Our style of parenting isn't the "norm" in modern day America. And guess what? We are okay with that. Zak and I have discussed how we want to parent since before I was even pregnant. We have talked, cried, fought, and everything in between trying to figure out the most perfect way to raise our baby. Luckily we were on the same page about almost everything. After months and months of discussions, baby Zaylen was finally here and we were able to start this incredible journey of parenting together.

Natural, Instinctual, Attachment Parenting.

I want to first give you a few definitions...
Natural Parenting - The desire to live and parent responsively and consciously.
Instinctual Parenting - Parenting with personal feelings, following your "gut".
Attachment Parenting - Focusing on the nurturing connection that parents develop with their child.

We have chosen these parenting forms based on what we feel is best for our child. I understand that everyone has their own unique way of raising their children. This post is not designed to tell parents they are wrong, or to persuade parents to join our side. This post is however created to show people a glimpse of our parenting techniques and explain why and how we do things. Every family is different, every child is different, and I feel that every parent knows what is best for their own child. We have gotten more criticism that I could have ever imagined on our parenting road. This has given me an eye opening experience to how close minded our society really is. I have been questioned, concerns have been raised, I have been told "eww", gotten laughed at, and even been told I couldn't do things all by strangers, Zaylens pediatrician, and even my own family. How hurtful?? If I were endangering my child I would love to hear those things, but I'm not! So here we go, into a little piece of our life...

Let's start off with natural birth and breastfeeding. I believe these are the most powerful aspects of parenting naturally and they are the most primal things you can give your baby. Very unfortunately, I could not have either. But I still advocate for them 100%! A natural birth does not mean just delivering vaginally. It means preparing yourself, your partner, and your baby for a safe and peaceful entrance into the world. This is a vaginal birth with absolutely no drugs and a calm, loving environment. A natural birth is also not just the process of delivery, it's how to prepare during the nine months before you deliver. We prepared for this. We prepared from June 2013 to March 2014. And our plan was not Zaylens plan. He was almost a week late, I had zero signs of him coming at all, and because of his size and because he was not moving I had to have an emergency c-section. Not emergency in the sense he was here within the hour, but I was sent straight to the hospital during my appointment and started prepping for surgery an hour later. I also tried my absolute best to breastfeed! I took classes, read books and articles, talked to many women, and I was truly prepared to breastfeed. However, I wasn't prepared to not breastfeed, and I suffered very emotionally later for that. Zaylen could never latch right. We later found out he had tongue tie and that prevented him from getting a good latch. In the hospital I saw several lactation consultants, nurses, and Zays pediatrician, and none were able to help out. Breastfeeding was the most painful experience I have ever been through. It was worse than every tattoo and piercing combined. That is not an exaggeration. My nipples bled, cracked, swelled up, and I cried at every feeding. I literally could not push through and do it. I pumped for almost a month, but stopped that due to postpartum depression. I used to regret that I couldn't breastfeed and that I stopped pumping so we tried re-lactation when Zaylen was 4 months and he wanted nothing to do with it. He would not take my breasts at all! That brought on more regret and depression, but I think I'm mostly over it now. So even though my plans of a natural birth and breastfeeding were all thrown away, I still think they are best and we will see what happens with Baby Boober number 2!!

On to more natural things. I take into account everything I put into Zaylens body and on his skin. Other than Tylenol every now and then while he is cutting his teeth, I don't use any chemical cocktails for him. For teething I give him Hylands products, the teething gel and teething tablets (Tablets work best!). Hylands tablets are a miracle! They disolve easily and are made of all natural products. I am way against Orajel, I thought it was a good product and used it maybe 3 or 4 times while we were on vacation and needed something for Mister Teething, but found out it didn't help and we stopped using it and threw it away. Orajel actually causes the gums to toughen up and harden, which makes teething so much more painful for little ones because it's more to push through than their natural soft gums. But hey, it's just another capitalistic move...it builds up a babys gums so it takes longer to teethe and you end up buying more of their product then what you really need for a longer period of time. Another product I use is coconut oil (if you haven't had a chance, read my last post dedicated to coconut oil). I use this on his butt after a diaper change, on cuts and scrapes, and around his mouth to prevent breaking out from drool during teething. I tell you, teething can be a pain sometimes! I also use lotions and bath products that are free from dyes, parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and fragrances (except for certain brands with lavender). I feel these are super important in order to raise my baby as naturally as I can. Have you ever researched the make up of these chemicals? How about the short term and long term affects. It's disgusting.

Raising Zaylen as natural as possible is very easy. Our grandparents did it, their grandparents did it, humans have done it since the very first day of life! People all around the world are still doing it! So why are Western cultures set apart? Here's what I think...
Western cultures have adapted to convenience. There, I said. And we are also so blinded by capitalism. There, I said it again. Convenience and capitalism. Ugh, two ugly words that I could go on and on about.

Zaylen uses cloth diapers. Can you believe I have been told by family members that I can't do cloth?? I can't. I can't as in I will end up switching to disposibles because it's easier. I can't as in it's hard work. I can't as in that's not normal to do anymore. Well guess what? I can! And I AM! We started when Zaylen was almost a month old and we have been doing it ever since. I do admit that I used disposibles on a few long car rides (4-6 hours) and a few weeks ago I started using them on Zaylen during some nights. I was changing the sheets 4 times a week and waking up twice to clean pee from the whole bed, not fun. I hate that I have resorted to using them at night, but now with the help of 'elimination communication' I doubt I will be using anything at night pretty soon. (More on that later). My reasons for cloth diapering are very simple: cost, safety, environment. A parent who chooses disposable diapers spends on average $2,000 to $3,000 for diapers between birth and potty training. There are tons of websites that have done the math depending on how often a diaper should be changed, different brands of diapers, and this includes different sizes of diapers too. Want to know how much I've spent on diapers? $200. Yes, $200. This doesn't include the few packs of disposables I have bought. A lot of mothers argue the costs of washing, drying, and detergent. My water bill is under $20 every month, I line dry the diapers (inside and outside) so my energy bill doesn't go up because of that, and I spent $30 on cloth friendly detergent that I bought in February. So overall I think I'm saving a ton of money. Cloth diapers are way more safe than disposables. The amount of chemicals in diapers is sickening. And last, I use them for environmental purposes. Now, I am not all for "saving the planet" and all that. However, I do believe we are to treat Mother Earth with respect and kindness. Have you seen pictures of the smog in China? How about baby penguins covered in oil? It's nasty. That's not the world we were given and we should take responsibility and do our part to make it a clean place to live in. I also want to make the world safe for Zaylens generation, my grandchildrens generation, and so forth. There isn't exact knowledge of how long it takes one diaper to decompose, but it is estimated about 500 years!! Wow. That is one diaper. So by using cloth I am able to help out our land by not allowing thousands of diapers just from my child to sit and rot away for hundreds of years. I think I should start a separate post on cloth diapering, there is too much information.

One last natural topic I want to share, elimination communication. This is essentially potty training for an infant. I don't like the term 'potty training'. Our babies already know how to eliminate their waste. Western cultures have adopted this idea to "train" our babies how to use a diaper (soley for our convenience) and then "re-train" them to use a potty when they reach a certain age. We originally planned on Zaylen using the potty by 18 months. Cloth diapering helps a ton because the babies can feel when they are wet, not like their disposable counterparts. But we thought 18 months would be a great age. Well more recently I have discovered elimination communication. (This is the part where beaming rays of light come down from Heaven and you hear angels singing!) As I said earlier, it is a form of 'potty training', but for infants. I started this almost a week ago and we have had great success! I didn't want to build my hopes up, but I knew it wouldn't hurt if I gave it a try. Since starting this, Zaylen has not had a single poop in his diaper!!! Can you believe that?? I watch his cues (After he eats or drinks, after he wakes up, when he makes certain noises, and when he signs "potty") and I take him to the potty and sign to him, he will sign back and do this thing. During the day I rarely keep a diaper on him, and he has had only two accidents. I would say this works. I discovered that most undeveloped countries use this with all their children. The women carry their babies all day and they can sense when their baby has to relieve themselves. They don't depend on diapers to hold elimination, they follow cues their baby gives them. This is a very natural process and I am really excited to be on this journey with Zaylen!

Instictual parenting is very plain and simple. I follow my gut when it comes to Zaylen. I adore his pediatrician and I know we have the best of the best, but he doesn't always know what is best for my baby. He is there to guide me and help me make informed decisions, and we do agree on a lot, but when it boils down to it, he doesn't know Zaylen like I do. This style of parenting truly supports a mothers intuition. That is a powerful thing my friends! My intuition or gut feeling for Zaylen is so incredibly strong! Even Zak doesn't sense some of the things I do. A bond between mother and child is so precious, I can't even come up with the words to describe it. The Boober house is a 'cry it out-free zone'. We are heavily against the cry it out method. Momas, your baby isn't just crying just to cry. Crying is the only method for them to communicate until they reach an age where they can sign or talk. They cry because they are hungry, tired, sick, hurting, bored, irritated, confused, lonely, and 100 other reasons. And sometimes they cry because they just need you. We would hate to be in a room by ourselves left to cry it out, so why do we do that to our babies? It's because researchers and doctors have told us to. You have to let your baby cry it out because if you pick them up every time they cry they will become dependent. This is such a lie!!! If you get anything from this blog, please hear me on this, stop letting people with a title put fear into your lives! You are moma and you know best!! If you follow me on Instagram I'm sure you have seen my hashtag, moma knows best not doctors. It's true. Ladies we know what is best for our children. Doctors, researchers, and scientists are all great and some really have our childrens best interests at heart, but only we know our child inside and out and can make a sound decision what is best for them. So please follow your instict.

Attachment parenting is composed of the 7 b's: birth bonding, breastfeeding, baby wearing, bedding close to baby, belief in the language value of baby's cry, beware of baby trainers, and balance. Birth bonding is such an essential step. I have already shared my birth story, but I didn't share what happened after birth. Zaylen and I were naked for the longest time after he was born...and we still are. Kangaroo care is starting to make its way into American hospitals and I am so thankful for that! I was very blessed to give birth in a hopsital that was strict on this type of care. Before this new type of care (which is actually how thing have been done since the first day of life, and is still done in undeveloped countries) babies were forced under a bright light, their eyes were smothered in erythromicin, their tiny legs pumped with vitamin K, they were given a hepatitis shot followed by a bath, and then after seeing everybody in the hospital, they were finally taken to see their mother. Ugh. Every hopsital I know of still supports the shot, erythromicin, bath, ect., but what they are starting to do now is give the mother her baby first thing. Who would have thought? We opted out for everything besides the vitamin K injection. And that was the day after I gave birth. Why can't we just have our babies? Well it's because modern medicine and people with a title tell us we can't. I call bull again. Zaylen and I were skin to skin every single second unless someone else was holding him. We even had that bond at home every day for the first few weeks and to this day we share it every night together. Zaylen also didn't have a bath until he was two weeks old, I know it may sound nasty to some moms, but I felt the vernix on his skin was super important! And who wants to be introduced to this new world and all of a sudden have weird soap all over them?? I have already told my story about breastfeeding so I won't be repeating that. I am a firm believer in baby wearing. I wear Zaylen a lot. I wrap him up and put him on me when I do chores around the house, when we go for walks, and when we go out. I use the stroller for big days out and for long walks, but I cannot stand to see him in a car seat for too long, or sitting in a stroller everytime I need to do something out of the house. Wearing Zaylen gives him freedom to see things from my perspective, it allows me to be close to my baby and have a hand on him, and it gives us both a closer bond.

This next part is pretty touchy amongst mothers...bedsharing. We have a family bed. All four of us share a bed; Zak, Zaylen, Izzy and me. Zak and Izzy sleep on the couch some when Zak can't get comfy or if Zaylen wants to stay up and play, but we recognize our bed as the family bed. I have been through it with this topic. You would not believe the amount of "advice" I have gotten about how I shouldn't bedshare, it's dangerous, I will regret it later, I could kill my baby, it's the number one cause of SIDS. It is all lies, again. Lies, lies, lies. Bedsharing can be dangerous, but that is only when it is done improperly. I don't go to bed drunk, or high. I am not overtired. I do not smoke, neither is Zaylen around smoke. We do not have a water bed. The room stays at a nice cooler temperature. I practice bedsharing very safely. My son will not grow up wanting to sleep with me forever. I promise you he will be out of the bed by the time he is 18. Yes, that was extreme sarcasm. Zaylen will also not grow up and be completely dependant on me. Studies have actually proven children who bedshare are more independent than children who sleep alone. And for the record, bedsharing is absolutely NOT the number one cause of SIDS. SIDS is very scary and my heart goes out to every parent who has lost a precious life due to this horrible syndrom, but shouldn't we take the time and energy we spend on persecuting bedsharing mothers and use it towards finding the real reason why this occurs? I think so. Noone knows why this happens. From what I've researched and read, it happens more in cribs than in beds beside a mother. SIDS is referred to "crib or cot death" for a reason. I sleep with Zaylen for hundreds of reasons, but most importantly, I am able to sleep better and he is able to sleep better. My body controls his body temperature, I immediately wake up if he wakes up, I can tell when he rolls over, and he has better control of his breathing being beside of me. We both sleep better overall. I have bedshared since the day he was born and not one time have I had a single problem or scare.

I believe in the power of communication. Everything works better when we communicate, so naturally it's tough to have a healthy relationship when communication isn't there. As I said earlier, the only way a baby can communicate is through crying. Crying is so important in the infant stage, we learn so much about our babies when they cry. Although I know most of the reasons why Zaylen cries, I still hate to hear him cry. I want him to be able to express himself without resorting to an emotion. This is the part where baby sign language comes in. It is such a beautiful thing. Zaylen can already tell us when he wants a spoon (eat), when he wants water, and when he has to potty. That saves us diapers to clean, heartache over trying to figure out what he wants, and it give us a happier baby. Language is very important and I am thrilled that Zaylen is already picking up communication skills!

Most parents agree that when you bring a baby into the world you should make the baby adapt to your life. I don't agree with this. Zaylen and Zak and I are all in this together. We adapt to his needs and he adapts to our world, and this is a great relationship. We allowed Zaylen to make his own schedule. By not fitting him in our schedule, he was able to establish a perfect schedule from the time he was born. He was up a few times at night during the first 3-4 weeks, but since then he has been sleeping all night. Yes momas, all night. He wakes up once to eat and then goes right back to sleep. He has a great eating, potty, sleep, and play schedule, and it fits into our life perfectly! We are all about balance with Zaylen. There has to be balance in the home, in the mind, and in life in order to have peace and well being.

So there you have it, our style of parenting. We don't allow the media, doctors, or scientists and research articles to intimidate us into thinking we have to parent a certain way. We don't let fear sneak in and make us second guess our decisions. And although a lot people try to make us feel bad, or question what we are doing, we don't let them in our minds either. We are doing what we need to for our child and if people don't support that then it's their loss. Parenting isn't a one size fits all lifestyle. Every mother (parent) knows best for their child, this may not be what works for you and your family, but it works perfectly for us. I respect every mother for being who her children need her to be, even if that doesn't fit into our societys "norm." Please have the same compassion and respect for my family and others who make conscience decisions on how to parent. Even loving advice can come across as judgmental sometimes and we should all be aware of that. I hope you were able to understand why we do certain things with Zaylen and I pray that maybe this information will be in the back of some peoples minds when they want to be discouraging towards our parenting. I also hope you were able to get something out of this writing, whether it be inspiration, hope, or simply new ideas you haven't unfolded yet. I wish you all the best of luck with parenting your loving children, this is the toughest job in the world and we could all use each other's support. Thank you for your time, now go love on those little ones momas!!

xoxo
Cursty

I have been on a mission...a mission to discover and use Mother Earth. I strongly believe that throughout the earth, God gave us a remedy for every disease, infection, bite/sting, and virus we have faced and will face in our lifetime. We have discovered some basic fixes such as eating raw apples for aid in constipation and ingesting mint to help with nausea. We have also found more powerful uses such as wearing magnetized jewelry to control pain from rheumatoid arthritis and how ginger can kill certain types of cancer cells (1). Science and medicine have come so far already and I'm excited to see the types of treatments we will identify in the future.

On this mission to utilize the land for its healing properties, I have stumbled upon oils. Oils are the most incredible tools I have found to date and they are here to stay in my house. I started out with olive oil (just used for cooking and skin care), moved my way up to essential oils (these bad boys deserve an entire post of their own...life savers!), and now I am hooked on coconut oil. I began my love affair with coconut oil when I simply bought it for cooking. It has a high heat tolerance, it's a much better fat than genetically modified laden vegetable oil, and just to be honest...it was all the rage amongst the paleo/crossfit health nuts and I wanted to try it out. We all love a good diet fad don't we??

Coconut oil. Coconut oil. Coconut oil.

For the past year, coconut oil has been the core staple of the Boober family medicine cabinet. It heals and takes care of everything! I am very thankful for Western Medicine and how it has helped countless people, but I am also very cautious when it comes to using industrially produced medicines. Acetaminophen has been a lifesaver at times for me (I have a teething baby and a husband who has bad headaches quite frequently), but do we really know every ingredient involved and every step of the process it takes to create this chemical compound? NO!  We can read the back of the box and scientific articles till we are blue in the face...not everything is put out there for the public to know. I can't knowingly and willing serve my family a chemical cocktail every time there is an ache. This is the part where coconut oil rushes in to save the day! YAYYYYY! 

So as I was saying, I started using coconut oil in the kitchen. It is a much better substitute for butter and any type of cooking oil. It also goes very well in smoothies because of it's saturated fat content and antioxidant properties. Saturated fats aren't the ones you want to ingest all day, but the ones in coconut oil have a different chain composition than other foods such as pork and butter, and are actually good for you. Spoonful of coconut oil anyone??

Once I discovered how versatile this stuff could be, I started trying it on my skin. I had read through a pregnancy journal how coconut oil helps prevent stretch marks, and since I was pregnant at the time I figured I would give it a shot. During the fourth month of my pregnancy I began rubbing a coconut oil/lavender oil mix on my stomach and sides every night and I didn't get a single stretch mark for three months. That's also the time I blew up, so maybe it prevents stretch marks in some smaller ladies, it helped me for a while, but I did get really huge real quickly and it didn't prevent them completely. Although, it has helped the appearance of my tiger stripes tremendously! I didn't have the prettiest stomach right after Zaylen was born, and I still have a long ways to go, but the marks have faded and drastically reduced in size and I think credit goes to...you guessed it, coconut oil. It is also a better alternative to eye makeup remover. Just smooth a little bit over your closed eyes at the end of the day and the makeup comes right off! Coconut oil is a perfect blend to stop itching from bug bites and to rejuvenate sunburnt or dry skin. My skin stays fairly hydrated, but my husbands dries out as quick as a head of hair hanging out of a truck window. Zachary uses the oil for his beloved beard. It hydrates his chin while conditioning his beard. Win win. I have used it on my heels and elbows before, it works wonders!

Another great use for coconut oil...as a baby product! Zaylen had a little cradle cap a few months after his birth and once again I turned to coconut oil. I would put a generous amount on his scalp and let it soak in for a minute, then I would comb his head with a fine tooth baby comb and it would come up. Something else I use it for is to prevent a rash on his face from teething. I have a drool baby! This teething thing has not been fun for my baby, the amount of drool is unreal. With lots of moisture sitting on his chin, it leaves room for a break out or a rash, but a little bit of coconut oil on his chin and around his mouth acts as a barrier to protect his skin from soaking in too much drool. I also use it as his butt cream. He will be six months old this week and he hasn't had a single diaper rash thanks to coconut oil (and cloth diapers). I don't apply it at every diaper change, only here and there, or after he has taken a long nap or been in the car for a while in a diaper. My goal is to make it all the way to potty training without a rash...we can do it! I have heard coconut oil is great for eczema as well, but thankfully Zaylen has never had that either so we haven't had to cross that bridge. But if we had to, I would turn to coconut oil faster than I could say, "bless his heart."

Not only does coconut oil mend our skin, it also aids in having better health. I have stopped my allergies from flaring up by rubbing a bit on the inside of my nose, it is safer and works faster than taking a Benadryl. I have also used it to tame frizzy hair, to season my cast iron skillets, and have used it as a replacement to lanolin cream after I gave birth (if you aren't sure what that is, please feel free to look it up). One last awesome use I have found for coconut oil is on cuts and scrapes. It's acts as a natural Neosporin by making a thin protective barrier to block out bacteria and speeding up the healing process. Although I haven't used coconut oil for these purposes, it has been shown to boost metabolism, increase energy, help with digestion, kill lice, and alleviate heartburn.

I'm sure I will find more incredible ways to use coconut oil, but in the meantime I challenge you to pick up a jar of this product and start your own journey to a healthier, natural medicine lifestyle. This is an amazing mission I am on, I have already discovered numerous plants, foods, and oils that have healing properties. I feel good about what I put into my body and on my skin, and I feel even better knowing I'm helping my family in a healthy way. When buying coconut oil, try to purchase virgin or extra virgin unrefined coconut oil. This type comes from the first press during the extraction process. If that is unavailable the next best thing would be a non-hydrogenated refined oil that specifically says in has been through a chemical free extraction process. These oils have the same benefits and nutritional values, but chemical free is always better. Good luck and please keep me updated on your coconut oil  uses!!


xoxo
Cursty




1. Radhakrishnan, E., Bava SV, Narayanan SS. [6]-Gingerol Induces Caspase-Dependent Apoptosis and Prevents PMA-Induced Proliferation in Colon Cancer Cells by Inhibiting MAPK/AP-1 Signaling. PLoS One. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25157570

(Dr. Crater, if you are reading this I apologize if the citation is wrong. You taught me how to correctly cite a research article, but I haven't even thought about these things for over two years now. And I am definitely not pulling out any old notes, yes I kept every last one...sentimental reasoning.)

The past two weeks have been extremely busy for us. Zak started school, we took a mountain trip, threw a homecoming party, and we had a visit from my in-laws. Oh and I didn't mention a teething baby. Busy. This is Zacharys third full week back at school and things are going very well for him. The start of a new year is always hectic, but he is pushing through it and giving this year a great start!  Zak has his own class this year (plus two inclusion classes) and we are really excited to see the progress his kids make this year, I thought inclusion was rough, but having your own class is very challenging. I certainly couldn't do it. God bless our teachers! We paid Uncle Art and Aunt Kathy a visit in Black Mountain last weekend, our home away from home. Black Mountain is such a beautiful town with incredible people, if you've never visited I strongly encourage you to do so. We wanted to make it up at the end of September for a yard sale we enjoyed last year, but we aren't sure about being able to go, so hopefully we can find time in October to enjoy the fall festivities up there. Leaves changing, yard sales, apple cider, a pumpkin patch...what wonderful things. Our friend Brian took a cross country biking trip this summer and returned safely two weeks ago so we threw him a welcome home party on Labor Day. We loved having good company and good food. Days like that are some of the most precious moments we will always cherish. Brian wrote a blog during his trip and posted a ton of gorgeous pictures so go take a look at his adventures (Read his blog here). My in-laws came down and visited! They drove down Monday, Joyce dropped Richard off at the Raleigh airport and he flew home while she finished the drive. She stayed the week and we picked him up at the same airport on Thursday, he visited for the day, and they both drove home Friday morning. As always, we had a busy week. I was able to sleep in for a bit while Joyce took care of Zaylen, we "saved" Zachary money while we shopped every day, I was able to get some errands done faster, we enjoyed our favorite taco joint as well as a huge Southern thunderstorm, and we all just took in the time together. It was a very nice visit and we are looking forward to seeing them on our trip to Rhode Island in November. Also, Zaylen got his first two teeth this weekend!! He has been teething for a while now and we could feel something under those gums for a few days, but Saturday he took a nap and woke up to have two tiny teeth popping up from his lower gums. It is remarkably relieving to get those first two. He is having a time with teething and I hope the saying "it gets easier after the first one" holds true in our case. I had to take him to the doctor the other week just to make sure it was all teething instead of an infection or anything. Zaylen was running a low grade fever, pulling at his ears, had a runny nose and cough, couldn't sleep at night, woke up screaming at night, slept all day, fussed and fussed, drooled a ton, and lost his appetite some days amongst other symptoms. I was 95% sure it was all just from teething, but "moma" came out and I had to get him checked. We were both having a rough time. The first two teeth are so sweet and I am looking forward to an easier road with the rest of them.

Oh and one more thing, I finally had a girls night after over a year!! Talk about much needed. It's a group of four of us who have been friends for 11+ years, you don't find friends like that every day. We talk almost every day (Thank The Lord for group messaging) and we all see each other pretty often, but with us all living in different towns and having different things going on in our lives it's pretty hard to all get on the same schedule and get together. We were all able to go out to Winston this past weekend and enjoy dinner and a few drinks with each other to celebrate Bailees birthday that's coming up. I haven't been out since the beginning of last June. I have gone on a few dates with my husband, but I haven't been out with my girlfriends or been able to order a cocktail. Girlfriends and cocktails are extremely important necessities to a good life. I would be miserable without my girls. I feel like we are in a marriage. We have been there through the bad and the good, sickness and health, breakups, boy troubles, lowest of low points, job offers, births, marriages, college, graduations, parties, birthdays, everything. I can call any one of them any time of day or night and they are there to let me talk and give me good sound advice. I have had many a friend steer me wrong. It's easy to do when you think they are your true friend, but when you have a real true friend it's something you know in your gut and it's a person you never let go of. They aren't out for themselves, they will tell you how it is, they will be brutally honest even if it means your feelings will be hurt, and they will support you to the ends of the earth. I mean support too. I have made so many mistakes in life and some of them my girls even warned me against, but they said their peace, let me make the mistake, and then was there to wipe my tears and pick up the pieces with me. That is a true girlfriend. When you find friends like that, never ever let them go.

Okay that was it for an update. It's a rainy day here in Greensboro. It's also laundry day. Mondays are gloomy enough on their own, but add in chilly rainy weather and laundry and that makes for an almost unbearable day. We are going to make the most of it though. Zak and I had an amazing morning together, I was able to get a lot done before the little one woke up, and now Zaylen is playing while I finish writing. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure why Monday is my laundry day, I should look into changing that. But in the mean time, I hope each of you have a great Monday and an awesome week this week!! Be Blessed!

xoxo
Cursty

If any of you are part of the Vitamix club, please stand up. Great!! If you stood up go ahead and give yourself a huge pat on the back. Before 2012 I thought the almighty Vitamix was just some fancy pants blender that old rich people bought from infomercials late at night. That was before. Once my husband and I started dating in June of 2012, I discovered that the Vitamix is much, much more. The Vitamix represents a blender, but it performs so many tasks that calling it a "blender" doesn't do it justice. My husband received our Vitamix from his parents after he moved back to High Point following graduation. They have blessed us with so much and continue to do so, but this is one of our favorite gifts to this day! I would be here all day if I listed all the reasons why I love our Vitamix so let's not waste time with that when I can sum it all up into one sentence...I can cook a whole meal in 10 minutes. Let me break that down; I can cook. A whole meal. In ten minutes. I'm not sure about you, but I've been in drive-thrus longer than that.

I get to actually cook (well measure things out) good whole foods for my family and not slave away in the kitchen for a few hours. Which I do love by the way, let's just clear that up, but some days I don't feel up to baking hand crafted biscuits or preparing the finest deer roast around. I'll use tonight for an example, it's been a busy day for both Zak and I, I haven't had much energy today, there is a beautiful storm outside, and we were both in the mood for a good soup. So out comes the Vitamix cookbook. We chose the Easy Tortilla Soup. And let me say...I mean easy. I'm on my third bowl right now as I type this. I strongly encourage you to pull your machine out and give this recipe a try, you will love it!! Enjoy!

1 Roma tomato
1 celery stalk
6 baby carrots
1 garlic clove, unpeeled
1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
1 1/2 teaspoons taco seasoning
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 cup tortilla chips, lightly broken
1 cup packed fresh spinach

1. Place tomato, celery, carrots, garlic, bouillon, taco seasoning, and water into the Vitamix in that order
2. Select Variable 1
3. Turn machine on and increase speed to Variable 10, then to high
4. Blend for 7 minutes
5. Reduce speed to Variable 3 and remove the lid plug
6. Add corn, tortilla chips, and spinach
7. Replace lid plug and blend for 10 seconds
8. Soup is ready to serve!!

Bonus: I add crumbled tortilla strips on top of mine to give it a little edge

How easy?!? This recipe makes almost 5 cups of delicious soup! Also, this is a Vitamix recipe so all credit goes to them, maybe one day I'll venture out and create my own recipes!

This past week we had the privilege of hosting part of Zaks family at our home for a few days. His mother, brother, and nephew were all able to come down at the same time and have a nice visit. Nat and Embry (brother and nephew) flew in at 9 on Sunday night, we picked them up and had fun talking and playing at the house that night. The next morning we all corralled in Memaws van (she was so sweet to let us borrow it so that we could all fit into one vehicle) and picked up Joyce from the airport. We enjoyed a huge breakfast from Smith Street Diner and went home to unpack and start our week together. As always, Joyce brought down too much stuff for everybody, she is constnantly going above and beyond for us. I received more amazing Chico's tops and a pair of fabulous earrings, Zaylen and Embry scored a ton of books, clothes, and toys, and the boys got some of their old yearbooks and books from their childhood. She is way too good to us!! We all had a lovely week together! We visited the zoo, went to the science center, ate at some awesome restaurants, and really enjoyed time with each other! Everyone left Friday morning, but they all got to their destinations safely and we are looking forward to seeing them next time!

I don't even have to look at a calendar to know that summer is coming to an end. I can tell by the lesson plans sitting on our coffee table, how my "honey, please do list" is practically bare, and by the flooding of back-to-school sales ads in our mailbox. This is always a part of the year that tends to have higher emotions and a mix of sadness/happiness (you know that weird feeling). While I am glad for my husband to return to work, I sure am going to miss him being home all day. And while he is ready to get back to his kids, I know he will miss being here with us during the day.