My Diffuser (and These Two Oils)

I'm a relatively new user of essential oils.  But I will say I have loved my experience so far.

Especially when my kids get a cold.

Because now, at the first sign of stuffy nose, I run my diffuser with the Respiratory Blend (in this case, it is called Breathe) and the Protective Blend (which is called On Guard).  And seriously, the stuffy noses start to clear fast.  For example, my daughter had a stuffy nose about an hour before nap-time.  I started the diffuser, and by nap-time, she was breathing clear through her nose.  Makes all the difference come nap time, let me tell you. 

And I have noticed our colds don't hang around as long.
At least, that's been the case in the past.  So we'll see if that is true this time as well. 

So, yeah...  I'm a fan.  Because I've noticed a difference with the way colds go in this household. 


What are you grateful for today?

My Mom's GPS

It may be sad that my mom has a GPS, and I do not.  Alas, I am practically in the dark ages ;).  I don't even own a Smartphone.

But I'm planning to upgrade soon, which is why I have put off buying a GPS.  I know there's an app for that.  Hahahaha.

Anyway.  I will confess:  I'm a late adopter of technology.  Mostly because I get comfortable with what I have, and I figure if it ain't broken, I don't need to fix it.  Because, usually, the fixing it thing costs more money.  And I'm kinda cheap.

But I digress.  The point is, my mom has a GPS.  And she always lets me borrow it when I ask.  And so Friday, when I went to the Marine Science Center, where I've never been before, I was able to ask her if I could borrow it, and she said yes.  And it got me there!

I love that I don't have to do what I otherwise do and sit down to study a map (google maps is my preference) and then jot down some directions on scratch paper to take with me.  I love that I can just get in the car, plug in the GPS, and enter in my location.  I don't even need to have the address sometimes!  Truly exciting.  It's totally sort of 1984-ish, considering there is a sattellite somewhere tracking my every move...  But so awesome and handy!

Technology is a great thing.  And GPS is pretty much the bees' knees, in my humble opinion.  So here's to my mom's GPS!  And here's to 2016 when I plan to get a Smartphone (and bite the bullet and pay the price) and then get the app for that ;).


What are you grateful for today?

Our Afghan

There is a sort of tradition in my husband's family (he is one of 5 boys) in which my mother-in-law would crochet an afghan for her son and new daughter-in-law when they got married.  Over the years, crocheting has become harder and harder on my mother-in-law's fingers and such an undertaking as this beautiful blanket took great effort for her.  In fact, her sister helped her finish ours so we could have it this past year.

But what a beautiful act of love.  What a precious gift.  And so I am thankful for this treasure.  And thankful (a tad belatedly) for the love and effort given by our mom and our aunt.  What an amazing talent.

And isn't it awesome that it matches our recliner so well :)?


What are you grateful for today?

That I Didn't Get As Sick As the Rest

It's been a fun couple of days in our household.  (That's sarcasm, if you couldn't tell ;)). 

It all started Tuesday night/Wednesday morning when my 2 1/2 year old woke up crying because she'd thrown up in bed.  Strip the sheets, strip the kid, bathe the kid (her hair was matted with the nastiness), re-make the bed, convince the 2 1/2 year old it really is still sleeping time.  Feed her crackers.  Get her to agree to try to sleep if mommy sleeps in her room on the floor.  By this time, it's 1:30, the baby wakes up in the next room, so Mommy gets up to go put him back down and in the 2 minutes she's gone... Yep, little girl pukes again.  And so...  we repeated the process (minus the bath, since it wasn't as bad this time, but still needed new jammies!).

So Wednesday was full of a clear liquid diet and trying to convince a 2 1/2 year old (a very energetic one) that she needs to be still and rest.  Ha!

By Wednesday night, I wasn't feeling so great.  I got the kids down (hubby has been on swing shift) by 9 and got into bed with chills and aches around 9:45.  I was miserable.  And so cold -- like I couldn't get warm.  Baby woke up at 4 to eat.  Then woke up at 5 to puke.  Poor guy.  But by then, I was feeling tons better, and my fever was gone.  And by the time both kids were up for the day at 8 (thank goodness for that!), I felt almost 100% -- just very tired.  So I got a nap in. 

And that's when my husband got sick.  And he has had it worst of all :(.  But I've been well enough to care for everyone, and that is a great blessing indeed.  Because it's awful being sick.  But it's even more awful to be sick when you have to take care of all the other sickies!  So I'm grateful I didn't get as sick as the rest (no pukies for me!).


What are you grateful for today?

That My Husband Got Up with the Baby This Morning

Maybe my little guy is teething.  Because he isn't having such great nights of sleep lately.  He is up every 4 hours or less.  Yuck.

My husband knew how many times I got up in the middle of the night.  And so, when our little guy woke up at 6:30 this morning, my husband (who has to work a late shift) took the baby to the living room and fed him and played with him and let me sleep.  I didn't get up until 8.  It was a beautiful thing. 


What are you grateful for today?

That My Kids Woke Up

So lately, I've been kind of in a funk.  It's not a fun place to be.  And it's not a good place to be.  It impacts everything from the way I feel about myself to my relationships with my husband and my kids.  It also means I haven't dealt with things like no sleep well.

And when you're a parent...  Especially when you're a mom...  Well, lack of sleep comes with the territory.

And yesterday was a morning following a night where my little man had a particularly crappy night.  Which meant I had a particularly crappy (read: sleepless) night.  But I'd gotten him back down around 5:30 and was hoping to get another 2 to 2 1/2 hours of sleep before he woke again, and since my sweet girl had been sleeping in until about 7:30 recently, I thought there was an actual chance it might happen.

But it didn't.

My girl was up at 6:30 and went right into the room where her baby brother was sleeping and excitedly called out to him.  Which woke him up.  And well, I just was grumpy from then on.  Which made my husband grumpy.

I've decided grumpiness is the gift that keeps on giving.

Anyway, around 8:30, we all went down for a much-needed nap:  Daddy and baby boy in our bedroom and Mommy and our sweet girl on the couch.  And as I lay there, I thought about something my awesome friend Andrea had just posted on facebook the day before about gratitude.

In my grumpy state, I wanted to say there was nothing for which to be grateful in regards to losing sleep because my kids wake up early.  But I decided, as I lay there next to my precious little girl, that maybe I should look for the silver lining in even the most annoying of circumstances.  And I forced myself to look for one in that scenario.

And when I did, I actually teared up.  Because here's the silver lining:  my kids both woke up.  Sometimes, somewhere, a mother loses a baby or child in sleep.  And every day my babies wake up, I am blessed.

And so, though it is hard to not get enough sleep day after day.  And though I wouldn't mind it if the baby would sleep through the night or the 2 year old would stay asleep until 8 in the morning...  The truth is, I'm infinitely grateful that my babies woke up yesterday.  And today.  And I pray that I don't ever encounter a day when that isn't true.  I just have to remember that there is generally always a silver lining -- even in the most annoying of circumstances.  I just have to look for it a little harder some days.

And I'm working on that.  Because I believe it will help me get out of my funk :).


What are you grateful for today?

Milo (Pronounced Mee-low) ;)

Okay, so this stuff isn't the greatest chocolate drink mix ever.  My love of Milo is not really about the Milo.  It's about the memories. 

Memories of sitting at the kitchen table at 7229-B Rybicki Road in Cardenas with Brad and Christina.  Memories of our glasses of Milo set before us (probably the first time we ever tried the stuff).  Memories of our -- I don't know: shock?  annoyance?  laughter? -- that the stuff didn't mix in at all.  Like, at all.

And most definitely memories of Brad (ever the comedian), lifting his spoonful of Milo, proffering it to me and saying, "Hila, would you like a bite of my Milo?" 

And memories of the laughter that followed. 

It's why I buy this stuff for him (and myself) every time I go home to Alabama (I can't find it in regular grocery stores up here).  Because, trust me, it's not about the Milo (seriously, the stuff doesn't mix in!  Hence the lovely layer in the pictures above!  And hence Brad's burning question!) ;).


What are you grateful for today?