The New Normal?

Well, I've got a lot to say but not much time to say it in, since I have a sleeping sickie 3 year old and a ready-to-wake-up-and-eat newborn waiting in the wings. Not to mention packing for my new family of four for a trip out to the mountains for Thanksgiving. (Talk about intimidation, but I'll get to that in a second!)

Family Transitions

My delightful custom designed birth announcement, courtesy of PIY Invites 

Nobody ever told me that the hardest part of transitioning from a family of three to a family of four might not be the newborn or the sleepless nights or even wrangling two kids into the car to go anywhere... In our case, it is my dear, sweet, emotional three year old that is having a bit of a time adjusting. He loves the baby and is sweet with him and kisses him and asks questions about everything. But you can tell that he feels precarious a lot of the time and needs extra love.

I knew it was normal and tried to head it off with all kinds of big brother talk, "enough love for everyone" talk, extra hugs and snuggles and one on one time and verbal affirmations and the whole enchilada. But my big boy is a sensitive creature who is easily thrown off and takes awhile to get back on track. So I feel that much of the first three weeks of the baby's life have been putting out fires with the big one. The baby pretty much sleeps, poops and eats just like he's supposed to, so that's been fairly easy!

At least someone in this house is calm...

Then Illness Strikes...
I feel like a lot of this year from spring on has been dealing with illness of some kind or another. I call it the "preschool tax", since my son started preschool this year and obviously then started getting sick a lot more often!

Last night was a special brand because I came home to the 3 yo screaming in pain because his ear hurt, working himself up into a snotting, coughing, panicking mess. My husband in desperation used Children's Tylenol, which I am always secretly disappointed to have to resort to, since I'm such a hippie mama with my essential oils and such.

But last night the Tylenol was administered in my absence and there was still screaming and panicking going on. So I grabbed my oils and got to work. Oregano for the ear ache (I put one drop in my hand and smeared it behind his ears since he wouldn't let me stick a cotton ball in his ear). Eucalyptus for the cough and snot (diluted in coconut oil and smeared on back and chest and neck). A bath in the middle of the night with three drops of a Calming Blend (Serenity) for the panicking. After much panicking and many tears, we all finally slept in some fashion or another.

This morning we woke up and he says his ear doesn't hurt. At all. We went from screaming pain and panic to nothing. Praise Jesus! Still some coughing and a little snot. Fever developed sometime in the night which probably helped to kill whatever was causing the earache. So I let the fever go for a bit but then decided to do a drop each of Peppermint and Lavender in coconut oil for the fever. He fell promptly to sleep on the couch and is currently sleeping off whatever remains of this illness, hopefully just in time to celebrate Thanksgiving. Yay for oils!

Poor buddy. 

Packing for Thanksgiving
So in the midst of all this chaos, I started to get really intimidated about packing for our three night stay up in Amador County for Thanksgiving. Newborns require a lot of stuff. So do three-year-olds. And then there's the grown ups! I started to think up brilliant ways to procrastinate until I remembered this wondrous little app that I discovered a few months back called PackPoint. 

As advertised, it practically packs your bags for you: it dials in your location (for weather), number of nights staying, whether you have a baby or kids, what activities you might be doing (hiking? fancy dinner? beach?) and pumps out a rather intuitive packing list for you! It's AMAZING. They're not even paying me to say that.

So I'm going to go and do my packing now that I've got the list done for me and still two kids sleeping! =) Looking forward to many beautiful vineyard vistas like this one:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING and GOOD HEALTH to all!

Trust Your Gut - Essential Oils for the Tummy and more...

Thanks for continuing to join me on this journey! Writing this Health Series has been quite fun for me, and I hope y'all are learning as much as I am!

Today we're moving on to the tummy and reproductive regions (didn't want to put that in the title! ha!)- this one has been really important for me! It's actually one of the biggest ways I wanted to "test" the efficacy of essential oils, and I must admit, I have NOT been disappointed! 

Can't believe I could find a photo of a normal person's tummy! 
Photo Credit: ~*Leah*~ via Compfight cc

Since I was a teenager, I've struggled with stomach issues from food. After nearly every meal, I'd have some sort of stomach upset or even (ugh) gassiness...the painful kind. This was horrifying on first dates, but just sort of terrible in general. I'd learned to live with it because I didn't think there was much I could do, as I refused to avoid "gassy" foods. (I'm sorry but life without beans and garlic is not worth living, so forget it!)

So, as I said, this was my big test for oils. I knew that Peppermint is supposed to soothe the tummy (I'd previously tried mint tea, to some success), and dōTERRA has a proprietary blend called DigestZen that I was particularly eager to try!

My method of application was two drops in about 24 ounces of water (shake it up!) and I sipped on that during and after meals. If I forgot to do that and was faced with an already-upset stomach, I would dilute a few drops in fractionated coconut oil (you can use any pure vegetable oil) and rub it on my sad tum-tum. I was pretty shocked with how effective both of these were. I have done DigestZen and Peppermint in my drinking water, but mostly DigestZen topically, since I didn't need the cooling power of peppermint on my skin!

And now, let's move on to the lady problems. 

Cute, cuddly uterus. For more fun stuffed toys, go to iheartguts.com

Thankfully, I've outgrown the very painful period cramps. They used to be so bad as a teenager that I would literally pass out in the bathroom. You can imagine my mother's horror in finding me like that! 

However, with advanced age has come a new fun challenge: a fun little thing the Germans call "mittelschmertz". It's translated "middle pain" and it's basically ovulation pain. It's helpful for knowing approximately when I'm ovulating, but other than that, it pretty much is horrible. So much so that I've just been taking OTC pain meds when I feel the ol' ovaries start tingling. 

But once I got my oils, I wanted to see if there was a natural solution to my natural problem! Indeed, there is. Although it seems like it wouldn't work for this purpose, DigestZen comes to the rescue again! A few drops diluted with a carrier oil, I put it right on the site of the pain, and YES - in a few minutes it was gone! GONE! It's hard for me to type this because I hate these too good to be true stories. But gals...would I lie to you about ovaries? I don't need to take synthetic meds for this problem now! Huzzah!!

Happy Guts!!

Did you know that you can get Peppermint and DigestZen in the Family Physician Kit from dōTERRA? And did you also know that you can get every single thing you ever buy from dōTERRA at 20% off? For a $10 lifetime fee (one time, never again) you can become a Preferred Member! No minimums, no hidden fees. Go to my site and find the "Join" link in the top right hand corner. Click "Preferred Member" and you can look through the application before you finalize anything or pay any money. 

My friend Holly is doing a very honest review of her adventures with dōTERRA on her blog. Stop by and say hi, especially if you're a VERY HARD SKEPTIC like she is. ;)

PS One more thing: I found this super-helpful blog post from StockpilingMoms via Pinterest that tells you the "price per drop" of each oil that dōTERRA sells. When you break it down and understand that you're using one or two drops (usually) per application, the oils seem much less expensive than perhaps they do initially. You might follow my "Healthy Living" Pinterest board while you're checking it out. 

I'll be back soon as we move on down the body!

This information is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to prescribe, treat, prevent, or diagnose any disease or condition. This information is simply the personal experience and opinion of one very satisfied small-time blogger!

Breathe Easy - Essential Oils for the Chest and Back

Essential Oils Head to Toe - The CHEST & BACK

Thanks for sticking with me on this one, people! Or if you're just joining us, welcome. This is the fifth in a health series about my experiences with essential oils and oil blends. If you're interested, you can go back and read the Intro post, and the ones about the FACE, HEAD and NECK. Or you can continue on to today's topic, the CHEST and BACK!!

Now, in the previous post I let you know about the yucky cold or bug of some kind that infected our family for a few days. Sorry to say that my little one (2.5 years old) got it too (boo!). I had already been putting OnGuard Protective Blend on the bottoms of his feet every day, because he goes to a friend's house four days a week who watches him while I go to work. She's got three kids and knowing what germ factories kids can be (cute ones!), I didn't want mine to be Agent Zero for some horrible disease that would spread to her brood. Alas, it got us anyway. The great thing is that she uses OnGuard, too, so besides a short coughing stint, none of her kids got sick from mine. 

My precious little germ factory, filthy as usual.

However, we're here to talk about the CHEST, so that was just an introduction to say that once he was already sick and stuffy and coughing and congested, I loved the relief it gave him when I slathered his chest, neck and upper back in dōTERRA's Breathe Respiratory blend. I do a drop or two of Breathe and about a teaspoon or so of Fractionated Coconut oil to dilute it, since my little guy is small. I believe the general rule is one drop pure oil to 1 tsp carrier oil when the child is under six years old, and even more diluted for babies. I have used it on myself with a carrier oil too, simply so I could spread it over a larger portion of my body. It is very akin to a topical salve or ointment you would usually use for a cough, but without all the extra additives or carriers. You can find ingredients and other uses at everythingessential.me, which is an invaluable online resource that I highly recommend whether you're just starting out or you just are curious to learn more about these oils. 

Another top seller for doTERRA is Deep Blue. I'll start this one off by saying that my husband does CrossFit, so he is my main guinea pig with this one, as it is supposed to work really well on joint and muscle pain. It is a lovely rub and feels quite amazing on, due to the peppermint and wintergreen it contains. My husband said it felt nice on and of course loved the back rub that came with it. I asked him to reciprocate with an upper back rub as I had been suffering from super-tight muscles to the point of pain in my upper back and neck. He gave me a nice short massage and it eased it a bit, then I watched some "Breaking Bad" and went to bed. The next morning I woke up with no pain, but was so pain-free that I didn't even notice it until the next evening!! Haha. Last night we had a toddler in our bed, so I have a major crick in my neck this morning. Cannot wait to get some Deep Blue on that crick and banish it for the day!

Today's Chest "Believe it or Not" story is about Clary Sage, an oil which I have not gotten my hands on myself...yet! I've heard it is miraculous for "lady problems" and that while it cannot make your breasts grow...it CAN tighten and firm them. What natural breasts don't need a little of that after awhile, amiright?! Hey, no shame in trying! ;) Read about it on LiveStrong.com. 

PS Remember, if you have specific questions about oils, leave me a comment and I will tell you what I know! And as always, there's my site if you're ready to purchase some oils for yourself to try them out. A reminder that you can sign up for the Preferred Member program and get 20% off everything you buy from doTERRA for just a $10 one-time lifetime membership fee! To find out more, leave me a comment. Thanks!

This information is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to prescribe, treat, prevent, or diagnose any disease or condition. This information is simply the personal experience and opinion of one very satisfied small-time blogger!

Health Series: Essential Oils Head to Toe - NECK

If you're just joining me, then welcome! Be sure to check back on the earlier posts in the series: Intro, Face, and Head. If you're feeling overwhelmed and have lots of questions, I tried to stop and answer a few burning ones yesterday in "But How Do I USE It, And Other Oily Problems". There's a surprise at the end of that article, if you haven't checked it out. =)

Here we've now arrived at the NECK. This has definitely been my problem area for the past week and it is driving me crazy! I couldn't figure out whether I had allergies or if I was coming down with something else like tonsillitis.

A nice artistic look down someone's throat! 
Photo Credit: Lil' Pete // www.FAO2.co.uk via Compfight cc

I'm going to be honest and admit that I have not experienced any immediate relief with oils and the THROAT such as I had with my headaches or my skin. I think this is possibly because it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what is going on (since I'm not a doctor!) and therefore how to treat it. I've been haphazardly trying this and that based on symptoms, and I know I have a lot to learn about taking oils preventatively as well as habitually for better health. 

I think in the past week I have tried everything from Frankincense and Oregano to OnGuard and Peppermint in an effort to help cleanse myself of whatever this yucky illness is. Certain times I have felt relief in my sore throat but sometimes I haven't. I've also been concocting a "tea" made with hot water, a couple drops of Lemon and OnGuard, and sweetened with raw honey to help soothe the throat. It is definitely delicious and feels really nice on my throat as it goes down. I have felt a certain relief from that mix, so I've done it a few times. I am still hopeful I can kick this thing in the metaphorical butt one way or another!

I made yet another misstep in my big oil adventure the other day and decided to put two drops of diluted Peppermint oil on the back of my neck in an effort to help my sore throat, which I thought might be coming from seasonal allergies. That in itself was a good idea. The fact that I decided to do this right before bed was a terrible idea...Peppermint is quite refreshing and the back of my neck was delightfully tingly for about an hour and I felt rather awake and energized when I really needed to be sleeping!

So, I've been trying to use it as a pick-me-up in the morning, along with a little whiff of a citrus (Orange, Grapefruit or Lemon, depending on my mood). A couple drops of that stuff diluted (with fractionated coconut oil or another our vegetable oil) on the back of the neck is great to wake up to!

I've read a lot of directives that say to tap a drop or two of a certain oil at the base of the neck for relief from myriad complaints, so I know it is a powerful place. If you have more experience with a certain oil used on the neck or throat, please leave a message in the comments! I look forward to hearing from you.

**UPDATE** Here's your too-good-to-be-true story for this post. I finally got my Veggie Caps in the mail and was able to take some Oregano internally. By the time I woke up the next morning, I was feeling absolutely 100% better from that yucky sore throat and cold I mentioned (and though he was loathe to admit it, so was my skeptical husband!) So next time I am feeling all cold and sinus-y, I know exactly where I will turn. Three drops dōTERRA Oregano in a Veggie Cap, three times a day. Maybe even a drop of Frankincense, just for good measure. Miraculous! What I've later learned is that OnGuard is more protective (use it to avoid getting sick), while Oregano is gonna get in there and kill a bug that you already have very effectively. 

(As a disclaimer, I will again repeat that many aromatherapy books and students would say that it isn't necessary to take the oils internally and they warn against it unless it has been prescribed by a professional. So I totally went rogue on the internal thing. Please do research if you wish to try it for yourself!)

 Thanks for joining me! Next, we move on to the CHEST!

PS I just learned something that can save you lots of money, my readers! I'm so sorry I never knew this before, but hopefully it will help some of you to take the plunge and get started with a few oils of your own! For a $10 lifetime membership fee (as in, you'll never pay it again), you can become a Preferred Member through my site, which saves you 20% on everything you buy from dōTERRA! If you would like to know more about this, you can leave me a comment. If you add a personal e-mail where you can be reached in your comment (if we're not friends on FB, where I can also be reached) I will not publish it. It goes through moderation first, but I can use it to contact you if you like. 

This information is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to prescribe, treat, prevent, or diagnose any disease or condition. This information is simply the personal experience and opinion of one very satisfied small-time blogger!

Health Series: Essential Oils Head to Toe - HEAD

After concentrating in a previous post on just my experiences with essential oils and the skin on my face, today I'm moving on to the rest of the head. We'll jump right in!

Let's talk about HEADACHES! I had one all day due to a low pressure weather system the day I was waiting for my oils to come in the mail. I was praying that they'd arrive so I could test them out for this specific ailment, since I thankfully don't get headaches very often! Well, indeed they did come that afternoon. I'd read that you can do a drop or two of lavender and peppermint on the back of the neck, temples and forehead for headache relief, so that's just what I did. Besides smelling glorious, I waited about five minutes and yes...I felt a significant improvement! The headache went away almost entirely. I did come back a few hours later, but the great thing about essential oils is that you can use them as needed. Unlike synthetic, over-the-counter medication, you don't have to wait 4-6 hours before applying essential oils again! Needless to say, I was pretty darn excited that my very first encounter with my oils was so positive. 

MOUTH: peppermint is wonderful to freshen breath and gives a great pick-me-up! I've also used a drop of peppermint or a drop of lemon on my toothbrush after I'm done using it to cleanse and freshen it for the next use. 

Quickly, I'll reiterate something from my previous post: dōTERRA are the only essential oils I know that are CPTG: Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade. That means that most of these are able to be used safely as a supplement and internally. (Obviously there are some plants harmful when ingested and so their essential oils are not safe to ingest either.) I mention this because your TONGUE is a part of the head, and some people use drops under the tongue for quick absorption into your system. I know that people use the dōTERRA blend OnGuard for this purpose, as well as frankincense, as a preventative measure to assure their families' immunity and overall health. 

Personally, these oils are so potent that I have a hard time tolerating them right on the tongue. It's a bit intense. For instance, one drop of peppermint essential oil is so concentrated that it is like 28 cups of peppermint tea. I scoffed at this at first...it didn't seem plausible that only one drop could do much...until I decided one day to try one drop of oregano under my tongue to see what it tasted like...and my eyes started watering like crazy and I felt nauseous and I almost puked it right back up! Don't get me wrong, oregano essential oil is great in cooking (I used one or two drops for a whole batch of spaghetti sauce!), but really concentrated to put on your tongue. dōTERRA or many health food stores sell veggie-derived caplets that you can fill with essential oil and take internally as a supplement...I just bought a few from the website the other day and I think that would be the way I do things going forward! 

There are hundreds of other uses for essential oils that involve the head, but these are at the ones I have used so far. Next time, we move on to the NECK and THROAT!

Also, as promised, here is another story for your consideration. This one comes from Pure Aroma Source. Too good to be true that Frankincense effectively treats chronic migraines? You decide. 

PS Remember, if you have specific questions about oils, leave me a comment and I will tell you what I know! And as always, there's my site if you're ready to purchase some oils for yourself to try them out. 

This information is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to prescribe, treat, prevent, or diagnose any disease or condition. This information is simply the personal experience and opinion of one very satisfied small-time blogger!

Health Series: Essential Oils Head to Toe - Intro Post

So, if you've spoken to me in the past few weeks and mentioned any sort of ailment of any kind, you've probably heard me mention my new (healthy) obsession with essential oils!! 

At the risk of sounding like a complete and utter hippie, let me start out by explaining that I was a huge skeptic when I came upon all this stuff. I went along to a presentation as a chance to get out of the house and leave the kiddo with the husband for awhile. Even after I had heard all about it, about how it was the way our ancestors treated and cured diseases from the beginning of time, I was a little more receptive. At least it sounded a lot less like "snake oil" and more like something that I could get on board with. I was slightly enthused but it sounded a bit too good to be true. Also, I thought the oils sounded a bit expensive to try with no knowledge of whether or not they would work for me and my family. So I went about my business, and kept them at the back of my mind.

Grandpa and his great-grandson/twin. 

Then, later that year, my husband got a diagnosis of thyroid cancer. He would undergo a thyroidectomy and also have some lymph nodes removed, then be subjected to radiation and have to live away from us for a number of days so as not to radiate us. Later that same year, my grandfather was diagnosed with leukemia, decided on the chemo, and then quickly slipped away from us before anyone really knew what was happening. It was devastating to watch this walking, talking person suddenly reduced to a hospital bed and machines beeping out his eventual passing. 

So, 2013 was kind of a terrible year for us (and that wasn't even the whole of it, but that's another story). Health, which had been lingering at the back of my mind, was now at the forefront. I was disillusioned with the way my grandpa was taken so quickly (I blame the decision to do chemo), and the way my husband's thyroid was cut out so quickly. (Don't get me wrong, I'm so thankful he's alive and healthy, but was that the immediate way to go? I'm still unsure.) I was looking for something that put health back in my hands and was preventative as well as a way to treat our common maladies. This is how I returned to the idea of essential oils.

For the sake of clarity and transparency, when I talk about essential oils throughout this series, I'm talking about dōTERRA, the brand which I have had the most experience with and that I have quickly fallen in love with! 

To clarify, I'm not being paid by these people in any way. I have bought enough of their product to have the privilege of buying at wholesale prices, but that's it. Yes, I can technically sell to you (and I would be happy to!), but I'm truly doing this series out of a desire to share my experiences and my excitement about a new way of life for me...one that jibes with my crunchy leanings and neo-hippie sensibilities. =) I'm not doing it to gain followers or money or any of those things, but just to record successes and encourage others to be open to alternatives to drugs in your body and and chemicals in your home. 

The Family Physician kit was my gateway drug to the wide world of essential oils!

My main interest in this company are their single essential oils and some of their proprietary blends. They also have hair care, skin care, weight loss, home care and vitamin lines, but I'm not quite ready to jump into that stuff yet. Oils are where I'm at for the moment, so that's what I'll be sharing about. For those of you interested in a short crash course on essential oils; what they are, why they are useful, how dōTERRA produces them, how they've been used in history and so forth, click here. 

I'll give you the short answers: dōTERRA means "gift of the earth", which is a perfect way to describe the oils. They are aromatic compounds from all different parts (seeds, leaves, stems, roots, bark, etc...) of plants. They can be used aromatically, topically, and in the case of Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade dōTERRA oils, many of them can be used internally! A vast majority of the oils are obtained from their source through low-heat steam distillation, as well as some other science-y methods. They are what our ancestors used to deal with illness and health issues before the advent of modern synthetic chemical medicine. So really, they are the original, and not the "alternative", medicine!

So, that's it! I'll be going head to toe first, then if I maintain momentum, I'll move on to household uses, cooking uses and the like. Join me!

PS I suppose there is supposed to be some disclaimer here about me not being a doctor and these oils not being a medical cure-all. This information is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to prescribe, treat, prevent, or diagnose any disease or condition. This information is simply the personal experience and opinion of one very satisfied small-time blogger!