This post has a little bit of everything

Hello dear Friends!
Once again I was M.I.A. I barely have time, as you know (your a parent yourself). And the time I do have to go online, is not the time to sit, think, and type. But I have been keeping myself informed and educated! Its  really amazing the things that we have yet to learn.
So today I want to talk a little bit about my recent discoveries: strange ingredients. What do you mean, Deb? Well have you ever looked at the ingredients on packaged food? At first I just thought, "Ok, so what? They need to add this stuff to make this stuff." Now looking at that I don't really know how I wasn't alarmed at the fact that all I was consuming or giving my kid was chemicals! No wonder people are getting sick! Really think about. Our bodies are still the same bodies people had from years and years ago. Yet our food is not the same from years ago. All the chemical stuff is forcing our livers to work overtime! People don't need to take vitamins, I believe, if they are feeding themselves properly. Nor do I believe people need to see doctors because food, yes WHOLE FOOD, can cure. But of course don't take my advice because I'm no one to lead your life. I just believe this for myself. For example, cancer is on the rise and seems like something that you're bound to get in the future. No! Cancer is formed because these chemicals, harmful man-made things, and stress are forcing our organs to fight. Eventually these poisons win because our bodies were not meant to take so much crap! Sugars feed this cancer, and whole foods such as organic veggies kill it.
We live in a society/culture where we are taught or brought up to be lazy. Yep, I said it! "Oh, I have a headache." Take a Tylenol. "Oh, I have diarrhea." Take Pepto. Listen to your body. Its not just feeling terrible to screw you over. Its screaming for your help. "Oh, I'm to tried to cook." Microwave some fake food. "Oh, I've worked all day. I don't have time to play with my kid(s)." Sit them in front of the TV. When in fact, we seem to always have time to walk our dogs at 6am, but wouldn't take our kids to the park for an hour. Then we wonder why kids are so violent or so passive. That's what we teach them; how to hate (because some parents don't care to show love). Its not that we hate them, but we aren't showing love either. I'm not saying let your kid do what he wants. But disciple with love (you may be firm when needed) and give them some of your time, because sometimes that's what we need as adults too; someone to give us time to just care or listen to us (hence why so many pay a great deal for a therapist).
Back to food. My toddler hates soup. The good thing is that last week when my husband made chicken soup she ate it! How did I do it? You guessed it. I just took out the broth. Even though that's the most nutritious part. So she ate the carrots, pasta, and chicken. Later she had some dessert: almond milk cookies and cream ice cream. Make sure it doesn't have carrageenan; its carcinogenic.
Here's something important I've learned. Sodium benzoate is of course bad, especially worse when mixed with ascorbic acid (synthetic vitamin C) and/or vitamin D. So read labels! I really hate that most kids juice boxes contain synthetic vitamin C. I found one that is organic and has no blah blah acids. It's called R.W. Knudsen Sensible Sippers http://www.rwknudsenfamily.com/products/sensible-sippers

  It does contain "natural flavors" so you're going to have to do a little research or call them up and ask what "natural flavors" means. Sometimes it could be an issue if you're kid has a gluten intolerance.

Healthier lifestyle

My last post about eating is not intended to tell you what to do with your child. The point is to tell you that you know what works best for your child so follow your instincts. Some advice should be taken for grandma if you trust that what she says is right. What I mean by this is that my mom had suggested that if my daughter didn't want to eat then just let her be. When she's hungry she'll eat. Now of course I thought that my daughter was too skinny and she can't decide what she wants because mom and dad are the parents. Well my daughter after Thanksgiving began having some stomach issues (which to this day we aren't sure what it was/is) Because of the suffering she went through I had compassion for her and didn't force her to eat and totally changed her diet. I made sure that at least for one meal she would have veggies. If she wanted the fruit that came in a pouch, I would just cut some fresh fruit. And instead of snacking on bread, I gave her healthier options such as: organic raisins and organic cashews or an organic soy yogurt mixed with raw honey. If she wanted Mac n' Cheese, I'd added chopped up carrots or chopped up kale. At first she refused to eat it, so I would just hide in under the pasta or behind it when it was on the fork and fed it to her while she played or watched a cartoon. Then she got used to the mixed veggies now she doesn't mind (most of the time). If she won't eat it then, it'll stay until she's hungry. Eventually she'll get hungry enough to eat it.
Yes, I am a firm believer that organic is the best and should really be the only way to go, unless you really don't have another option. I do believe that many diseases out there are caused because of what we put in our bodies. Our bodies soak up the nutrients and chemicals in our foods. I also don't believe that its necessary to have so many chemicals in vaccines, but that's a different story for a different blog.
Now with my daughter's stomach problems, I started to do a lot of research and began to believe that maybe she had celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity. I wanted to put her on a gluten-free and casein-free diet. I did, but now the G.I. doctor suggested to do some blood work to see if she really has that problem. So presently she's on a "regular" diet because the blood work needs to have gluten in the blood to see the reactions.
There is so many natural/homeopathic remedies that truly work, but we aren't educated because the pharmas want to make money and make you and your kids costumers for life. That's why if you hear, for example, a commercial for an anti-depressant the side effects are suicidal thoughts. Really? Who in their right mind would want to take that pill then? If the medicine that is suppose to cure or help you with an issue, is actually causing another issue that will lead you back to the same problem why would you take it? No one tells these people that magnesium and vitamin D fight depression. Well they do and if you have depression you should eat  whole foods rich in these nutrients. With this flu "epidemic" pharmas must've been so happy. So many people buying over-the-counter medicine that truly doesn't cure anything and people getting the flu vaccine. I got the flu vaccine when my second child was born because I didn't do my "homework" and I was scared in getting my baby sick. Well it just goes to show that people were still getting the flu and elders were dying regards of the vaccine. So how effective is this injection? I'll let you answer that one. I wanted to say though that I cured my cold and my oldest daughter's cold naturally. In the morning, with our toast, I made a honey jam. Mix raw honey and cinnamon and spread it on toast. Delicious! For me, instead of coffee I boiled some water squeezed half a lemon added some ginger and a tiny dash of cayenne pepper and drank it! Boom two days I was cured!

Potty Training

Personal Potty Training Tips

Those two words can bring on all kinds of emotions. Fear, excitement, worry, concern, disgust, wonder, hope, hopelessness, just to name a few. 

I wasn't sure how I was going to accomplish this task. Seriously, being a Stay-At-Home Mom is one of the craziest jobs ever! I mean, you can't go to college for it and even if you have an older child, you can't expect the second or third or whatever to be the same. It is true that every child is different! This also goes for potty training.
Every child has their own clock. I've read, in almost every article or mom posts, that when your kid is ready, you'll know. I thought, but how? How will I know? What if it takes forever? On top of that, I had this need and desire for my daughter to learn before her baby sister arrives. Because seriously, who wants two kids in diapers?
I kept telling her that poopy and pee pee go in the potty. I would also sit her on the potty every half hour hoping she would go. Some kids actually go and don't mind if you put them on, but my kid refused. She would cry and scream no. She had her diaper on and would say poopy when she was peeing. So she knew when she was "going." She must've had a fear of actually letting it go into a hole other than unto her diaper. I really didn't have any hope that she would pass this major milestone before my due date.
I left her in underwear and a shirt while we were home. As predicted she would just pee herself. I thought maybe she thinks that the underwear is like a really light diaper. I just took the underwear off and let her be. Then I grabbed a piece of computer paper and taped it on the wall behind her potty. I showed her Mickey Mouse stickers and said if you go potty you get a sticker. Slowly she began to get it. Once her 2nd birthday rolled around, she just decided herself that she would pee in the potty! She did it! On her own, without forcing her. Now she was ready for undies :)
Wait that's not all. What about poopy? Yeah, that came on its own time too. My daughter would hold it in and sometimes even ask for a diaper/pull-up so she could poop in peace. Eventually she ended up pooping in her potty. She would get so excited about getting a sticker. She even wanted one for no reason. I would say that the stickers were only if she went potty. When she did her business, she would run and say, "Sticky, sticky" of course meaning sticker. When we left the house I would put a pull-up on and tell her that she had to go on the potty. But I guess the pull-up still left like a diaper, so it didn't work for us.
I went to Babies R Us in search for a portable potty. I found the Dora Traveling Potty Seat. It's awesome because it folds and goes in your bag. The only down side is that if you're not near a toilet then you can't use it. It only goes over a toilet seat. One day I left her in underwear and told her that she didn't have a diaper on so she needed to tell me when she needed to use the potty. That one day worked, but the following day we went to the park and she peed her pants. She said, "Pee pee on floor." I told her that now we had to go home to change her pants. I was hoping that leaving the park, because she peed herself, would let her know that she needed to say that she had to go potty. Also, walking home in wet pants probably wasn't very pleasant anyway.
She seems to have the hang of it now. The only thing is being diaper free at night. It's a little scary for me. I don't want her to have an accident in the middle of the night and then have to change her and the sheets. By the time I'm done with that she'd be wide awake. I have to find a bed wetting pad or something. I'm going to search for that now.
So I searched and apparently GoodNights makes them. But I wanted something to go over the sheets not under. I guess I'll have to try it.
Below I've added pictures of the three things I've bought and have found very useful in this potty journey. I did forget to mention that, the toilet seat with the toddler and adult seats, was a little to big for my daughter at   first. But the good thing was that her potty, featured below too, has a seat that comes out and fits over this toddler toilet seat. But now that she isn't afraid to hold herself on the actually toilet seat, she sits just fine. She sometimes likes to dip her little butt, but I tell her to stop, "No, you're going to wet your butt if you go to low." She thinks its funny.
Good luck on your adventure into Potty Realm. Try anything you can and want; see what works best for your child. 

I'm on Pinterest!

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Tell me about your kids' pickiness for cartoons

Is your child picky with his/her TV shows? Tell me about it! Are there certain shows that you have to change the channel? Is there a show that your kid won't watch, but wants that cartoons toys? Does your kid just love any cartoon that's on TV? If they love old, classic cartoons which ones do they ask to watch?

Word to the Wise

Sometimes we have to cut the snacks to help create hunger so that our children will eat their dinner. Also it's great to take the kids out to the park or for a walk so that when they get home their tummies will be empty for lunch/dinner. If mom is cooking, dad can take the kids to the nearest park or for a walk or vise versa. If you are alone, then have your ingredients prepared and the pots and pans ready so your not rushing later. Take your child(ren) outside and get yourself a coffee and walk them to the playground. Sit and relax or play a little and come back when you feel it's time and so on. Works for me :)

Best eating tip (for us, at least)

I got some pretty good advice about eating and it had worked for me. Just force her to eat. Now we didn't shove food down her throat, but it required A LOT of patience! My husband did the work. Of course my daughter doesn't like to take me seriously lol. So he said you have to eat and she would cry and scream and he would still insist and say you have to eat. Eventually she got tired of crying and screaming (20 mins) and she ate everything and more! I was so surprised! And now every time Daddy tells her to eat she lets him feed her and/or she eats on her own. I guess you know your kid and you know how they act and what they might be able to handle. Sometimes it hurts us, the parents, seeing them cry or we might lose our patience, but we are the boss. Can't forget that!