Patience and Kindness

Good Year and day to you all!

It has been a long time since I have posted.

Just for a quick update, I am 25 weeks pregnant with my third bundle of joy. We are having a little boy sometime in June.

My daughter is doing fantastic and she is learning and excelling greatly in school.

Joshua is growing up well, and he is quite the rambunctious little guy. But boys will be boys and he is definitely different then when I was raising Jazmine. Terrible two's are hitting hard, when they were barely noticeable with Jazmine.

With all that said...That is kind of why this post is coming about.

My children have felt like a handful lately and I was becoming nervous about having to mother and love one more.

I feel as though I have no time to even really give enough affection to the two I have now. My patience had run very thin these last two months. I felt like I was yelling and upset and rather unorganized more then should be. It was so out of the norm.

I started losing time in reading my Bible, writing my book,  and keeping up with our apartment. Things were just falling apart.

Joshua has been rather wild and very adamant with testing our his boundaries. I was yelling chasing and rushing at him to nap and eat and go to bed...but it was just turning into a power struggle.

He does so well at our friends house. They tell him once and he doesn't put up a fuss, unless I am around. It was insane to me. Like he was Jekyll and Hyde, as my friend jokingly put it. 

So with many prayer requests and advice and just seeking God to jump in...I realized I needed to be more patient. My yelling was stressing me out. Rushing to grab Josh and spank him and put him back in bed 20 times in 8 minutes was not working for either of us. Definitely started effecting Jazmine as well.

So I started taking the calm approach  Started a new nap time and bedtime routine and if he got out of bed I would calmly lead him back to his room, rub his head and state to him that it was naptime/bedtime.

I was still back and forth  from his room to lead him back to bed. But there was no crying, yelling or stress. And slowly the back and forth has dwindled down. 

What came to mind to me today as I walked back and forth today is this:

God is so patient, so kind...He is back and forth with us as we test boundaries and as we disobey. Yet He still takes a calm approach and tries to lead us back onto the right path.

Yes, there are times that I have to be stern with Josh and give him a spank on the butt, when I barely make it down the hall to the living and he is already out of his bed and at his door again.

God has to be stern as well, but it is all in love and the fact that God chooses to be so gracious with us. His people, His creation. (Ephesians 2:6-9)

"The Lord really isn't being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent." (2 Peter 3:9)

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4)

"Be angry, and yet do not sin." (Ephesians 4:26)

"God...slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness: (Exodus 34:6)

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

All these are amazing verses to store up in your heart.

For yourself, your children and others. (Ephesians 4:32)

Much of this has stemmed from the devotional I started. I just started it 2 days ago, but even before that God so lovingly answered my prayers and showed me how to get started. Just following God and how he has done things and reading his Word and all that he laid out for us in the Bible to learn from. It was right in front of me and all I needed to do was let go of my way and follow his way.

If you are a parent struggling or feeling lost or that your attention toward your children is withering away, look into getting the book Love Dare for Parents. Also check out Beyond Bathtime, I read that all they way through it was such a game changer! Being a stay at home mom can put a damper on who you think you are and how the world sees you, but you have purpose and it is the most uplifting thing when you know you are not alone. Great Great book!

Summer is ending an school is near...

Wow! These months just fly by!

Life is just full of surprises and blogging gets pushed aside. 

We recently moved into a lovely neighborhood, yet still in a apartment. We are now close to lots of friends though!!

I am still staying home with the kids. I am loving every moment of it. 

Josh has recently started signing more and he understands so much. It has been great seeing him learn and grow. 

Jazmine was away most of the summer with her father. So I don't have much to say on her part. Other then she now has her own lovely room! Worked many many days and evenings on it while she was with away with her dad. 

Justin and I are doing great. Enjoying our new apartment and one on one time with Josh has been great for both of us. 

Lots of gaming, parks, fish tanks and painting and working. 

My best friend recently had her baby! That was such a great experience to be apart of! I miss her dearly and hope to visit her more often. 

I am still crocheting and I learned how to knit! So much fun being a crafty mommy. But my son still loves to attack my yarn. Hahaha!

I am also working on writing a book!!! It is great so far! 

I do hope to be back on top of blogging and sharing my crafts and ideas again and little hints and tips for just keeping up with the day to day of life. 

Keep your head up and enjoy what left of your summer!

Until next time!

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Bonus pics of Jazmines room

So the previous tenants were to no great at measuring or painting. So I redid her closet space an painted her room. I also recycled old dresser drawers into little box shelves that are on the wall next her bed. I repainted them and hung them on her wall. It was a lot of work. But she squealed with excitement, when she finally came home from her dads, to see her new room.  

Update on our Eating Habits

***better late then never-really old draft post finally being posted***

So it's a New Year! Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and Christmas and that you are enjoying 2014 so far.

Our year started out quite and fun as we dove into a fun new show called New Girl. 

Jazzy recently turned another year older. She is now 7!

She had a very simple birthday at a local shop called Bead Works/ The Gem Den. Fun and simple. 

Well anyways...back to what this post is about. 

No meat November went rather well for us. We are pretty sure that red meat is what flares up Jazmine's eczema and also processed foods. 

(Read here for when and why it started http://threejs-y.blogspot.com/2013/11/no-meat-novemberhopefully.html?m=1)

We try to keep all her foods as closely linked to its natural source as possible. And just a lot of fresh berries and just fruit in general are her to go to food  for a sweet snack now, verses candy. 

Her eczema is clearing up an her skin is so soft now. Can't wait until the pigment of her skin starts coming back. 

I found a wonderful site and the lady of the site has been amazingly informative and helpful. 

http://www.eczema-natural-healing.com

I emailed her and she sent me a big list of questions and she helped me figure out the best way to care for Jazmine's eczema from the inside out through healthy food options.

She also suggested supplements that would help Jazmine heal quickly. I haven't purchased any yet. I am hoping to in the near future.

Our bodies can't break down certain food quickly enough. Those foods start to, in a sense, rot inside us. Our bodies attack them, in some cases, push it out through our biggest organ, the skin. Be it acne, eczema, psoriasis, or rashes, etc.

So our eating habits have changed a lot in the past three years.

Jazmine has had eczema since she was 3 or 4. It flared up like crazy when she turned 5. Before she was 5, I had tried creams, lotions, oatmeal bathes, which were quick fixes. Prescribed creams had steroids in it, bad toxin and chemical, that cleared it up, but once you stopped using it the eczema would come back 10 times worse. Or her body would get used to it and addicted to it and she would need a higher dose. Very scary and not good at all for her body.

Her skin got so bad once it got infected and she also got ring worm, its hard to keep kids from scratching and making stuff like this worse.

Yes! That is what got me into or change of what we consume. I was already on that path topically. Shampoo and cleaners I do a lot of DIY natural home recipes. And got more into researching foods.

So Fruits and Veggies are high in Alkaline and are easy for our bodies to break down. fresh and organic are best, but we don't do organic as much as we liked, we do keep with local produce since we live right around the corner from our central market. Acidic foods are meats and dairy from what I recall. Very hard for the body to breakdown.

So I have been looking into a vegetarian, vegan and juicing diets to help my daughter heal and help our family to become more healthy.

Having kids makes us go at a steady pace and introducing new methods and diets. Cost of organic and juicing machines and also preparing meals is a lot to take on for low income family. But something is better then nothing and as we get more used to it we can see what we can afford and how to work with what we have.

We were so used to boxed meals and fast prep. but it was not good for anyone. Shopping at our local market helped tremendously, since it was cheaper buy the pound there then in our grocery store.

We are hoping to start packing her school lunches and breakfast for her. A lot of her food is prepackage at school. It is free in our area but not as healthy as one would think.

It has been life changing and has been  a lot to learn and a big challenge, but it has been worth it.

Another wonderful site/blog I found was alkalinesister.com they have a wonderful food chart for alkaline foods and also some recipes on juicing alkaline foods.

Here are some photo of her arms and how bad it would get. I don't have any pictures of it when it was red and and overly scabby and sometimes open sores.

Here are a few picture of her skin now. She skin was ruff white and flaky and now its smooth and the color is coming back. 

Sorta healing. She was dressed up for spring school photos. So this is back in March 2014

This I today June 4th 2014

It is amazing see te photos side by side like this. How much she has healed since November 2013! Wow! 

This is proof that eating healthy can do loads of a difference. 

I could cry tears of joy knowing that her skin is finally healthy!

Do you have eczema or psoriasis?

What lengths have you gone to heal it?

Any healthy natural things you know of to help others get healthy?

Do you have a before and after story?

Little Girls

So today after picking my daughter up from school I notice that her eyebrows liked funny...she had snippe three little chunks of hair off her eyebrow. YUP!!!

Last week she was worried about her eyebrows. She said, "Mommy I don't like my eyebrows they are to fluffy."

So as I walked home upset at my daughter. Being that cutting off of hair from her head had happened 2years prior. 

What to do...how to discipline her...

So I told her in the way home, "Jazmine this really isn't funny, you are not to use scissors to cut your hair. That is for mommy or a professional to do." "When you get home you will do your homework and go straight to the corner and no fun things will happen today. You will sit in your room that is all."

After getting home I had her do her homework while I got Joshua ready for his nap. And kept thinking if that was to harsh. 

I came out and asked her to let me take a picture so I could show Justin (dad)

And while I did that I rememeber back about her worrying about they way her eyebrows looked. 

I turned the picture around and asked her if she thought her eyebrow looked better or worse...she said, "worse..."

Then I realized that she need reassurance of who she was and who she didn't need to try to be. 

I told her

"Jazmine you don't need to change anything about yourself. You are smart, beautiful and funny!" I cupped her face in my gently as tears dropped down from her face and I said, "You are loved by you Auntd and Uncles and Daddy and your best friends and Toya and I."

She said, "But other people do it..."

I said, "Jazmine if we were all the same if we did everything the same would that be a fun world?"

"No." She said

"You are who you are and you need to proud of who you are. God created you and you are so fun and awesome and adorable and silly and I don't want you to be like everyone else because then you wouldn't be my Jazmine."

It sucks to know that kids in 1st even before that are already consumed with looks and being so mean and making fun of each other. 

She is such a smart little girl but the world can be tricky and out smart you and confuse you. 

She also noted, "Well mommy what about the girl on the movie with the puffy eyebrows? (Princess Diaires) She changed herself."

I the had to explain that at first she was worried about the what others thought and forgot about her REAL friends. That she ignored her bestfriend and the boy that liked her and even kissed a boy that didn't like her for who she was and that bad things happened when she trusted the three girls that she thought were going to help her but only made thigs worse. That if you change yourself you need to do it for yourself and not because of others. You need to love yourself and know what you are doing and not just do things because someone told you. 

Like the old saying goes, "You wouldn't jump off a bridge because they jumped off a bridge."

Many lessons learned today and I pray that this sticks and that she continues to be her joyous lovely beautiful smart self. 

My Jazmine!

Yesterday

Today

 Why so serious?

Yup, that is not the Jazzy I know. Sad and grumpy and silly eyebrow. 

Good luck to all you parents with Girls. That they will grow up with confidence kindness and love. Show them real beauty is who you are on the inside not the outside. That you need to love yourself and smile and be good and loving to those around you and not judge people. 

Barbie Dolls wedding dresses

So my daughter and her best friend like most girls have barbie dolls. 

I like to make things and I am rather crafty. 

I also very much dislike most modern barbie doll clothes. They are not very modest and horribly portray girls and/or women. So I have had fun making clothes for my daughter and her many Barbies. 

Recently her best friend received a new barbie and both girls begged me to make  their Barbies wedding dresses

So here they are...

DRUM ROLL PLEASE

I did not make a tutorial on this. I did not have time. Plus it was a spur of the moment thing. Literally took my all from 8:30am-1:30pm to finish. My son was crawling on me and wanting my attention...because he always wants my attention when he seems to see that I need to focus my attention else where. Any other day he would just enjoy playing by himself. 

Anyways here is a link to my no sew barbie clothes. 

http://threejs-y.blogspot.com/2013/08/no-sew-barbie-doll-clothes.html

These wedding dresses were sewn though. 

Short update on No meat November

So the past few weeks a have rather well. Jazmine is enjoying her meals more then usual. She even just wanted To eat plain spinach and red leaf lettuce all by itself. A big bowl of it!

I have been experimenting with spaghetti squash. I like to but I don't. It's good but only right after it's cooked. And I you don cook it right it can be to crunchy. 

Well here are some photos of a few meals I have prepared. 

It's so nice to know all I have to do is cut up veggies. No waiting on meat to thaw our. Just olive oil seasonings and veggies and you have a quick meal. 

No touching meat and changing up cutting boards and knives. So quick and simple an delicious. 

Not many picture of it on our plate because I forget after I take a bite and it's to good to stop. Hahha

Fresh garlic,squash, spinach, zucchini, baby Bella mushrooms, green onions, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste and mixed it with pasta. YUM! 

That's what most  of them become. Fresh tomato...wishing our basil plant was more lush right now. 

Well. I will keep you up to date on our No Meat November challenge. Have a great day!

If this is your first time in my page. Here is   My blog post on why we are trying no meat November

http://threejs-y.blogspot.com/2013/11/no-meat-novemberhopefully.html

Bantu Knots and Healthy Hair!

So today I am talking about healthy hair and how I have been caring for my hair for the past 2 years. 

I have been trying to steer away from shampoo and conditioner and just over chemicalized body products. 

Most hair care and body products have chemicals in it that obsorb into our body. We maybe eating healthy and exercising to stay physically fit. But in the end after all that we are still putting harsh chemicals all over our bodies and it gets Into our blood stream and can cause hidden sickness and weakening our bodies over time. 

So I have been in the process of detoxing my body and things around me and as you may have read in my previous blog I am trying to eat even more healthy then before, not just for me but teaching my daughter as well to grow up healthy and eczema free. 

So my hair care routine started out about 2-2 1/2 years ago. My sister who has natural curly hair was looking up No poo shampoo product because most shampoo have sulfate in it. Which can unnaturally dry your hair out. So I started looking into as well and came across sites about using apple cider vinger and baking soda as hair care products. As well as sites about pureeing foods to wash hair with. 

Back before shampoo became a big hit, people washed their bodies and hair with bar soap. But when hard water and soft water issues caused soap to not wash out of hair properly, companies created shampoo and when shampoo dried out hair to much, they created conditioner. 

Our hair, after continued washes with shampoo and conditioner, becomes so used to not having to producer it's own natural oil, sebum. When we don't wash our hair for a few days our hair over produces it causing our hair to look oily and dirty. When it's actually just trying to figure out what the heck is going on. 

So I found an inexpensive, gentle and healthy way to care for my hair. 

Apple Cider Vinager and for a while I was also using Baking Soda. 

One part ACV and four parts water. I also bought some essential oils to mix in to make my hair smell all lovely. 

It's all about messaging and scrubbing the scalp to get your hair healthy and clean. You don't have bubbles and foam to work with when using ACV so it is awkward at first. 

At first I had a horrible transition. My hair was oily and ucky for a few weeks because the sebum had to re-calibrate itself so it was not over producing. 

When I was using baking soda it was drying out my hair a bit to much. So I just prefer not to use it unless I do a coconut oil hair treatment. 

Along with trimming your hair regularly your hair will be lovely and soft and healthy. 

Research it experiment and have fun. I do recommend weaning yourself off of shampoo by watering it down and using less and less of it as well as making sure you have shampoo and conditioner that does not have sulfate in it. A few times a week wash with ACV to get your hair on track. So your hair doesn't go through to much shock. 

I wash my hair every other day or less. My hair stays clean and soft, no overly oily look and no dandruff. I also suffer from psoriasis and I haven't had a case of this since I started!

So with all that said, I am also trying to find inexpensive healthy fast easy ways to style my hair. 

Braids, curls, straightening. 

I enjoy having curly hair and I am also trying to avoid cutting my hair. I get so bored and aggravated by my hair that cutting it makes me feel better but only for a month or so. 

When I was little my mom would do rags curls. Doing that on yourself is very hard. I have also tried pin curls. Also very hard and can come out bad if not done properly.

I am trying to avoid heat damage or adding chemicals to my hair to help it stay all nice and curly. So no perms or curling irons. 

Finally I found a video on cacoon curls and Bantu curls. 

Love both. As my hair gets longer cacoon curls will be easy and also comfy to sleep in. 

So I do Bantu curls for now.  All you need are small hair ties, a comb, brush and a spray bottle to keep hair damp. 

If you want right curls you take small sections at a time. If you want loose wavy curls take bigger sections of hair. 

So here is a video link

http://youtu.be/i1iD759oruA

And here is my Jazzy before and after I did her hair. I did not use two hair ties per Bantu just one. But her hair is longer so it wasn't needed. She slept fine in them. 

How do you do no heat curls?

Any site suggestions?

How do style your hair quick and easy?

Would you or have you tried using ACV or Baking Soda on your hair? If so how do/did you like it?

Do you do any other natural body care?