Rediscovering my blog!

I'm sitting at the playground watching my 4 1/2-year-old twin girls run crazy. I just found this blog again. I had forgotten all about it. My hubby keeps telling me I should do a blog. And here it is! It is August 6, 2013. So much has happened since my last post! Leo, Rory, and Danni came into our lives on April 7, 2009. 12 days later our beautiful son Leo went back to the spirit world for reasons we still don't quite understand. We keep him in our family on a daily basis. Rory and Danni have grown like weeds! They are tall, slim, muscular, and very energetic and happy. They started on mama milk and one of them still has a little mama milk each day. They eat real food! They love it! Often they eat more than me and Pete. It's stunning! They know our farmers name and have visited his farm many times. The latest favorite snack is Kale chips. Slim healthy kids with beautiful skin and loads of energy... Living proof that real food grows real kids. Check back for my next post. It will be about how mama gets her body back! It's great to be posting again!

Diapers Ahoy

Below is the image father-to-be came home to on Monday, as the washing of the infant diapers has begun. Washing, you say? Yes, indeed, for we are going to use cloth diapers -- or at least give it our absolute best effort. They're far more economical as well as more comfortable for baby (ies) than disposables. They're better for the environment too, which doesn't hurt. They're also made remarkably well these days, much better than the old days when they basically consisted of a thick piece of cotton meant to be mathematically folded at perfect Euclidian angles and shrewdly pinned, with all sorts of inclement weather waiting to happen.

Velcro rules.

Today, as you can see, cloth diapers come in pretty colors too.

Thanks to generous baby shower gifts and contacts with some Moms of multiples, we have stacked up a profound supply of these little gems, as well as two "Bum Geniuses." Words don't do the Bum Genius justice. Look it up and enjoy.

When we tell people who know we are having triplets that we will be using cloth diapers, they generally spontaneously exclaim in surprise (especially the Moms). But when they learn that we don't have a diaper service in this area, something more remarkable happens (only to the Moms): they gasp and, before they even realize they have done it, put their hands over their mouths. Like you see people do at horror shows.

We're actually starting to enjoy witnessing the shock.

Rest assured, friends and family: on visits, we will use disposables. But, in the meantime, if you're in the area, bring your clothespins....

Week 29 -- the photo

A quick note to catch up here and show a photo from March 18, one week ago, before we jump ahead and prepare to add a photo from week 30, which began today.

Is she uncomfortable? Yes.
Is she doing well? Yes, and staying off her feet as much as possible, and resting as much as possible. Naps are our friend.
Is she getting big? You decide. Or is "getting" not quite the right verb tense....

Diapers Ahoy

Below is the image father-to-be came home to on Monday, as the washing of the infant diapers has begun. Washing, you say? Yes, indeed, for we are going to use cloth diapers -- or at least give it our absolute best effort. They're far more economical as well as more comfortable for baby (ies) than disposables. They're better for the environment too, which doesn't hurt. They're also made remarkably well these days, much better than the old days when they basically consisted of a thick piece of cotton meant to be mathematically folded at perfect Euclidian angles and shrewdly pinned, with all sorts of inclement weather waiting to happen.

Velcro rules.

Today, as you can see, cloth diapers come in pretty colors too.

Thanks to generous baby shower gifts and contacts with some Moms of multiples, we have stacked up a profound supply of these little gems, as well as two "Bum Geniuses." Words don't do the Bum Genius justice. Look it up and enjoy.

When we tell people who know we are having triplets that we will be using cloth diapers, they generally spontaneously exclaim in surprise (especially the Moms). But when they learn that we don't have a diaper service in this area, something more remarkable happens (only to the Moms): they gasp and, before they even realize they have done it, put their hands over their mouths. Like you see people do at horror shows.

We're actually starting to enjoy witnessing the shock.

Rest assured, friends and family: on visits, we will use disposables. But, in the meantime, if you're in the area, bring your clothespins....

Belly -- Week 29

A quick note to catch up here and show a photo from March 18, one week ago, before we jump ahead and prepare to add a photo from week 30, which began today.

Is she uncomfortable? Yes.
Is she doing well? Yes, and staying off her feet as much as possible, and resting as much as possible. Naps are our friend.
Is she getting big? You decide. Or is "getting" not quite the right verb tense....

Opposite Nutrition

I've been talking to a few people lately & I always offer my opinions freely when asked. They ask me about what to eat & they tell me the woes of high cholesterol. About how their doctor wants them to get on lipitor, cut fat, exercise more. They tell me how they eat...low fat, hardly any red meat, lots of vegetables, some fruit, low fat dairy, no saturated fat.

I tell them about high quality (meaning raised on pasture or an otherwise appropriate diet, never fed medication or hormones, raised humanely, slaughtered humanely, raised & offered by local farmers), nutritionally dense, delicious, packed full of vitamins, minerals, and essential fatty acids types of food including cooking with lard from pasture raised animals, organic traditionally made coconut oil, raw butter, raw full fat milk from pasture raised cows or goats, raw cheese, eggs from pastured hens, little to no refined sugar, limited complex grains properly prepared, and other quality animal foods.

Then I sit back & watch the expression of surprised horror spread across their face. They couldn't possibly eat those things! Their doctor would flip out! What about the cholesterol? What about the heart disease? What about the blood sugar?

Bunk. I tell them to look up the advice of the American Heart Association and the Diabetic Association... and then do exactly the opposite and they'll be just fine. They laugh a little at that one.

People are getting sicker. What will it take for the general public to branch out & try something different? Dare to challenge the medical/pharmaceutical/food industries. What exactly makes you think that your health is their top priority anyway? They run a business. The goal of a business is to make money, and continue to make money. If you die or those you love die, so what? Do you get a condolence card from them? No. You get more bad advice about how to get sicker.

I know, I know, conspiracy theory & all that. I can hear you thinking. All I'm saying is dare to try something different because what you're doing right now isn't doing you any favors. Find sources for local, real, high quality food. Eat it. Feel better.

Stop worrying about your cholesterol. Read Nina Planck's book: Real Food, What to Eat & Why. It's the book I wish I'd written. Follow her advice. You'll be healthy.

Raw dog food

I currently have three dogs. A few years ago, I decided to go with raw food, which means raw meat, bones, organs, some veggies, etc. This grosses some people out. At first I made my own, but at the time I had one dog. That lasted for one year, but then we got another dog. I switched to premade. I researched a lot before making this switch. I don't make any food or health decision without doing so.

I'm very picky about quality. I won't feed anyone, including my dogs, feedlot meat. It should be outlawed altogether. I use Bravo and sometimes Primal. Aunt Jenni's is very high quality, but so expensive. Some people out there would say I'm poisoning my dogs, but my dogs are very healthy. They get bones a few times a month to chew (and swallow) to keep their teeth and gums clean, raw pork neck bones usually from a local farmer who raises healthy, free-roaming, non-medicated pigs. Not certified organic, only because of the cost involved in certifying. I trust him. He's a good guy and I've visited his farm. I'd never seen pigs out in a field, roaming about as they please. It's sad to say that.

I don't give my dogs shots either. And I don't give them typical heartworm preventative. I give them herbs to prevent heartworm during mosquito season. They also get raw garlic in their food everyday during the season. And we spray our huge yard with non-toxic garlic/yucca spray to keep away ticks & mosquitos. Our third dog, an old, crusty rescue who is heartworm positive is being treated herbally & with supplements. I'll let you know how it goes. So far, so good. He's feeling energetic & feisty. He's 13 & he runs circles around me every morning out in the field.

My dogs used to itch all the time & have bad skin. The third dog was in terrible shape when he came to us-- flaking, itchy, red skin. Within a couple months of regular bathing with neem oil shampoo, fish oil caps in his food (they all get this), a good haircut (he's a mini schnauzer)-- he's looking terrific. Skin is great! He had a filthy, greasy, black residue that exuded from his skin for a number of weeks much like old engine oil, probably due to a lifetime of Alpo crap food, but now he's lookin' good!

It costs more to feed our dogs this way. It takes more effort than setting out a bowl of dry kibble. But our dogs are healthy, energetic, & well-adjusted (for the most part!). It's worth the extra cost & effort. We have peace of mind that we're not slowly killing our dogs with nutritionally deficient food and poisoning them with useless medication. They go to the vet once a year for a heartworm test unless there's a problem that comes up. We feel this is the best way for our dogs. Jett, Rex, & Sammie seem to think so too.