Javan's first tball practice of the season

Picturesplosian

Today was the BEST Mother's day. This was a long long looooong week. For some reason i couldn't sleep well and our fridge decided to go out on us.

I asked Lance for Mother's day to let me have a day where I don't have to get out of bed, make any meals, or change any diapers... and he gave me everything I asked for. I'm such a lucky girl!!

So, I actually had a moment to post some pictures


First picture of Violet's smile

This was about a month or so ago. Her cheeks are definitely not as chubby anymore :-) 

Cheesy grin at our friends wedding

All dolled up

Wore out!

No, that's not a vampire... the kids got goodie bags at the wedding.
Javan is rocking the vampire teeth.

yeah, her bow didn't last in her hair that long. She tore that bad boy out along with a chunk of hair

Our nephew Creighton - Gosh he is such a cutie pie

So, we attempted to get a picture with all the grandkids together...

See that blur on the far right .. that is Javan. haha

Its pretty close to impossible to get a good picture with all these kids sitting still and smiling.

This is the best we were going to get

tired.. putting crayons in the box and then dumping it out and repeat... over and over again.

 

Uncle Lance with Creighton

Buddies

Daddy and an oh so tired Cosette

Daddy love and his princess

Maybe someday we will get a picture where everyone is smiling. haha
In the meantime, this will do

kaleidoscope

i am so backed up on pictures i need to post from my camera so expect a picturesplosion soon.

Friday we went to kaleidoscope. This is a place that is connected to the building where hallmark makes their cards. Any leftover materials are here for the kids to create with. Its a pretty cool place.

They had a hallmark illustrator show the kids how he draws the illustrations for cards and books for Hallmark. It was really interesting...

Then they were let loose in room FULL of arts and crafts. It was pretty awesome!

This is our friend Phia. She has been "hired" (more like slave labor because her only payment is hugs and kisses from Cosette) as our mommy helper. She has been coming over to help with Cosette and Violet so I can get some things done around the house. She came with me on this trip and I'm so glad she did because it would have been CRAZY without her. 

 Violet has started chewing on her little pointer finger all the time these days.

Our cool Cosette. She's going to be a rock star I think :-)

 We gave up on the high chair. She just climbs right out of the crazy thing...and one day she actually fell out. 

So.... now she eats at a little princess table. It makes us feel like she's safer and she feels like a big girl.  

Hanging at the library. Her hair curls up like that when she gets a bath. She's such a cutie. 

Eat your broth at every meal!

Broth broth, the more you eat the better you feel
So, eat your broth at every meal...

Ahhh the GAPS diet. Apparently heals all things in your body.

Its very similar to the SCD diet "specific carbohydrate diet" which is quite similar to what I already did to begin with BUT it includes fruits and honey. The GAPS diet just incorporates broth and fermented veggies or kefir at every meal.

So... I need lots of broth.

Lance went on his first Turkey hunt last weekend. From what I've heard it was an AWESOME time. He and my nephew Ryan shot their first turkey's ! Woot woot. He told me stories of them ducking and crawling through the woods, driving the truck all through the mountains, and munching on "Ferris bars" (our rendition of Cliff bars but better because they are Ferris bars). Thank you so much, dad, for showing Lance how REAL MEN have a good time ;-)

I don't know how to rotate it and I want to go to bed... so turn your head. :-) 

If you have trouble with the head turn, don't worry, more pics to come when I get them from dad. I'll try to make them rightside up :-)

So, here's for the great part. Since I eat broth 3x a day I requested the turkey bones.

I know, I'm the queen of strange requests...

Anyway, we had the "pleasure" of butchering our first turkey. Oh yes, my friends, my husband will do anything to make me happy. He brought home that turkey completely intact (except for the head - phew, thank you for that)

AND... just like that wasn't enough. He's friend Randy gave us his turkey too.. meat and all.

What a nice guy.

So, I made about 8 gallons of broth. That's right, my friends 8 gallons. No freezing that stuff either. Nope, this girl will drink all of it because I'm that cool and determined to get my body to heal naturally.

Here is what I have left .. that's about 4/5 gallons there and 1/2 gal in our other fridge....

Which means... yes... i have already drank (drunk, dranked.. ugh whatever) 3 gallons this week.

Don't be jealous. 

So, if you are ever tempted to pull out some bouillon cubes (i.e. artificial crappo that will do nothing for your gut health) or a can of chicken noodle soup (don't even get me started on how NOT good that is for you). Do me (and your gut) a favor and consider making yourself some broth.

...and for your viewing pleasure... 

A violet smile. Oh and she rolled over yesterday too! She's getting so big :-)

A health update

I just got back from the naturopath. I love this guy. He told me that Violet has such a unique beauty that he can't even put it into words. :-) 

Oh. I like him for his medical advice as well haha.

So, my hair analysis came back and its like 20 pages long so I won't bore you with all the little details. 

There is definitely a good amount of aluminum and smaller amounts of mercury. He said there could be more mercury that is secreting from my tissues that might not show up in the hair analysis. I didn't see anything about the arsenic which is good but I didn't read through it all yet, truthfully. 

He isn't all that concerned about the metals because he is putting me on the GAPS diet which will most likely detox the metals naturally anyway. So, the GAPS diet... basically I will begin only eating meat/veg broth and slowly adding in raw eggs, avacado, then some nut breads.. He said since I already eat something similar to the GAPS diet I should wiz through the introduction stage. I found it interesting that the night before you introduce a new food you put a little bit of that food on your wrist and if you wake up and it is red and irritated it means that you aren't ready to add that food yet. 

Our bodies are so cool.

This article is FILLED with so much good info. Here is the link to the full article - I just read through it and wow this diet claims to heal many many conditions. I think it is definitely worth the read. 

http://gapsdiet.com/uploads/FAQS_Listing_0313.pdf

Here are some points I found that are particularly interesting:

About the GAPS diet and mercury and yeast and there is an interesting correlation:

QUESTION: I now understand that bloating can be related to heavy metal toxicity, e.g. amalgam fillings which I have. However, I do not understand why my bloating has got worse since being on GAPS, GAPS is supposed to help with detox. Surely there would be less mercury available to feed the yeast/fungus? Also what would you recommend to those who for some reason cannot remove the fillings (pregnancy or lactation)? Would it be helpful to take chlorella to bind the mercury? Would this reduce the bloating?

ANSWER: Excessive gas production in the gut is due to an overgrowth of yeast/candida. Yeast is employed by the body to absorb and neutralize mercury and other toxic metals and chemicals. As long as you have mercury coming into your system you will never get rid of yeast. And we need to be grateful for that, because yeast is protecting you from the damaging effects of mercury. So, it is important to remove amalgam fillings and other sources of toxic metals.

As you started GAPS, your detoxification system has activated and started removing mercury out of your amalgams and other storage places, which can lead to more yeast overgrowth. If you are eating nuts and fruit they will make the whole situation worse. Try to go back to the Introduction Diet and stay on the 2nd stage for as long as it takes to get rid of bloating. This measure removes all foods that feed yeast, and will help the body to remove both mercury and yeast quicker. Taking charcoal tablets will help with bloating.

It is not a good idea to be removing amalgam fillings during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Stick to the diet strictly, take probiotics and fermented foods. Blue green algae and chlorella can help; you can also try natural seaweed and HumetR supplement. Fat content of your meals should be very high (fresh animal fats) – this will boost your detoxification system and immunity and allow you and your baby deal with toxicity better.

about breastfeeding: 

You need to be on the 2nd-3rd stages of the GAPS Introduction Diet while you breastfeed. This will ‘clean-up’ your milk and help you to heal your own gut lining.

The N.P. told me I am deficient in magnesium and that is what is causing my high blood pressure/high pulse. So, I have to do these magnesium oil foot baths. I found it intersting this article recommends a GAPS milkshake - whisk 2 raw eggs and some sour cream (or coconut oil) into your juice. This will help my absorption of magnesium

about insulin resistance:

GAPS diet is very beneficial for people with type-two diabetes, obesity, and other forms of insulin resistance, as it cuts out complex carbohydrates. People with this problem need to limit their carbohydrate consumption; so don’t go heavy on honey or SCD desserts. It is essential to have plenty of animal fats for these people in order to keep their blood sugar at the right level. In order to do that I recommend having a few tablespoons of coconut oil, raw butter or homemade sour cream every half an hour throughout the day. Freshly pressed juices have many sugars in them: in order to balance these sugars with fat and protein, blend into the juice 1-2 raw eggs and 1-2 tablespoons of homemade sour cream or raw butter or coconut oil (per person). Once your juice is mixed with eggs and fat, you do not need to worry about how sweet the juice may be: you can juice carrots, beetroot, apples and pineapples. For people with sugar cravings and other difficulties in blood sugar control, it is a good idea to mix raw butter or coconut oil with a little raw honey to taste; make the mixture in advance and keep eating it throughout the day. This mixture will help you to come through the initial stages of treatment. When sugar cravings are gone, you will be able to maintain your blood sugar normal between meals without having to eat anything.

There are two forms of diabetes: type one and type two. Type one is an auto immune disorder, where the body attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. All auto immunity is born in the gut. Following the GAPS Programme will heal the gut and re-structure the immune system. In my experience, as the patient progresses through the treatment, he or she is able to slowly reduce the dose of insulin and in many cases to stop the injections altogether. Type two diabetes is caused by the body becoming insulin resistant because of continuous consumption of processed carbohydrates. GAPS diet removes all processed carbohydrates, so the body can heal the damage and remove diabetes. Once better, as long as the person continues to stick to low-carbohydrate nourishing diet for the rest of his or her life, the diabetes should never return.

Congratulations you made it through my very boring post about health stuff. Your reward is a very adorable picture of my babies....

Lance sent me these pictures from his phone.

These kids make me melt

it was quite the long weekend...Friday was GORGEOUS so we had to take a trip to the park

 But, while we were there Lance called us and told us Lexi (or doggie) wasn't doing very well. Over the past few days/months she went from making the occasional poopy accident to not being able to control what comes out of her bottom. I'll spare you all the details just to say that it was time to put her down. She lived almost 13 years and she truly was the best dog I've ever had....

Okay, she was the only dog I've ever owned as my very own... but I'll telling you she was the BEST dog ever.  Javan misses her but we talked about how we can be happy for her because now she is healthy and happy in heaven - how in the WORLD do people who don't believe in Heaven do it?!?

Not long after we got home from the park... said our goodbyes to Lexi and get settled...

Javan lost a tooth!

The rest of the weekend was business as usual in the Ferris household

Babies kissing babies...

 Moving the slide outside along with the trampoline so Cosette had a "soft" landing...

Daddy hugs and snuggles....

Cosette head butting her sister....

Lots of love goes on around here :-)

Cute baby squishy cheeks....

Today we went on a field trip to a place called "Moon Marble"
They taught our homeschool group how to make a marble, how to play games with marbles and he came home with a whole bunch of marbles that he got to choose.  It was pretty cool watching him melt and manipulate the glass and all of the different designs the instructor made on them.

Mom just about lost her marbles carrying 2 babies at that place...