The Original Skinny Mom

It's so funny to me that all of a sudden there's a blogger who has become quite famous and who also goes by Skinny Mom. Close to 10 years ago when I was pregnant with my son and living in Portland, Oregon I started a little Cafe Press shop that sold mugs, t-shirts, tanks and hoodies with the words "skinny mom" emblazoned on them. I did it as a somewhat passive aggressive way to get back at all of the not-so-skinny moms that would always make comments about how I was too thin and my unborn baby was going to suffer, that I should "eat a cheeseburger", and just give me dirty looks at my birthing classes. I'm skinny. So what?

Everyone in my family is skinny. I DO eat cheeseburgers, often times several days in a row! I never really liked exercising, but just always managed to be thin. After I gave birth to my son I was back in my size 2 jeans within a month. After my daughter was born, not only was I back into my size 2's, I was back to modeling normal sized clothes (not maternity LOL!) 6 weeks post delivery! That's just the way my body works and I hated having to feel bad about it. So there I'd go with my "skinny mom" shirt pushing around a stroller and thinking, if they are gonna hate, then I might as well just wear my skinny loud and proud. ;)

I got over the insecurity of being given snarky remarks about my weight and about feeling self conscious about it when I moved back to Los Angeles, where most moms are fit and even when not, I have noticed they aren't as ready to say mean things about those of us who are smaller sized. Maybe it's the sunshine? Whatever the case may be, my "skinny mom" shirts and mugs are tucked away and I wear shorts now without feeling like I have chicken legs, and am embracing my skinny-fit mom self. I finally have started working out regularly at a CrossFit gym with a group of fantastic moms, I eat organic, Non GMO and use Isagenix supplements and work out shakes/protein because they too are non GMO and the highest quality around (as a matter of fact Isagenix is too good not to share and also makes a GREAT side income for other SAHMs http://morayma.isagenix.com). I have more muscle tone now than I did pre kids although I do wish my boobs would stop heading south so quickly, but time and lack of expendable cash flowage keeps me from surgically perking the girls up. I can live with that, and some good bras. All that aside, I just wish moms, no matter what their size, parenting persuasion, etc. could just bond together and form the village that is so important in order to keep motherhood sane. We need to team up, not snark at each other for crying out loud. Skinny or not, this is a tough job we are undertaking. We are ALL in it together!!

So kudos to the famous Skinny Mom blogger. I should've copyrighted my name before she did! LOL! I just like that another mom who probably went through similar moments of mean-mommyness has found a niche and run with it towards huge success. I may have to try out some of her recipes someday too! ;)

Fighting Off Cold & Flu Season Naturally!

Other moms have been asking me for the past few years how I've been able to keep my kids healthy during the school year and how I reduce the severity of their colds when they do get sick. I am finally going to write it all down....giving my secret witches brew away to the world! LOL! We do not use flu shots in our family, just all of nature's bountiful medicinal goodness. =)

One of the most important things I do to ensure my kids' health in general is to make sure that they get plenty of sleep, excercise, and healthy, clean foods. I buy organic and non GMO and make sure that they take a high quality multi-vitamin that is also whole foods based. Sugar is limited and we use gluten and dairy minimally. We make a habit of washing hands with soap and water after school, activities or just being out and about. I make sure that they stay hydrated with alkaline water also. The more alkaline your body is, the less likely disease will want to settle in it! The kids also get extra magnesium, probiotics, digestive enzymes, and cod liver oil year-round, and once school starts I start my cold & flu season protocol which goes something like this:

*up the amount of Vitamin D that my kids get by way of a non GMO liquid supplement (ask your healthcare practitioner what he/she recommends as a dosage for your own child)

*give one oz of Elderberry Syrup in the morning with breakfast along with a teaspoon of raw, organic honey with cinnamon in it

*give a daily teaspoon of organic coconut oil (coconut oil has antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties and tastes great!)

*up the dosage of Vitamin C my kids get with a separate chewable (non GMO of course!)

*I use Thieves Oil (Germ Fighter essential oil, or On Guard by DoTerra are also great alternatives). I dilute this essential oil blend with organic olive oil and rub it on the soles of their feet in the morning before sending them off to school. This essential oil blend has been clinically proven to ward off over 90% of airborne viruses and bacteria....sounds too good to be true, but it really works!

*add High Vitamin Butter Oil tablets to their daily supplements along with their regular cod liver oil (they work syngergistically) which delivers Vitamin K in one of its most soluble forms and is highly recommended by WAPF (Westn A Price Foundation)

*if I sense that one of the kids may be sniffly or exhibiting the beginning of a cold, I give them 2-3 sprays (twice a day) of Isagenix's IsaMune Plus Spray which contains reishi mushroom, zinc, echinacea, proline-rich polypeptides, and colostrum from strictly non GMO, organic sources and available through Isagenix (http://morayma.isagenix.com)

*another excellent supplement to nip a cold/flu in the bud is Alli-Ultra Allicin extract which is expensive but is a miracle in a bottle.....so far the best prices I've found have been on Amazon....this is garlic extract in its most potent form and can work on anything from a cold/flu virus to skin infections to bacterial infections....it's amazing...at the suspicion of a cold I give them 3 drops twice a day in juice

*my 3rd defense for an oncoming cold/flu is 2 drops of Oil of Oregano in honey....oregano oil is antiviral and antibacterial, yet it is also a hot oil and you pretty much need honey involved unless you have very brave kids! LOL!

*Grapefruit Seed Extract is another great option if the Oil of Oregano is just too "spicy" for your kids....the GSE dilutes well and is basically undetectable in juice and is also antiviral and antibacterial.

*if flu-like symptoms start to pop up, I make sure to always have Oscillococcinum by Boiron on hand. It works!

That's pretty much it! Sounds like a lot to buy and remember, but in the long run it's worth the sacrifice to keep ourselves and most especially our bebes healthy and protected from all the nasties floating around this time of year!

Sleeping With Icepaks

It's not supposed to get THIS hot in the part of Los Angeles that I live in. Seven miles from the ocean, we usually have great breezes coming through even on the hottest days...but for the past three days (and it looks like we have at least another week of this) our old, non air conditioned rental house, might as well be a sauna. I've got icepaks on the dog, surrounding the fishbowl, next to the hamster cage...and for the past two nights my kids have gone to bed cradling towels wrapped around the biggest icepaks I could find at Target. It's THAT hot. So gross. Thank God for chilled Chardonnay to keep this mom halfway sane and patient!! Iced coffee and chilled Chard....yep. Icepaks for everyone else in the fam! ;)

When Coffee Just Does Not Cut It Anymore...

I can't possibly be the only mom out there who thinks she has literally developed a tolerance to coffee...I remember when one cup of joe would wake me up, two cups would REALLY wake me up and if I had a third sometime later in the day I was solid until around 11pm. Not so much anymore. I still LOVE having my 2 cups in the morning...the smell, taste, feeling of a hot mug in my hands....no better way to start the day. Although I would rather be able to start the day on my own terms not being woken up by Thing 1 and Thing 2 jumping on top of me and pulverizing my ribs. However, coffee is just not waking me up anymore. AT ALL. I could literally drink two large mugs and go right back to sleep. Am I alone in this? Anyone? Anyone? I've tried energy drinks but can't stand to put all of that chemical waste into my body, and don't love the weird spazziness that ensues...the 5 Hour Energy shots do absolutely nothing for me other than to make me gag. There has got to be hope for this ol' bat....school starts in 3 weeks and my mornings are about to get earlier, busier, crazier, and and and....OMG!!!! I think I am going to order a case of Isagenix e+ Natural Balanced Energy Shots....totally natural, and promise to deliver a nice wake-up....with the added benefits of adaptogens which help our bodies deal with stressors...and lord knows I could use some of that too. I'll still have my coffee, yeah....it's a comfort drink....but this mom needs something that packs a punch....which makes me less likely to want to punch a wall in the wee hours of the morning. ;)

I Almost Ran Away Today

Today was one of those days in parenting history that had me salivating profusely over the thought of buying a one way ticket to Kuala Lumpur and never looking back. Anyone who knows me, knows that I've had one hell of a roller coaster ride with the boy. I won't go into detail, because I just don't want to put out into the Universe too much of what we've overcome with this child, but suffice it to say that the fact that I am not locked up in a padded cell rocking myself in a corner in a puddle of my own urine is pretty awesome. It will also help you understand why my rants are as irreverent as they are. Ha. So yeah, that...that's why on days like today, some of the PTSD that I developed from countless years of getting my boy healthy and well comes raging back like a bison on steroids. Crazy thing is that it wasn't even the boy that set me off today. It was the girl! The easy one! The one who all of the teachers love and adore! The polite, sweet, articulate, little princess!! Today she became WICKED, and I mean green and with a cape and tights on...broomstick too. This little butterfly of mine has as of late begun to test her boundaries with yours truly in way that I would've never dared to do with my own mom. I grew up with the fear of my mom's shoe getting thrown at my head, or the wooden spoon upon my bum. Oldschool Cuban parenting at its finest. My child has no idea what life in fear of la chancleta is like...and now I am starting to think she may need to spend some time this summer at Camp Abuelita. My girl is 6....and today she turned into a hybrid of a 2 year old and 13 year old going through puberty. At a local carnival, and in front of her friends and their moms she decided to storm off with arms folded tightly across her chest because the hula hoop contest "did not have the right kind of hula hoops and that is so not fair and I am so mad and I hate this". She stormed around the playground until she decided to come undone on her knees and start wailing...you'd think someone had stolen her puppy. So I walked over to her and grabbed her hand...that was that, we were in no way going to stay and commenced to walk her to the car. When she realized that we were leaving she grabbed onto the nearest handrail and started crying even louder at which point I had to lift her, and carry her away to the car....holding a rabid raccoon and a dozen jellyfish would've been easier and more pleasant of an experience. Trust. By the time I got to the car my lower back was wrenched and my blood had all but evaporated from boiling so much. I am not some doormat mom, so this totally caught me off guard...like I said, this is my easy kid. By the time we got home she was fine and singing. Me, not so much. I placed her in her room and took all of my haywire stressballness and poured it into purging several closets of old clothes and toys. And that's when I saw it....my old travel backpack....sitting way up high in the closet just staring at me fornlornly as if asking why I had forsaken it for a life of snot, tantrums, bad attitudes and whining.....and I stood there for a second fantasizing about packing a beach towel and a bikini (maybe some flip flops and a bottle of SPF) and running away. But then the girl walked out of her room with a picture she had drawn and a note saying sorry and my heart and mind climbed back out of the backpack and into my body. I was still pissed at the kid, but I'd be sticking around....maybe I'll just go to Vegas for a girls' weekend one of these days instead.

Dusting Things Off....

Wow...it's almost unreal that the last time I posted on this blog was in 2011. What the hell was I doing for the past two-point-something years? Aside from moving, parenting, doing enough research (of which fruits I will share in later posts) to merit me worthy of some sort of FBI medal of honor, moving again, then moving out-of-state, adopting a dog, losing two cats to the inevitable throes of old age, doing some modeling, doing some TV commercialing, becoming hopelessly and happily addicted to Pinterest, starting up and failing miserably at my Scentsy business, and trying to somehow stay sane in the midst of it all....I guess I wasn't doing all that much. Ha. Ha.....Ha. Seriously though, I have missed my writing days and am all too happy to get back on the blogging bandwagon. Went into semi-retirement from the modeling world and have decided to put my old gray matter back to good use. I have been missing this therapeutic vomiting of words via my keyboard...and lord knows I need some therapeutic love in the mother-hood. So I am back. Same old irreverent rants, some really good information, some sharing of knowledge I've gathered over the years (my kids are 6 and 9 now....how and when did THAT happen?!?!?), and maybe now and then an annoying paid post. It's good to be back. =)