I promised this to a couple people a week ago – sorry it’s so late guys. Just some more tips and good reading for home remedies and good health care we’ve found useful. I believe in a mixed approach to health – this is not to replace a medical doctor completely, but in my experience these have helped me more than any doctor has. Med drs have an important but small role in our lives, which is actually a fulfillment of my patriarchal blessing – it’s really neat. No doctor was able to help my chronic fatigue, blood sugar issues, insatiable appetite, sleeping disorder, asthma, carpal tunnel, chronic migraines, dizziness, nausea and female problems. Max seems to have most of my same issues, so the blessings have gone to him too – truly an answer to prayers. Love you Jaymee and Rick and other Dr friends – you’re awesome – no hard feelings! So…

Great books on health

Nutritional Immunology by Dr. Chen
Your Hidden Food Allergies Are Making You Fat by Dr Rudy Rivera &.Roger Davis Deutsch (It’s just the title – I don’t think anyone is fat!),
The Great Health Heist by Dr. Rosen
Herbal Home Health Care by Dr. John Christopher

Asthma Sufferers

CUT OUT ALL SUGAR AND REFINED GRAINS THAT TURN INTO SUGAR – Max and I did this and are off daily asthma meds now (we are other natural supplements prescribed by a naturopath that increase breathing ability) We need the occasional inhaler during peak pollen and ragweed season only. SERIOUSLY – sugar is the achilles heal for asthma sufferers. Shop at Whole Foods and look for 100% fruit and no sugar added products at grocery stores (beware of zero calorie and sugar-free stuff – it’s all chemicals that kill brain cells)

Sit in a sauna that has eucalyptus oil in it once a day – Lifetime Fitness does this.

Headaches

Cut out dairy, sugar and chemicals from your diet (low cal, sugar free chemicals, msg and anything HYDROLYZED – that is their new term for chemically altered or enhanced since everyone figure out the msg thing)

Apply Dr. Christopher’s Original Formula to temples and behind ears (www.herbshopconnection.com)

See a chiropractor if that doesn’t work

Sore Throats

Mix honey and cayenne powder in a bowl and eat – it will coat your throat and numb it. Works great.

Female Irregularity and Menstrual Cramps, bloating, etc

Raspberry Leaf Tea. I had Aunt Flo visit for a month one time. If I drink raspberry leaf tea (I use the Yogi Brand) once every day or two it regulates her.

For cold’s with congestion (nasal or chest)

Cut out all dairy and sugar (don’t eat sugar at all ever anyway! It weakens most of your systems and depletes minerals in the body)
Throw in some minced garlic in your food after it is cooked ( I like to do tomato soup or spaghetti)

For chest congestion cut an onion in half and microwave it for 30 seconds. Cut a ½” off again to allow the juices to come out and apply to chest – works great for a baby that won’t sleep due to a chest cold. It helps break up mucus and allow better breathing. Also, don’t put them in polyester sleepwear - the fabric doesn’t breathe.

Apply Dr. Christoper’s Original Formula cream to chest, neck and behind ears

Ear Infections

Apply Dr. Christopher’s garlic drops in ears.

Hyperactivity in children

CUT OUT SUGAR – it has neurological side effects that are TERRIBLE and make it sooooo hard for the child to be calm, behave and focus.

Magnesium Lactate

Fish Oil


Difficulty Sleeping

With Max his lack of good sleep manifested itself as extreme irritability, for me, just plain constant fatigue. The solution is Magnesium Lactate – we get a very high quality one from the naturopath so I’m not sure if the health store kind cuts it.

Immunizations

If you're going to do it, have the doc order thimerosol-free (a lot of docs have these in stock now), do them one at a time and spread them out over time.

So, sorry for those who I’ve bored, but hopefully this is helpful to those who wanted it. Again, obviously I am not a dr or specialist, these are just things that have helped us drastically. Ear infections can get dangerous and chest infections can become pneumonia, so if you’re going to do these things, do them early and often so you can monitor if symptoms get worse regardless of these treatments. I use a naturopath when I get sick – he gives us Colostrum and whole food herbs/supplements that are very powerful. I have read studies about antibiotics that have made me wish them only as a last resort (not given to me by my naturopath wanting my business) and I have heard warnings from doctors themselves.

If you’re interested in a good naturopath that does nutrition response testing:
http://www.unsinc.info/ 866-418-4801 ask for Andrea (this is for nutrition response testing that will tell you foods you are sensitive to) We are wheat, dairy and sugar so we live the word of wisdom through and through – non-wheat whole grains (corn/rice/millet/amaranth/spelt/kamut) , fruit, vegetables, beans, rice, nuts, seafood and meat. Our food source in the US is not what it used to be and the production of wheat now does not produce the good quality wheat it did years ago and especially not the kind the pioneers used to grow and use.

Handy Bit of Info...

Did you know that garlic is a natural antibiotic? Shane had a chest infection and I loaded him up with a dinner of minced garlic with a side of spaghetti noodles and sauce and put garlic drops in his ears and he totally cleared up. No doctor visit or meds! Works for me every time too - as long as we don't eat any form of sugar because that will counteract it. In fact, one of the best ways to keep an immune system up is the absence of sugar and the presence of a great multivitamin and minerals. Also the best way to avoid asthma attacks for asthma sufferers - no sugar. Cool thing to know I thought so I wanted to share.

No Way! After 9 years of marriage, Shane's college degree, 3 houses, 2 kids, vacations and work, we are finally out of the red. We did our balance sheet yesterday and we actually have a positive net worth! It may only be 863 dollars which I could easily blow celebrating our new financial status, but for now I have to celebrate in the blog world first. Ok, that's good - I'm going to Banana Republic now.

My Cuz... It's so great to live close to Shane's sister and her fam. This is Reese, Ellie's cousin who lives a stone's throw away - they're getting into the purse and doll stage and I couldn't be more ecstatic . I've been through all the boy stuff over the last 7 years and am ready for a little estrogen based play. See how Reese is somewhat backing away from Ellie in this top picture? That would be because she never knows if Ellie's touch will be a soft or let's wrestle one. Ring around the rosie frequently turns into "we all fall down and oops i fell over on you".

Olympic Hopefuls

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Fall is coming....we've had some hope of fall with a couple cool days and nights here and there. We are so blessed to have some great neighbors to play with in the cul-de-sac. Here's the kiddos on our neighbor's Jeep. That handsome little Mini-Shane figured out how to make the Jeep peel and do pop wheelies. In fact, him and the neighbor girl flipped it before these pics...hence the helmet. Luckily, he drives very carefully with Ellie on it.

So the other day I put Ellie down for her nap and after I leave she gets out of her crib, sits on the rocking chair with some books and decides to take a nap there instead -seriously, she's totally out for almost two hours like that. When she woke up, she decided to decorate the room with baby powder - is she 2 or what?

Pigtails and Mommy's Glasses...move aside Britney Spears (the pre-friekshow Britney). All I've got to say is God bless the people who created bendable frames. I can't believe she hasn't broken these yet.

After two and half years of not wanting a binky, she finds it in the drawer and decides she's now fond of it. Right at the age everyone else is giving them up - crazy girl.

Chewspitlimia
First, there's the Throwlimia - you know, where they grab the food from their plate and throw or drop it on the ground. Then, there's this fun stage where they chew and spit it back out. I'm thinking of forming a support group. Anyone else want to join?

My little trendsetter. Simply take a Princess pull up and insert both legs into one leg hole ...et Voila! A Princess miniskirt!

Now that's just bordering seductive - has she been flipping through my fashion mags at night?

Tale of a camera-boy waking up his little sister.....the pictures say it all I think.






The camera-boy extrodenaire...