Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Endless summer....

Hey, yup, Hi there. It's been awhile - how are you?

Well, we've reconnected here at the Smith house. Our hero is back in action at his new job! We love having him home & the adjustment was much smoother than I expected.

My big kid has finished school for the summer & we've just returned from a quick trip to New York. Ever have one of those things that you *really* didn't want to do, but once you did it turned out 100% better than you expected? Yeah - I am blessed to say that was this trip. I dreaded the air travel to get there & staying in a hotel (ugg!). The air travel was only slightly painful (they misplaced our airplane and we had to wait SEVEN hours for a new one to arrive, all while trying to get a 16 month old to nap in a baby carrier in a busy airport!). The hotel was a bit dated and musty and they messed up our room reservation which we had to argue to change. On the other hand - I did spend an incredible time with my family saying goodbye to my sweet grandma! It was fun to catch up with all my cousins! Saratoga Springs had one additional surprise in that I got to reconnect with an old friend from high school (you know you're old when you say the words reconnect & old friend in the same sentence!). All in all a successful Smith family adventure. On the trip home we made a life changing decision: so take a seat here it comes...

WE . ARE . BUYING . AN . RV

Ok, caught your breath? Yep. You read that right. We are in the final moments of closing the deal. So much for that new car I was banking on...we just spent all that money on a tiny house on wheels! I am totally pumped. No more bad diners, no more nasty hotels, no more leaving the dog at home to fend for himself or putting him in a kennel! We're talking vacation freedom baby... the open road, screaming kids and a drooling, nervous wreck of a dog. Doesn't that just sounds amazing? Hahaha!

In other news; I wanted to share a story about some other life changing events in our life. My darling big kid has struggled with attention issues since she was my sweet little kid. In the 1st grade we made the hard choice to use some prescription medication to help her deal with these issues. Those of you who *know* me will know that was a hard choice for us. Since that moment I have been exploring other options for her. About 8 months ago we went *mostly* gluten free. That helped immensely! About 6 months ago a friend of mine asked me if I would be interested in using essential oils to deal with the issues. I agreed, got them and have NEVER looked back. In the past 6 months I have learned so much about the use of essential oils for not only her symptoms, but for nearly every aspect of our lives (bear with me, the story will come full circle). I did some research and bought some additional oils & made my big kid her own personal blend. We use them morning & evening, with some applications in between. At our once a month doctors visit he said the most amazing thing; "see you in 60 days"! Whoa. That is huge progress but the next words out of his mouth were even better; "I think you can go medication free this summer & see how it goes." WOOOHOOO! I am doing something right here folks! It's been 12 days of no meds and things are smooth! Now, I'm not gonna sugar coat it - there's been a time or two so far I thought I might run away from home (just kidding!) but on the whole it's been smooth sailing! If you have a kiddo who struggles with ADD, ADHD or something else on the Autism spectrum - please reach out & I would be more than happy to share EXACTLY what we are doing to mitigate the symptoms! It's a process, but being off the medication is such a blessing...and makes for a much happier mommy & kiddo!! Now for the full circle part; remember the plane rides? Remember the long wait in the airport? I expected complete meltdowns from both my lovelies...what I got were completely calm, composed children who (with the help from a roller bottle full of essential oils) were better than I ever could have imagined. I have to celebrate this victory because I feel it's been a long time coming. I know my beautiful kids are *the* best kiddos ever, and they just proved it!! Parenting score!!!! 

Alrighty folks, that's it from here. I hope that your summer is off to a great start!!

Ps. personal note; very little progress on the weight loss program! BUT I have conquered some thyroid issues so I am hoping to make some progress soon!

God Bless from my imperfect mess....