apples and pumpkins

I just love the weather here. Seriously, it can be rainy and dreary all morning- and then the sun comes out and dries it all up! Saturday was one of those rainy days- in fact according to the weather report it was supposed to rain ALL day. I was kinda bummed about it because Saturdays are our only day to go to the pumpkin patch. And I've just been itching to go!

That morning it rained and rained. We went to T's soccer practice and poor guy had to run around in that cold rain for an hour...(he didn't seem to mind too much though!) while Charlotte and I huddled in our tent shade and watched. It was actually kind of miserable for us girls ;) We don't like being cold and wet!

We came home and put the kiddos down for naps, and while they were sleeping something amazing happened. The sun burst out through the clouds and all those gorgeous fall colors were vivid once again! Our apartment was flooded with yellow sunshine, so I said to Jonathan "We are so going to the pumpkin patch when they wake up!"

Before we got our pumpkin patch on we headed south to pick up our apple order. There's a family that lives in a big yellow house on a hill out in the country, and they have animals and a garden and a food storage shed and all that. My dream life, basically. But what this family is famous for is their homemade apple cider. Every year they order a ton (literally, a ton in weight) of apples- and what they get is over 20 different varieties. They throw them all together into their antique cider press from the 1700's and out comes the most delicious, most pure cider you've ever tasted. They have a handful of people that buy apples from them at a steal of a deal, and I was so grateful that she let us in on that. I'm so excited to make applesauce with my 40 lbs. of fresh apples! We also bought a few gallons of that delicious cider. Sooooo good.

The best part was when Jonathan turned the press by himself. It was very cool to see how actual cider is made. The quartered apples get thrown in, core and all, into the press then mulched up  into a bucket. That bucket is then placed under the presses thingy and it squeezes all the juice out!

Talmage immediately initiated himself into their clan of children. It was so cute how they filled up the buckets of apples for us. Granted, a lot of them had worm holes and bruises but oh well :) Nothing says organic better than wormy apples, right?

The pumpkin patch was so much fun, too. I loved that it was out in the country and that there were soooo many pumpkins. Plus, it was free! Every pumpkin cost a dollar regardless of size, so we kinda went crazy. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with all these pumpkins we brought home. Anyway, the kids loved it!

^^^So I took this picture with my SLR, but Jonathan- standing behind me- took one of his own with his phone. Um, his is clearly better. Haha.

See? Phone: 1. Camera: 53 or so...

There were also duck races and a tiny corn maze for kids, along with a hayride and other fun things! We definitely want to go to another one soon. There are so many in this area its hard to choose!

 Unfortunately, I had $15 cash in my back pocket, and it must have fallen out while we were taking pictures. I hate when that happens! I always seem to lose things in the dumbest ways...finding green cash in a massive pumpkin patch of green and orange...yeah, pretty much impossible! Just like that time when I lost my brand new white iphone in the white sand on a long stretch of beach (it was truly a miracle when we found it). Anyway. Whoever found it eventually had a lucky day at the pumpkin patch! They can just consider it our generous donation to the patch for having such a good time ;)

Halloween is approaching!

It took me a little while to get into the Halloween spirit this year, and I'm not sure why. Usually I LOVE this holiday and I have decorations up before October 1st, but for whatever reason I just "wasn't feeling it" until a third of the month in.

Probably because we've had certain stresses about things and have not been getting a lot sleep (thank you teething and thank you potty training), and it didn't seem high up on my list of priorities. But yesterday I decided to take break from feeling sorry for myself and put up some decorations. And you know, it really lifted my mood. Especially when the kids woke up from their nap and saw all of it for the first time- Talmage got super excited over all things Halloween, which made me excited too!

You see that sparkly orange pumpkin? Charlotte wasted no time in sinking her teeth into it. Good thing it was like a dollar...

The witch cameo is my favorite. I found the frame at Goodwill and knew it would be perfect for something. And I'm really liking gold stuff right now...

Talmage helped me pick out what shapes to put in the frames. He really wanted a ghost, a spider, and bats! Love that kid.

All the prints were free online. I especially love the chalkboard ones. And I just realized a temple recommend in this picture...haha. just ignore that (we recently got them renewed...I can't wait to go! It's been way too long.) Oh, and a tv and wii remote. wow. I guess I should improve my picture staging skills ;)

 Gold candlesticks from thrift store. Love them!

The witch broomstick is a fun touch, I think. Talmage tried to sweep our kitchen with it...haha.

And this is the spider that lives outside our window. We call him Mr. Spider. And we spend way too much time watching his every move...even watching him when he sleeps. So I guess we're just as creepy as he is. ha!

It officially feels like October now.

:)

the book that changed my life

A few posts back I mentioned this book I'm reading. A commenter suggested I talk a little more about it, and I think that many of my friends would find this information helpful even if they never care to read it. I know this topic is totally different that anything I've posted about before, but for a few days I've been feeling like I need to share this information. So- brace yourself! :)

To be honest, I'm a little infuriated with myself for not learning about this stuff earlier. I could have saved myself from years of outrageous mood swings, random hot flashes, suppressed libido (sorry, it's gonna be one of those brutally honest posts..) and even depression.

I discovered this book on a blog that I follow, on this post of hers. The title of her post caught my eye because lately my husband and I have been learning more about the meat-industry and all of its artificial-hormone horrors (but I won't go into that right now...). We haven't stopped buying meat from the store, but we've definitely cut back and I now choose the "organic" labeled meat when I can. Anyway, one of the first sentences was the one that grabbed my attention the most. It read:

"I was recently baffled to learn that one oral contraceptive contains the hormonal equivalent of eating 3,431 lbs of hormone-injected beef. Every day!"

I sat there in shock, my jaw dropping.  First of all, I felt disgusted with myself. I've been on the "low-dosage" pill for years. Secondly, I felt right away an impression to read further. This was actually something that's weighed heavily in my heart and mind for quite a while. I kept feeling like there had to be a better way to avoid pregnancy than all of the modern forms of birth control, but since I was scared to death of getting pregnant again I kept taking it, night after night.

Now, birth control is totally a personal choice. And I'm not judging ANYONE for what method they choose. But, for me, I knew there needed to be a change. I could feel that the pill was changing me, affecting my every action and mood. I had dismissed the thought over and over again that it was actually the pill, but upon reading that post I knew that "low-dose" meant nothing.

After I read through her entire post I followed the link to this woman's story. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that natural family planning was not only MORE effective than birth control, but also that it was practically FREE and totally convenient to my busy mom schedule. At that point I was all in.

I bought the book and from the day it arrived my life was changed forever. I couldn't get my nose out of it--it was just SO informational and interesting. I have learned so much about my body and why it does the things that it does. I can't believe that I thought I knew about gynecological health before...this book was so eye-opening! And the great thing about it is that there is something in it for everyone- whether you are trying to avoid or achieve pregnancy, or you want to understand why you menstruate then ovulate like clockwork each month, or if you have an unresolved fertility issue. It covers everything. And it breaks it all up in chapters-- I've actually only read two chapters (the ones regarding using NFP).

IN A NUTSHELL:

The birth control method discussed in the book is the Fertility Awareness Method- or FAM- and its the most comprehensive form of Natural Family Planning- or NFP. The way it works is that you track THREE fertility signs each day. The third sign is actually optional and I don't do it, but the first two are the most important and they alone let you know when you are fertile. On these "fertile days" you can choose to abstain or use contraception. It's usually a span of 5-6 days. So, for me, its totally worth it to not be on the pill every day.

I'll go ahead and answer some questions you might have right now... :)

What are the three fertility signs? 
 Waking temperature, cervical fluid, and cervix position. The first two are vital.

When do you check them?
For temperature, I check it orally every morning. It's important that you temp at the same time every morning, before you get up to do anything. For cervical fluid, I check every time I go to the bathroom and it takes me about .2 seconds. And for cervix position, I don't check this one but it would be best to check before you get in the shower or before you go to bed.

How do you keep track of them?
Every day I chart each sign. The chart is in the book and I just made copies of it, one for each month. It's an easy to understand chart and it helps you see how your cycle progresses. I keep my chart in the nightstand, along with a pen and my thermometer.

Does doing this every day gross you out?
Not at all. At first it was a little weird but it soon turned into more fascinating that gross.

My husband is an integral part of this method. We chart my cycle together and it's brought us closer as a couple. Often he'll nudge me when my 7 am. alarm goes off, and then stick the thermometer in my mouth. We talk about my cervical fluid daily (way more than I ever thought was appropriate), and it helps him understand when we're "good" and when we need to be careful.

Since going off of my pill the difference has been like night and day. I am happier. I enjoy being a mom more. Crazy mood swings are a thing of the past. I appreciate my body and how it works. My relationship with Jonathan is about 10x better. I could go on...it's truly an answer to many emotional prayers.

I hope that at least one person who reads this can look into it and be benefited in some way.
If anyone wants to know more, feel free to FB message me. I love sharing this method with others who may feel as desperate as I did.

And if you're still "iffy" about it, just read these book reviews. :) And don't be afraid to try something new! I've only been doing this for a few months now and already the charting has become habit.

love you all!

Autumn decor

So I haven't put up a lot of fall decorations really. Living in an apartment cramps my decorating style. I want to have a big white mantel over a fireplace to hang stuff from and an entryway table to hold lots of pumpkins but that's just not possible right now :(

All I can really do is hang a wreathe up,

put some stuff on my table,

and then some more very light-weight stuff on my goodwill shelves up high on our wall.

That's about it. I've since added some white pumpkins and these little jars on my table. I'll spare you more pictures, but they look pretty cute. I love Fall decor, and just about everything associated with Fall. I was going through our old pictures from the last 4 years this week and realized that I take way more pictures in the Fall than during any other season. So get ready! haha.

But, seriously, I apologize in advance ;)

Our household has welcomed the new season with sickness. This last weekend was no fun....even though it was only the kids who were sick, we all felt tired and miserable. I think they're getting over it a little now, but there's still snot everywhere and lots of incessant coughing. My original plan for this weekend was to go apple picking, make caramel apples, buy some new candles, bake a peach cobbler crisp, perhaps visit a pumpkin patch...and we did none of that! haha. You gotta love how such magical plans get ruined by a few colds.

Needless to say, we're sure spending a lot of time indoors doing nothing more than playing with toys, watching tv, and being cranky. I am ready to go OUTSIDE now :)

the ME that I am

Now that Jonathan has had a "real" job for five or so months, we are able to use our awesome health insurance. I am extremely grateful for this because we have both been insurance-less for oh, a few years. It is a miracle that we were able to get by with nothing at all. The kids have always been covered by the welfare of the state, and that's been very helpful. Even I had medicaid in Idaho but it only covered pregnancy-related stuff. It was such a blessing (having babies is NOT cheap) but I have so many more, non-pregnancy related issues.

In the last few weeks I have taken full advantage of our insurance, and after many doctor appointments I've learned a few things:

1. My vision has slightly worsened, which I didn't think was possible. Without my contacts/glasses I am truly blind. Hopefully Lasik will fix that (though I'm not getting it anytime soon). I also have a retinal coloboma in my left eye but it is no threat right now. The good part of all of this is that I get to buy a new pair of glasses! I've had my eye on a few different pairs ;]

2. I finally have a name for the little bumps all over my arms. Ever since we moved to Oregon the bumps have gotten progressively worse. Its called keratosis pilaris and apparently its common- affecting 50% of the population. I've been getting more & more self-conscious of wearing short-sleeved shirts because it has gotten so bad. Turns out there's no treatment for it but a few things make it better. I've found the best solutions to be an "alpha-hydroxy" lotion in the morning and coconut oil before bed. I already love coconut oil for the kids so it's really no problem using it on myself!

3. Ever since I had Charlotte, I've been having chronic pains in my feet. Even walking hurts. Now, a year and a half later, I decided I need some answers. It turns out that I have over-pronation, which explains why running didn't work out for me. It got so painful I couldn't stand it...often over-pronation can lead to shin splints and plantars fasciitis, both of which I felt I was experiencing. The good news is that with some proper shoes and orthodics I CAN run again! I was so happy to hear this, because I've been wanting to fall into the runner's groove for a while. Plus, I'll enjoy walking around with my family when we go places. And secretly I'm excited to have a good excuse to buy fancy tennis shoes :]

This isn't the end of my health issues, but it's what I have learned so far. I've also realized a few other things:

Although my body is far from perfect, I am still so grateful to have it. I know that regardless of any current or future problems that I have or my children have, we are made in the image of our Heavenly Father.  Our bodies are temples- they are sacred and they are perfect. I am far from my ideal weight, I do not have perfectly smooth hair, and my fingers and toes may be abnormally stubby-- but I am ME.

I don't say it often enough (or feel it), but I do love the ME that I am. 

I am also so thankful for modern medicine and technology. It is wonderful what doctors can discover with the tools in their trade. We are a blessed generation.


On a slightly different note, there is a book that I've been reading called "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". It's mostly about natural family planning but I have been astounded by the science of gynecology. I'm surprised that, as a woman, I knew so little about my own body before reading this book. It just confirms to me that we women are COMPLETELY AMAZING- regardless of what our body shape or hair type is, etc. Because every single woman has the same inner workings going on in such a rhythmic, beautiful way. (If anyone wants to know more, let me know!)

As I've become more aware of my body and tried to understand the delicate balance of all things in it that work together, I've gotten more curious about my health in general. I know I need to work on a lot of things, mainly diet & exercise. I'm excited to start implementing some changes and creating a happier me :] There is NO time like the present!