3-4x a month until I'm 15 weeks pregnant (when ever that might be)
Conversations with Autumn
I've been trying to write our 2011 year end review in my head - but tonight I wanted to write down some of the things Autumn's been saying.
Tonight she pooped at the restaurant and on the way to change her I asked if she felt herself needing to poop and if she could have told me to take her to the potty. Her response was, " Mama, they don't have potties in the restaurant."
Trying to get her down for bed tonight she crawled up to cuddle with me and laid her had on my chest and said quietly, "Mamas milk?" (side note, she has not said a thing about mama's milk since I weaned her in September) I told her I didn't have any milk anymore, it went away when she turned two. Then she asked, "milk come out of your nipples?" I replied, "not anymore." She said, "Daddy has milk?" "Nope, only mommies have milk for their babies. Like the baby dolphin was drinking her mammas milk tonight." (she wasn't there when this happened - so I'm still clueless where this all came from.) Autumn, "Oh, babies drink mama's milk. I'm still a baby." Me, "But mommy doesn't have milk anymore." "Okay." Off to dreamy land she went.
Today at the beach she say some birds pecking in the sand and said, "The birds are eating the sand.... (pause) that is pretty disgusting."
Papa came and sat next to her on the bench, "Papa be careful and don't fall off." Papa said okay. "Don't fall there or there or there or there (pointing) and not on to the ground either."
Autumn got a really cool layered body puzzle with an educational book with it from her aunt, uncle and cousin. She has done the puzzle about 40 x since Christmas and has us read the book each night. One of the pages talks about the body taking nutrient from our food and getting rid of the rest. Expecting to get to explain more to her, I asked, "do you know how are body gets rid of the rest?" She quickly replied, "We poop!" I asked everyone there who taught her and nobody knew. It is a mystery how she picked that one up!
Tonight she pooped at the restaurant and on the way to change her I asked if she felt herself needing to poop and if she could have told me to take her to the potty. Her response was, " Mama, they don't have potties in the restaurant."
Trying to get her down for bed tonight she crawled up to cuddle with me and laid her had on my chest and said quietly, "Mamas milk?" (side note, she has not said a thing about mama's milk since I weaned her in September) I told her I didn't have any milk anymore, it went away when she turned two. Then she asked, "milk come out of your nipples?" I replied, "not anymore." She said, "Daddy has milk?" "Nope, only mommies have milk for their babies. Like the baby dolphin was drinking her mammas milk tonight." (she wasn't there when this happened - so I'm still clueless where this all came from.) Autumn, "Oh, babies drink mama's milk. I'm still a baby." Me, "But mommy doesn't have milk anymore." "Okay." Off to dreamy land she went.
Today at the beach she say some birds pecking in the sand and said, "The birds are eating the sand.... (pause) that is pretty disgusting."
Papa came and sat next to her on the bench, "Papa be careful and don't fall off." Papa said okay. "Don't fall there or there or there or there (pointing) and not on to the ground either."
Autumn got a really cool layered body puzzle with an educational book with it from her aunt, uncle and cousin. She has done the puzzle about 40 x since Christmas and has us read the book each night. One of the pages talks about the body taking nutrient from our food and getting rid of the rest. Expecting to get to explain more to her, I asked, "do you know how are body gets rid of the rest?" She quickly replied, "We poop!" I asked everyone there who taught her and nobody knew. It is a mystery how she picked that one up!
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
26 and 27 1/2 months
Baby Girl - I knew a time would come when I would fall behind on monthly updates - maybe it is because life is busy or maybe all the changes and your milestones have naturally slowed a bit? The last couple of months have been busy, fun and unfortunately also full of illness. You are going on your 5th straight week of cough and sinus drainage. I think you keep catching new virus' and there are plenty to go around right now. The fact that you are cutting your 2 year molars and want your fingers in your mouth makes it hard. This last week you got a fever and then broke out in a rash - Rosela. As always, you take illness by the horns and it doesn't slow you down a bit. You haven't been sick enough to visit the Dr., thank goodness, as we would like to keep you as far from antibiotics as possible for awhile. The yeasty beast has yet to leave us alone - it has been a long hard battle, but someday soon we hope we will beat it.
Okay - enough about being sick - here is a snippet of your life at the moment.
Events: In October we went to a reef talk event, a pumpkin patch party, had dinners with the Simanjuntaks and Keisers, you ran the Keiki loop at the Run for the Dry Forest, and dressed up as triathlete and hula dancer for halloween. In November we celebrated Mommy's 30th birthday, went to a Hula competition in Waikoloa, and the Coffee Parade with Becca and Calvin. We got to spend Thanksgiving at a condo on the ocean side and spend time with good friends. So far in December we went to the light festival in Holualoa and saw baby Jesus at the Nativity and you got to spend a week in Oahu at the Disney Aulani with your cousins, Grandma, Papa, Uncles and Aunt. Five days later we went to Kauai with Nana and Papa and stayed 100 feet from the ocean. To say the least - we are all a bit spoiled and trying to enjoy every minute of it!
Personality: You continue to be free thinker - you have a lot of 'good ideas' and want to do things the way you think is best. We enjoy seeing your independence and creativity grow. This personality trait also leads to a bit of trouble when your good ideas are dangerous or obstinate to what we need you to do. Just this week you've started to yell no and stop at us while you swat at us if we ask you to do something you don't want to. All I can say it isn't doesn't end well for you. Hoping you figure out that it isn't a good idea soon. Most of the time you love to giggle and play and really are a great bundle of joy. You take great joy in loving and taking care of your babies. You have are very gentle and sweet with real babies and animals. You love to color and have started saying "now a w, k, l and a, x ..." as you scribble. You like imaginative play with your babies and little people. You spend huge amounts of time having them live out life.
New Phrases we hear all the time now: 'Right Now,' 'I have a good idea,' 'but I need it', 'just one more'
The other day you were trying to convince me to give you a clean disposable diaper for your babies and told me, "But I need to put a night diaper on Lily."
At the condo we were in the pool and a young girl about 7 or 8 got in hear us. You said, "What's that?" I said, "You know, you tell me." "Mama it is a girl." "Yes you are right. Can you ask her her name?" After a pause you said, "Mama she doesn't have any words."
In Oahu you would ask daddy, "where are my girls (Addy and Camry)?"
At the park in Kauai you look at the chickens and say, "Sorry chickens, we don't have anything for you."
You are quite the communicator and can pretty much describe and explain everything you need to. You can tell me where you have pain, how you want or do not want your food. You see things out the window of the car and tell me about it - stop signs and lights, buildings, trucks, motorcycles... You ask a lot of questions - what's this, what's that, did you hear that, what you did? On occasion you will spontaneously say thank you for things and you are working on please and sorry. You can read several of your books from memory and know many of the words to many books if we pause to let you fill in the blank. You love videos and we try to limit you to one show a day. Curious George, Dora, Care Bears and Shawn the Sheep are your current favorites. You continue to amaze me by how many wh questions you are able to answer. The last few weeks you go down for naps and bed time very easily. You just need a baby, a book and a blanket.
Foods: Since we are fighting yeast still - we are trying to limit sugar and gluten products. You love pasta, but luckily you like quinoa and rice noodles as a substitute. A typical lunch can include avocado, cheese, yogurt and granola, banana, applesauce, lunch meat, Okanawan sweet potato, rice noodles. You will sometimes try our food, but don't like anything saucy. New foods the last couple of months are fried calamari and little octopus. You really enjoyed both! You eat really well and although you may not eat right with us at meal time, you get plenty of calories to keep growing! Your pick of the week is 'cake.' Whole grain rice cake that is - love it!
Motor Skills - you are really trying to learn to swim - you jump in over and over and over and over - hold your breath and wait for us to help you up for a breath. If you are kicking and scooping really well you can almost get your head above water. With your water wings on you can cruise pretty well, only needing an occasional nudge or flip. In calm waters, you cruse in and out with the pull of the waves even when your feet are not touching.
Discipline and potty training - Timeouts quit working. You seem to really understand that when you do not listen or do something we've asked you not to, that a baby or toys will go in the closet. It is rough on all of us, but really the only consequence that seems to make an impression. You have gotten into quite some trouble with your crayons at home and a pen at the Aulani. Your experimental tendencies far out way your fear of trouble. You have a pretty strong will and we are sure it will serve you well in the future. For right now we just have to help you learn the rules, how to be a good listener and how to be safe. Potty training comes and goes. Before you went to Oahu you were going pee in the potty 2-3 times a day. Now you have no interest again and you even put your potty chair in the closet. Soon enough you will want to use the potty and wear big girl underware. I told you this and you replied, "But I'm little mommy." Soon enough I'm sure you will become more interested.
We love you sweetheart and are so blessed to spend each day with you! We love you all the way to the moon and back everyday!!! Love, Mommy and Daddy
Monday, November 14, 2011
Improved Granola
Here is my newest version - I think I like it the best so far
Mix 2 eggs, about a cup of peanut butter and 1/4 cup coconut oil
Add in 1/3-1/2 cup oat bran and milled flax
Mix rolled oats in until it is the consistency of granola
Bake on cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees
Let cool and then mix in 1/3 cup raisins, 1/4 cup dried apricots, 1/4 chopped mac nuts, 1/4 cup chopped almonds and as much shredded coconut as you like. Stir in honey to desired sweetness or none at all.
Mix 2 eggs, about a cup of peanut butter and 1/4 cup coconut oil
Add in 1/3-1/2 cup oat bran and milled flax
Mix rolled oats in until it is the consistency of granola
Bake on cookie sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees
Let cool and then mix in 1/3 cup raisins, 1/4 cup dried apricots, 1/4 chopped mac nuts, 1/4 cup chopped almonds and as much shredded coconut as you like. Stir in honey to desired sweetness or none at all.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
10 years
The picture on the left is when I was 21! On the right is yesterday - my 30th birthday! (both with flowers from my honey!) Still looks like me (-:
Monday, November 7, 2011
Good Bye 20's, Hello 30's
Today is my last day in my 20's! Another decade has past - my third here on planet earth. I will never again be in my 20's... kind of strange. This may be a long one, but I have a lot to cover - this has been a really fantastic 10 years.
Things I learned in my 20's:
Life really is about serving my Lord
Friends are seasonal - but the really great ones stick around for a life time
A good marriage is wonderful, humbling and a work in progress
The benefits of hard work are almost always worth the effort
Children are a treasure from God
Parenting is the most rewarding, yet hardest and most stressful job I've ever had
There are a lot more people out there than I thought, that think nothing like I do
God will always take care of me - even if it doesn't look like what I think it should
Things I've accomplished:
Bachelors and Masters Degrees with honors
Becoming a home owner
A little World Traveling - England, Zambia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mexico, Belize, Thailand and Myanmar
Longs Peak 10K - 10,000 foot elevation gain in 45 miles on bike/ hiking in about 17 hours
Olympic Triathlon - .9 swim/ 24.8 bike/ 6.2 run
Giving natural childbirth
Starting my own tiny small business
Random Stats for the 3rd Decade:
# different places I've lived: 14
States I've been to: 31
National Parks I've visited: 11
Different airplanes I've been on: 94
Adventure Sports I tried: 3 (bungy, skydiving, rock climbing)
Employers: 9
Best Times:
Studying Abroad
Getting Married
Traveling - US and abroad
Having and raising a child
Hardest times:
Africa
The first year of marriage
Watching friends and family grieve
Watching my child be in pain
Big areas I'd like to grow in:
Be more Humble
Be less Judgmental
Be more Gracious (especially with my family)
The last 10 years have been completely amazing! God had shaped me, spoiled me and helped me to grow into a better person. He still has a lot of work to do in my heart - but the growing up I did in my 20's was quite dramatic. I went from a wandering, not sure what I was going to do with my life single - to a committed wife, mother and medical professional. Quite a transformation! I've learned that other than commitment to my God, family and friends, I'm not super committed to anything else. I've still never had long term committed job and I quite enjoy contract and PRN work. I enjoy a non routine, routine life. I thrive on change and challenges. I enjoy helping people and helping them get more out of life. I enjoy teaching and still have serious interest in health and nutrition (this is carry over from the teen years). I enjoy seeing the world, experiencing culture and talking to people who see the world through different lenses than my own.
Although life has been really good, life is still hard. I now think it is supposed to be that way - the hard and awful moments in life shape us more than all the others. They shape our passions and help us to focus on the goal of serving the Lord and getting to heaven with others. Pain and suffering makes us compassionate, more loving and helps us to focus on what really matters in life. I pray that what ever pain comes my way, that I don't let it numb me, but that I let it push me forward.
Adulthood is full of joy, hardship and a lot of responsibility. I look forward to the next decade and know God has so much to show me and so many ways to use me for His glory.
Goals for the fourth decade:
Serve the poor
Mentor and be mentored
Spend more time in the Word of God.
Be a more gracious parent and wife
Teach
Things I learned in my 20's:
Life really is about serving my Lord
Friends are seasonal - but the really great ones stick around for a life time
A good marriage is wonderful, humbling and a work in progress
The benefits of hard work are almost always worth the effort
Children are a treasure from God
Parenting is the most rewarding, yet hardest and most stressful job I've ever had
There are a lot more people out there than I thought, that think nothing like I do
God will always take care of me - even if it doesn't look like what I think it should
Things I've accomplished:
Bachelors and Masters Degrees with honors
Becoming a home owner
A little World Traveling - England, Zambia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mexico, Belize, Thailand and Myanmar
Longs Peak 10K - 10,000 foot elevation gain in 45 miles on bike/ hiking in about 17 hours
Olympic Triathlon - .9 swim/ 24.8 bike/ 6.2 run
Giving natural childbirth
Starting my own tiny small business
Random Stats for the 3rd Decade:
# different places I've lived: 14
States I've been to: 31
National Parks I've visited: 11
Different airplanes I've been on: 94
Adventure Sports I tried: 3 (bungy, skydiving, rock climbing)
Employers: 9
Best Times:
Studying Abroad
Getting Married
Traveling - US and abroad
Having and raising a child
Hardest times:
Africa
The first year of marriage
Watching friends and family grieve
Watching my child be in pain
Big areas I'd like to grow in:
Be more Humble
Be less Judgmental
Be more Gracious (especially with my family)
The last 10 years have been completely amazing! God had shaped me, spoiled me and helped me to grow into a better person. He still has a lot of work to do in my heart - but the growing up I did in my 20's was quite dramatic. I went from a wandering, not sure what I was going to do with my life single - to a committed wife, mother and medical professional. Quite a transformation! I've learned that other than commitment to my God, family and friends, I'm not super committed to anything else. I've still never had long term committed job and I quite enjoy contract and PRN work. I enjoy a non routine, routine life. I thrive on change and challenges. I enjoy helping people and helping them get more out of life. I enjoy teaching and still have serious interest in health and nutrition (this is carry over from the teen years). I enjoy seeing the world, experiencing culture and talking to people who see the world through different lenses than my own.
Although life has been really good, life is still hard. I now think it is supposed to be that way - the hard and awful moments in life shape us more than all the others. They shape our passions and help us to focus on the goal of serving the Lord and getting to heaven with others. Pain and suffering makes us compassionate, more loving and helps us to focus on what really matters in life. I pray that what ever pain comes my way, that I don't let it numb me, but that I let it push me forward.
Adulthood is full of joy, hardship and a lot of responsibility. I look forward to the next decade and know God has so much to show me and so many ways to use me for His glory.
Goals for the fourth decade:
Serve the poor
Mentor and be mentored
Spend more time in the Word of God.
Be a more gracious parent and wife
Teach
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Pregnancy Superfoods
Here is the Superfood list I compiled for the class I'm going to be teaching - thought I would post it! (and for those that might wonder, I'm not currently pregnant - praying for God's perfect timing)
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/pregnancy-superfoods
During pregnancy, healthy foods provide the optimum mix of baby-building nutrients. Starting in the second trimester, you'll need about 300 additional calories in your diet every day.
Here are some choice foods to add to your pregnancy diet, making those extra calories count by providing a variety of nutrients that benefit you and your child.
Beans: Chickpeas, lentils, black beans, and soybeans supply fiber, protein, iron, folate, calcium, and zinc.
Enjoy: In chili and soups, salads, and pasta dishes; as hummus with whole-grain crackers or in roll-up sandwiches.
Beef : Lean cuts of beef, such as top sirloin steak, pack protein, vitamins B6, B12, and niacin as well as zinc and iron in highly absorbable forms. Beef is also concentrated in choline, required for brain development and peak cognitive powers
Enjoy: Add lean ground beef to pasta sauces, use in tacos, as burgers, in stir-fry dishes, and in chili.
Berries: They're packed with carbohydrates, vitamin C, potassium, folate, fiber, and fluid. The phytonutrients in berries are naturally occurring beneficial plant compounds that protect cells from damage.
Enjoy: On top of whole-grain cereal, in smoothies made with yogurt or milk, in pancakes, and in salads. Layer yogurt with berries and crunchy whole-grain cereal for a dessert parfait.
Broccoli: For the folate, fiber, calcium, lutein, zeaxanthin, carotenoids to foster healthy vision, and potassium for fluid balance and normal blood pressure. Broccoli also contains the raw materials for vitamin A production in the body.
Enjoy: As part of pasta and stir-fry dishes, steamed and topped with a smattering of olive oil, pureed and added to soups, or roasted: chop broccoli into bite-sized pieces, coat lightly with olive oil and roast on a baking sheet at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until tender, about 15 minutes.
Cheese (pasteurized): Cheese supplies concentrated amounts of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium for your bones and your baby's, plus vitamin B12 and protein (use reduced-fat varieties, such as Cabot 50% Light Cheddar to save on calories, fat, and cholesterol).
Enjoy: As snacks with whole-grain crackers or fruit, sprinkled on top of soups, in salads, sandwiches, and omelets.
Eggs: supply the gold-standard of protein because they provide all of the amino acids you and your baby need to thrive. They also include more than a dozen vitamins and minerals, such as choline, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Certain brands supply the omega-3 fats baby needs for brain development and peak vision, so check the label.
Enjoy: In omelets and frittatas, in salads and sandwiches, in homemade waffles, crepes, and whole-grain French toast, as snacks, hard-cooked, or scrambled.
Milk: It's an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D -- bone-building nutrients mother and child require every day. Milk also packs protein, vitamin A, and B vitamins.
Enjoy: Plain or flavored, in smoothies made with fruit, over whole-grain cereal and fruit, and in pudding. Prepare oatmeal in the microwave with milk instead of water.
Orange Juice (fortified): Orange juice with added calcium and vitamin D contains the same levels of these nutrients as milk. Plus, orange juice supplies hefty doses of vitamin C, potassium, and folate.
Enjoy: Plain or frozen as pops or ice cubes, as part of smoothies.
Pork Tenderloin: Pork tenderloin is as lean as boneless, skinless chicken breast, and it serves up the B vitamins thiamin and niacin, vitamin B6, zinc, iron, and choline.
Enjoy: Grilled, broiled, or baked.
Salmon: For the protein, B vitamins, and the omega-3 fats that promote brain development and vision in babies.
Enjoy: Grilled or broiled, use canned salmon in salads and sandwiches.
Sweet Potato: Sweet potatoes pack vitamin C, folate, fiber, and carotenoids -- compounds your body converts to vitamin A. They also supply potassium in large amounts.
Enjoy: Baked, sliced cold, cooked, peeled potatoes for snacks and side dishes, mashed with orange juice, and roasted: slice washed sweet potato into wedges, coat lightly with canola oil, and roast on a baking sheet at 400 F, until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Whole Grains: Enriched whole grains are fortified with folic acid and other B vitamins, iron, and zinc. Whole grains contain more fiber and trace nutrients than processed grains, such as white bread, white rice, and white flour.
Enjoy: Oatmeal for breakfast, whole-grain breads for sandwiches, brown rice, wild rice, whole-wheat pasta, or quinoa for dinner, popcorn, or whole-grain crackers for snacks.
Yogurt (plain greek, plain low-fat or fat-free): For the protein, calcium, B vitamins, and zinc. Plain yogurt contains more calcium than milk. Read the label for protein and sugar content – not all yogurts are made equal.
Enjoy: Stir in: fruit preserves or honey, fresh or dried fruit, or crunchy whole-grain cereal. Use plain yogurt to top cooked sweet potatoes or to make smoothies.
Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD on January 08, 2010
Additional power foods:
Papaya: An excellent source of vitamin C (300% DV). It is a very good source of folate (28% DV) and potassium. In addition, it is a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin E, vitamin A and vitamin K.
Enjoy: Add slices of fresh papaya to your morning cereal, lunch time yogurt or green salads. Cut a papaya in half and fill with cottage cheese, crab, shrimp or tuna salad. For an elegant meal, place slices of fresh papaya over any broiled fish. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=47#howtouse
Spinach: Spinach and other dark leafy greens are loaded with calcium, folic acid, vitamin K and iron. It's also rich in vitamin C, fiber, carotenoids, lutein and bioflavanoids.
Enjoy: Sinach makes a delicious salad. Add the green leaves to your sandwich or saute it for stir fries, eggs, and pastas. Frozen spinach can be baked into casseroles or stirred into soups. Freeze and add to smoothies, baked goods or cereal – you can’t really taste it.
http://multiples.about.com/od/pregnancy/tp/twinpregnancyfood.htm
Peanut butter: offers the nutritional benefits of thiamin, niacin, potassium and zinc. It's high in the protein and also offers some iron. It also provides a source of healthy fat, a better option than butter or margarine which don't have the nutritional side benefits.
Enjoy: It makes is a great snack or breakfast treat on whole grain toast and crackers, on apple slices or celery.
http://multiples.about.com/od/pregnancy/tp/twinpregnancyfood.htm
Shrimp: Seafood is delicious and nutritious, but many varieties aren't recommended for pregnant moms due to elevated mercury levels and other chemicals. Shrimp, however, is generally considered safe. Shrimp are an excellent source of low fat protein, selenium and Vitamin D.
Enjoy: They're also versatile - easy to prepare and serve in stir-frys, pastas or even on their own with some cocktail sauce. Just don't eat it raw. Save the sushi or ceviche for after the babies are born. http://multiples.about.com/od/pregnancy/tp/twinpregnancyfood.htm
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/pregnancy-superfoods
During pregnancy, healthy foods provide the optimum mix of baby-building nutrients. Starting in the second trimester, you'll need about 300 additional calories in your diet every day.
Here are some choice foods to add to your pregnancy diet, making those extra calories count by providing a variety of nutrients that benefit you and your child.
Beans: Chickpeas, lentils, black beans, and soybeans supply fiber, protein, iron, folate, calcium, and zinc.
Enjoy: In chili and soups, salads, and pasta dishes; as hummus with whole-grain crackers or in roll-up sandwiches.
Beef : Lean cuts of beef, such as top sirloin steak, pack protein, vitamins B6, B12, and niacin as well as zinc and iron in highly absorbable forms. Beef is also concentrated in choline, required for brain development and peak cognitive powers
Enjoy: Add lean ground beef to pasta sauces, use in tacos, as burgers, in stir-fry dishes, and in chili.
Berries: They're packed with carbohydrates, vitamin C, potassium, folate, fiber, and fluid. The phytonutrients in berries are naturally occurring beneficial plant compounds that protect cells from damage.
Enjoy: On top of whole-grain cereal, in smoothies made with yogurt or milk, in pancakes, and in salads. Layer yogurt with berries and crunchy whole-grain cereal for a dessert parfait.
Broccoli: For the folate, fiber, calcium, lutein, zeaxanthin, carotenoids to foster healthy vision, and potassium for fluid balance and normal blood pressure. Broccoli also contains the raw materials for vitamin A production in the body.
Enjoy: As part of pasta and stir-fry dishes, steamed and topped with a smattering of olive oil, pureed and added to soups, or roasted: chop broccoli into bite-sized pieces, coat lightly with olive oil and roast on a baking sheet at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until tender, about 15 minutes.
Cheese (pasteurized): Cheese supplies concentrated amounts of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium for your bones and your baby's, plus vitamin B12 and protein (use reduced-fat varieties, such as Cabot 50% Light Cheddar to save on calories, fat, and cholesterol).
Enjoy: As snacks with whole-grain crackers or fruit, sprinkled on top of soups, in salads, sandwiches, and omelets.
Eggs: supply the gold-standard of protein because they provide all of the amino acids you and your baby need to thrive. They also include more than a dozen vitamins and minerals, such as choline, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Certain brands supply the omega-3 fats baby needs for brain development and peak vision, so check the label.
Enjoy: In omelets and frittatas, in salads and sandwiches, in homemade waffles, crepes, and whole-grain French toast, as snacks, hard-cooked, or scrambled.
Milk: It's an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D -- bone-building nutrients mother and child require every day. Milk also packs protein, vitamin A, and B vitamins.
Enjoy: Plain or flavored, in smoothies made with fruit, over whole-grain cereal and fruit, and in pudding. Prepare oatmeal in the microwave with milk instead of water.
Orange Juice (fortified): Orange juice with added calcium and vitamin D contains the same levels of these nutrients as milk. Plus, orange juice supplies hefty doses of vitamin C, potassium, and folate.
Enjoy: Plain or frozen as pops or ice cubes, as part of smoothies.
Pork Tenderloin: Pork tenderloin is as lean as boneless, skinless chicken breast, and it serves up the B vitamins thiamin and niacin, vitamin B6, zinc, iron, and choline.
Enjoy: Grilled, broiled, or baked.
Salmon: For the protein, B vitamins, and the omega-3 fats that promote brain development and vision in babies.
Enjoy: Grilled or broiled, use canned salmon in salads and sandwiches.
Sweet Potato: Sweet potatoes pack vitamin C, folate, fiber, and carotenoids -- compounds your body converts to vitamin A. They also supply potassium in large amounts.
Enjoy: Baked, sliced cold, cooked, peeled potatoes for snacks and side dishes, mashed with orange juice, and roasted: slice washed sweet potato into wedges, coat lightly with canola oil, and roast on a baking sheet at 400 F, until tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Whole Grains: Enriched whole grains are fortified with folic acid and other B vitamins, iron, and zinc. Whole grains contain more fiber and trace nutrients than processed grains, such as white bread, white rice, and white flour.
Enjoy: Oatmeal for breakfast, whole-grain breads for sandwiches, brown rice, wild rice, whole-wheat pasta, or quinoa for dinner, popcorn, or whole-grain crackers for snacks.
Yogurt (plain greek, plain low-fat or fat-free): For the protein, calcium, B vitamins, and zinc. Plain yogurt contains more calcium than milk. Read the label for protein and sugar content – not all yogurts are made equal.
Enjoy: Stir in: fruit preserves or honey, fresh or dried fruit, or crunchy whole-grain cereal. Use plain yogurt to top cooked sweet potatoes or to make smoothies.
Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD on January 08, 2010
Additional power foods:
Papaya: An excellent source of vitamin C (300% DV). It is a very good source of folate (28% DV) and potassium. In addition, it is a good source of dietary fiber, vitamin E, vitamin A and vitamin K.
Enjoy: Add slices of fresh papaya to your morning cereal, lunch time yogurt or green salads. Cut a papaya in half and fill with cottage cheese, crab, shrimp or tuna salad. For an elegant meal, place slices of fresh papaya over any broiled fish. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=47#howtouse
Spinach: Spinach and other dark leafy greens are loaded with calcium, folic acid, vitamin K and iron. It's also rich in vitamin C, fiber, carotenoids, lutein and bioflavanoids.
Enjoy: Sinach makes a delicious salad. Add the green leaves to your sandwich or saute it for stir fries, eggs, and pastas. Frozen spinach can be baked into casseroles or stirred into soups. Freeze and add to smoothies, baked goods or cereal – you can’t really taste it.
http://multiples.about.com/od/pregnancy/tp/twinpregnancyfood.htm
Peanut butter: offers the nutritional benefits of thiamin, niacin, potassium and zinc. It's high in the protein and also offers some iron. It also provides a source of healthy fat, a better option than butter or margarine which don't have the nutritional side benefits.
Enjoy: It makes is a great snack or breakfast treat on whole grain toast and crackers, on apple slices or celery.
http://multiples.about.com/od/pregnancy/tp/twinpregnancyfood.htm
Shrimp: Seafood is delicious and nutritious, but many varieties aren't recommended for pregnant moms due to elevated mercury levels and other chemicals. Shrimp, however, is generally considered safe. Shrimp are an excellent source of low fat protein, selenium and Vitamin D.
Enjoy: They're also versatile - easy to prepare and serve in stir-frys, pastas or even on their own with some cocktail sauce. Just don't eat it raw. Save the sushi or ceviche for after the babies are born. http://multiples.about.com/od/pregnancy/tp/twinpregnancyfood.htm
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Your body does what it is trained to do
I ran a race I probably should not have today. I don't regret it, as I wanted to see the area of the island it was on. It was absolutely gorgeous with mountain and ocean views, singing birds in the dry forest and nene all over the start/finish area. I'm also glad I didn't get too hurt. As I painful climbed (maybe 1/2 jogging and 1/2 fast hiking) the 1200 feet elevation gain, I kept thinking "I should not expect to feel any better than this because I haven't really trained." I have maybe done 5 runs since the triathlon on Aug 28th, the longest one being about 4.5 miles. I kept my heart rate up the whole time, but didn't push too hard. I did get over zealous as a down hill runner was catching me and I tried to speed up only to roll my ankle (-: Luckily it wasn't too bad and was okay if I kept a moderate speed running. Anyway - back to training. I keep coming back to how important time usage is. I will become what I train to be. My main rolls in life should dictate my time use. I feel like I've been pretty okay at mommy training, health training and job training - but my child of God training and wife training have been lacking lately. Today was a nice reminder from God about the importance of these things... may I spend more time training with appropriate effort towards all the most important roles in life God has given me.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Passion
I've recently started volunteering on Thursday evenings at the Pregnancy Center here in Kona. The gal who runs it came to our church a few weeks ago and said that they needed volunteers. I instantly new I desired to help, I wasn't sure in what capacity, but I could feel God tugging on my heart strings and I had excitement about it. The first day we did the initial interview to see what might be a good fit for my skills. I would be allowed to train to do ultrasounds because I'm an OT, but because we're trying to get pregnant I decide that wasn't a good fit (there is research that ties excessive exposure to miscarriage). Based on my interests and their need we decided I would train to do earn while you learn, a program where costumers can earn gift cards to Target while watching informational videos on an array of topics and hopefully teach a few classes on other nights. Everyone learns to do all the office tasks and so my first couple of weeks were spent doing that. Last week I got to sit in on an initial interview and that was good. I won't be here long enough to train to be a full on peer counselor, but may need to do the initial intake if no one else is there to do it when I'm there.
This brings us to today and my passion. This evening I showed up and the other volunteer said there was an Earn While you Learn couple there, would I like to do it with them? Sure, why not - learn while I go. I got everything set up and the next lesson on her list was one without a video. She asked if we could do one with a video, since this was her SO's first time attending. The next video was SIDS - reducing the risks. Unfortunately and fortunately this is a topic I know well. I'm well versed and read on the most recent findings. The video was fairly outdated as it showed loose blankets over young infants and crib bumpers. The information was pretty good, but I'm going to try and find one on the most recent recommendations for the center. I was able to print out the firstcandle guidelines to supplement the information. After talking to the director, she asked if I would like to teach a regular class on SIDS prevention at the center. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to share my passion for life saving information in our community. The more I've thought about it, I think I want to pair it with a pre-natal nutrition class. Hopefully this will work out!
This brings us to today and my passion. This evening I showed up and the other volunteer said there was an Earn While you Learn couple there, would I like to do it with them? Sure, why not - learn while I go. I got everything set up and the next lesson on her list was one without a video. She asked if we could do one with a video, since this was her SO's first time attending. The next video was SIDS - reducing the risks. Unfortunately and fortunately this is a topic I know well. I'm well versed and read on the most recent findings. The video was fairly outdated as it showed loose blankets over young infants and crib bumpers. The information was pretty good, but I'm going to try and find one on the most recent recommendations for the center. I was able to print out the firstcandle guidelines to supplement the information. After talking to the director, she asked if I would like to teach a regular class on SIDS prevention at the center. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to share my passion for life saving information in our community. The more I've thought about it, I think I want to pair it with a pre-natal nutrition class. Hopefully this will work out!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
25 months
Autumn, the first month of your 2nd year is now complete. It has been quite a rough month for you in different arenas - but you are none the less happy through it all! You are more compassionate, seem to understand prayer better and have made many cognitive and motor gains.
Firsts:
Independent prayer
Swimming with arm little swimmers
A more serious medical issue (you can read about your battle with MRSA in mommy's journal)
"Rock climbing" at Kua Bay
Reading books you've memorized
Sitting forward facing in the car seat - you've now puked 2x on windy roads, so although you have not maxed out the backwards weight limit - we turned you forward. You made it almost 25 months backwards.
Kona Carnival
Things you love:
Your babies Lily and Nancy
Outside play - beach or park
Running
Shoulder rides
Looking in the mirror
Ketchup (nuggets and homemade fries are really a ketchup delivery method)
Cow Milk
Puzzles
Reading
Singing
Cuddles
Brushing your teeth
Doing anything on your own - dressing, puzzles, toys...
Curious George and Dora
Things you dislike:
Getting in the car seat
Us talking to each other or others - you start shouting "Autumn talk to her mommy!"
Using the potty
Going to bed or nap - you say "It's not nap time" over and over when it coming soon
Saucy (spicy) things
Stories -
Logic - You had to take a lot of medicine this month and much of it was quite yucky. A couple of time you just didn't want to eat your medicine applesauce. After different attempts and a lot of time telling you is was important, I finally decided I'd try logic - I said "Baby, if you don't take your medicine your ouchies will get big and hurt more again, so you need to take your medicine to make them go away." You frowned and said okay and promptly ate all the applesauce right up.
One of your friends had an ouchie about a week after yours had healed up. I explained to you that she was having pain and needed us to pray for her. Everyday you prayed for her without prompting and you bring her picture to us off the refrigerator and explain that she has an ouchie and needs us to pray. At church on Sunday the pastor started to pray and you loudly said - "We need to pray for 'your friend'." She has been on your heart ever since we told you. Now you pray each night, "thank you for making 'my friend's' pain go away."
We went hiking with our friends and we spotted a large worm. You promptly wanted closer to look at it and then grabbed a stick. I didn't stop you because I was curious what you had in mind. You poked at the worm and it went crazy squirming furiously. You jumped back and scurried away. Although it was a bit scary - you still have fun telling us about the worm and how it went squirmy when you poked it.
We love you sweet girl!! You are full of life, love, curiosity, and adventure!
Mommy and Daddy
Friday, October 7, 2011
MRSA
I have several posts brewing in my head - but thought I better go back and put up the info on MRSA that I've been promising.
Here is a PubMed article if you are interested in reading about the bacteria it's self - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004520/
It lives everywhere around us. Here in Hawaii, if a doctor thinks you have a staph infection it is treated as if it is MRSA because it is not worth throwing antibiotics that are unlikely to work at it. Our urgent care Dr. explained that staph has been evolving ever since modern antibiotics were created, but MRSA really scared the medical field in the mid-2000s because they were running out of synthetic options. He said about 2/3 of staph infections in Hawaii are MRSA. Now there are more synthetic options, but the bacteria is likely to adapt and resist them soon enough. Now they are even seeing resistance to the strongest drug vancimycin - VRSA. Roughly 25-33% of people have staph living on their skin, in their nose or under their finger nails. Here in Hawaii it is far more prevalent - articles I've read blame the moist, year round warmth and out door lifestyle. It can live in the ocean water, sand and other public places for months with out dying on its own. I read it can live on a blanket for 6 months - icky. Most of the time it doesn't bother us. Our immune system and the good bacteria on our skin kills it before it is a problem.
Unfortunately for us, one got past Autumn's defenses. I've racked my brain trying to find the exact cause, but the closest I will ever come is a few guesses. The night before we saw the 'pimple' the first time we had been at the beach and she had pooped in her swim suit without telling us. She had a mostly healed yeast infection and rashed up from the poop. These two things meant she had openings for the MRSA to get in. Where the MRSA came from??? The beach, our bath tub ... we will never know.
Here are the links to more details on our personal battle in chronological order:
Weird Bump
One Day
Healing
Slowly but Surely
If I had known it was MRSA when it was a pimple I likely could have treated it with prescription muriprocin cream, essential oils or manuka honey - killed it an moved on. Because we didn't know what it was we waited, watched and finally went to the Dr. 5 days later when it was too late to kill and move on.
Modern Medicine - this little bought with MRSA has made me really mistrusting of the over arching medical community. I believe it is too much about money and not about enough about the good of the people. (friends and family - please know that this is not about the service delivery and more about the bigger system) Big Pharm has way too much power over what gets into our mouth and bodies. I've scoured the internet and almost every personal story out there goes something like this - got MRSA somehow, took antibiotics, synthetic antibiotics trashed the immune system, after a full course, the antibiotics clear out of the system, MRSA comes back, back on antibiotics... over and over and over. Most of the stories tell of multi-year battles with MRSA. I won't go into the biology - but modern antibiotics do not seem to do the trick for a lot of people. More disturbing is that THERE ARE natural antibiotics available - but the doctors don't promote. There is even good research for some of them - but because the FDA has not approved their use yet - we battle in a stupid cycle with poor modern antibiotics against an ancient bacteria and let our health go to pot. I'm ready for integrated medicine - where the natural paths and physicians work together to create better health for all of us. At this point - although I acknowledge the benefits of the modern medicine - I think the natural paths are pointed in a better direction. Again - in a perfect Tara world - it would be integrated.
EVERY person I've read about has only found long term relief from external MRSA with essential oils and/or mankua honey.
Here is some of the research I've found if you are interested:
http://bio.waikato.ac.nz/honey/contents.shtml
http://www.thieves-secret.com/mrsa.htm - has a link to the research PDF
http://preventdisease.com/news/articles/essential_oils_bacteria.shtml
So - my game plan is certainly not to wait and see if MRSA shows up again. We are fighting it by doing these things:
After the infection on Autumn healed up I sanitized our entire house. Hot water, bleached and hot dried all of Autumn's clothes, all our bedding and towels. I sprayed Lysol fabric cleaner on the couch and rugs. I bleached the bathrooms. The more I read the more I believe that I don't need the toxic chemicals to protect ourselves.
I've made natural sprays for both bathrooms (1/2 vinegar 1/2 distilled water and 2-4 drops of tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil and Be Young's Defense blend) - we use it for weekly cleanings and spray in the tube after each use. A word about the tub - this is where we wash all the staph exposure from the day off. I'm sure most of our drains would test positive for it. We will now be persistent to kill anything in this bacterial hot bed. I used to let Autumn shower with me - and it is completely possible that she got the infection while sitting down in our shower at my feet. )-: Unfortunately mother/daughter showers are a thing of the past, as even if our tub is sparkling, I'm washing my ickies down to her. Even though the risks are low, we've been doing it for months - after this horrid experience I just can't.
I used roughly the same recipe to make hand sanitizer for the diaper bag and my purse. And the same recipe for a spray down after beach showers.
I got 16+ medical grade manuka honey for us to use as neosporin on our wounds and anything that looks like it could be a potential problem. If something looks suspicious I will likely alternate between putting the manuka honey and Defense blend mixed with olive oil on it. From what I've read either should do the job.
I've been rubbing one drop of the Defense blend with olive oil on Autumn's feet at night. I'm not quite ready to have her ingest them like www.staph-infection-resources.com recommends. But if we deal with another infection you can bet your boots that Autumn will be taking funny tasting applesauce everyday.
During bath time I put a couple of drops of Defense and tea tree into epsom salts and add them while the water is running.
I bought Dr. Bronners tea tree castile soap to use as shampoo and body soap. I'm in the process of switching to all homemade or all natural products in our home.
This weekend I'm going to make manuka honey antibacterial hand and body soap.
I'm also planning to get a diffuser for the oils - Aaron really hates the smell - but it kills the bacteria it in our carpets and everywhere - so we'll have to figure out a method that works for both of us.
I'm officially a happy germaphob... sigh... (-:
If a pimple that kind of looks like a spider bite shows up at your house...
(Common sense warning: This is what I plan to do - but this information is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician with any questions you may have regarding any medical condition)
The day it shows up action is needed.
I plan to treat it with either manuka honey, manuka oil, Manuka ointment, one of the essential oils shown to kill MRSA or a blend of them.
I plan to put a few drops of the treatment on an enclosing band aid (like a circle one with the pad in the middle) and apply to the spot. Reappling a new treated band aid 4-5 times a day. Additionally, I'd use hot compresses 4-5 times to draw the infection out. If it grows at all after starting to treat it, I'd go to the doctor and have it tested to see what it is we are dealing with.
Here is a PubMed article if you are interested in reading about the bacteria it's self - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004520/
It lives everywhere around us. Here in Hawaii, if a doctor thinks you have a staph infection it is treated as if it is MRSA because it is not worth throwing antibiotics that are unlikely to work at it. Our urgent care Dr. explained that staph has been evolving ever since modern antibiotics were created, but MRSA really scared the medical field in the mid-2000s because they were running out of synthetic options. He said about 2/3 of staph infections in Hawaii are MRSA. Now there are more synthetic options, but the bacteria is likely to adapt and resist them soon enough. Now they are even seeing resistance to the strongest drug vancimycin - VRSA. Roughly 25-33% of people have staph living on their skin, in their nose or under their finger nails. Here in Hawaii it is far more prevalent - articles I've read blame the moist, year round warmth and out door lifestyle. It can live in the ocean water, sand and other public places for months with out dying on its own. I read it can live on a blanket for 6 months - icky. Most of the time it doesn't bother us. Our immune system and the good bacteria on our skin kills it before it is a problem.
Unfortunately for us, one got past Autumn's defenses. I've racked my brain trying to find the exact cause, but the closest I will ever come is a few guesses. The night before we saw the 'pimple' the first time we had been at the beach and she had pooped in her swim suit without telling us. She had a mostly healed yeast infection and rashed up from the poop. These two things meant she had openings for the MRSA to get in. Where the MRSA came from??? The beach, our bath tub ... we will never know.
Here are the links to more details on our personal battle in chronological order:
Weird Bump
One Day
Healing
Slowly but Surely
If I had known it was MRSA when it was a pimple I likely could have treated it with prescription muriprocin cream, essential oils or manuka honey - killed it an moved on. Because we didn't know what it was we waited, watched and finally went to the Dr. 5 days later when it was too late to kill and move on.
Modern Medicine - this little bought with MRSA has made me really mistrusting of the over arching medical community. I believe it is too much about money and not about enough about the good of the people. (friends and family - please know that this is not about the service delivery and more about the bigger system) Big Pharm has way too much power over what gets into our mouth and bodies. I've scoured the internet and almost every personal story out there goes something like this - got MRSA somehow, took antibiotics, synthetic antibiotics trashed the immune system, after a full course, the antibiotics clear out of the system, MRSA comes back, back on antibiotics... over and over and over. Most of the stories tell of multi-year battles with MRSA. I won't go into the biology - but modern antibiotics do not seem to do the trick for a lot of people. More disturbing is that THERE ARE natural antibiotics available - but the doctors don't promote. There is even good research for some of them - but because the FDA has not approved their use yet - we battle in a stupid cycle with poor modern antibiotics against an ancient bacteria and let our health go to pot. I'm ready for integrated medicine - where the natural paths and physicians work together to create better health for all of us. At this point - although I acknowledge the benefits of the modern medicine - I think the natural paths are pointed in a better direction. Again - in a perfect Tara world - it would be integrated.
EVERY person I've read about has only found long term relief from external MRSA with essential oils and/or mankua honey.
Here is some of the research I've found if you are interested:
http://bio.waikato.ac.nz/honey/contents.shtml
http://www.thieves-secret.com/mrsa.htm - has a link to the research PDF
http://preventdisease.com/news/articles/essential_oils_bacteria.shtml
So - my game plan is certainly not to wait and see if MRSA shows up again. We are fighting it by doing these things:
After the infection on Autumn healed up I sanitized our entire house. Hot water, bleached and hot dried all of Autumn's clothes, all our bedding and towels. I sprayed Lysol fabric cleaner on the couch and rugs. I bleached the bathrooms. The more I read the more I believe that I don't need the toxic chemicals to protect ourselves.
I've made natural sprays for both bathrooms (1/2 vinegar 1/2 distilled water and 2-4 drops of tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil and Be Young's Defense blend) - we use it for weekly cleanings and spray in the tube after each use. A word about the tub - this is where we wash all the staph exposure from the day off. I'm sure most of our drains would test positive for it. We will now be persistent to kill anything in this bacterial hot bed. I used to let Autumn shower with me - and it is completely possible that she got the infection while sitting down in our shower at my feet. )-: Unfortunately mother/daughter showers are a thing of the past, as even if our tub is sparkling, I'm washing my ickies down to her. Even though the risks are low, we've been doing it for months - after this horrid experience I just can't.
I used roughly the same recipe to make hand sanitizer for the diaper bag and my purse. And the same recipe for a spray down after beach showers.
I got 16+ medical grade manuka honey for us to use as neosporin on our wounds and anything that looks like it could be a potential problem. If something looks suspicious I will likely alternate between putting the manuka honey and Defense blend mixed with olive oil on it. From what I've read either should do the job.
I've been rubbing one drop of the Defense blend with olive oil on Autumn's feet at night. I'm not quite ready to have her ingest them like www.staph-infection-resources.com recommends. But if we deal with another infection you can bet your boots that Autumn will be taking funny tasting applesauce everyday.
During bath time I put a couple of drops of Defense and tea tree into epsom salts and add them while the water is running.
I bought Dr. Bronners tea tree castile soap to use as shampoo and body soap. I'm in the process of switching to all homemade or all natural products in our home.
This weekend I'm going to make manuka honey antibacterial hand and body soap.
I'm also planning to get a diffuser for the oils - Aaron really hates the smell - but it kills the bacteria it in our carpets and everywhere - so we'll have to figure out a method that works for both of us.
I'm officially a happy germaphob... sigh... (-:
If a pimple that kind of looks like a spider bite shows up at your house...
(Common sense warning: This is what I plan to do - but this information is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician with any questions you may have regarding any medical condition)
The day it shows up action is needed.
I plan to treat it with either manuka honey, manuka oil, Manuka ointment, one of the essential oils shown to kill MRSA or a blend of them.
I plan to put a few drops of the treatment on an enclosing band aid (like a circle one with the pad in the middle) and apply to the spot. Reappling a new treated band aid 4-5 times a day. Additionally, I'd use hot compresses 4-5 times to draw the infection out. If it grows at all after starting to treat it, I'd go to the doctor and have it tested to see what it is we are dealing with.
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