The Faint Line on the Pregnancy Test

The Faint Line | Boholistic Mom

Many times I have brushed this experience off as wishful thinking.  Only who would ever wish the pain that I have felt over the years remembering that day?

Just a Faint Line

I lived in Gulfport, MS at the time.  I had a three year old beautiful boy.  I had an internship at a wonderful church.  I had a husband who went to work and hurried to come home to me each day.  It was a rich time in our lives.

Having had one child, we hoped to have two children.  At least.  We had been trying almost two years, but we weren’t really worried.  These things take time, right?

Each month came and I hoped and I wished and I became excited.  This will be the month!  Surely!

Each month left and my hopes were dashed.  At times, I felt almost a depression.

Then . . . one month I was late, so I took a pregnancy test.

It was a faint line, but it was a line!  I took a picture of it just to prove to myself that it was really a line.

But when it is that faint of a line, you wait.  You don’t rush into the doctor.  You wait a few days and you take another test.  I waited a day.  Maybe two.

My period came instead.

I went to the doctor to ask them what had happened.  They didn’t say.  They just shrugged it off.  They made me feel small and insignificant.  And most of all, they didn’t bother explaining anything.  Rather than giving me what I needed, they just pushed me away and avoided the entire situation.

I asked around to those friends I […]

By |September 22nd, 2015|Brooke S., Natural Fertility and Childbirth, Natural Lifestyle|5 Comments
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How to Discipline Your Child

Last week, I had the opportunity to go to a Mommy’s Drop-In with my church and hear a seasoned mother speak on discipline.  Can I just tell you that before this point I had never been taught specifically how to discipline my child by a mother who has children who are grown up and have chosen to continue their walk with the Lord?

I had been given tips.  Oh, so many tips.  By new mothers, by mothers with young kids, by mothers with teenagers, by mothers with older kids, and finally, I’d been given a few tips from seasoned mothers who emulated Christ to their children and their children chose to follow after Christ.  How do we make sense of all these tips?

Then there are books.  Oh, so many books.  Some books say to spank your children, some books say not to spank your children.  Some books say give your children choices in order to avoid conflict, some books say your job is to be their parent not their friend, so bring on the conflict!  I’m not sure about you, but I get some mixed messages from both Christian parenting books and the rest of the parenting books.  Why can’t they agree?

After hearing this amazing woman of Christ teach about discipline, I don’t feel confused any more.  I feel that the Bible is clear on how we are to raise up our children.  We too often look to momma tips or to books for the answers of how to discipline and we don’t go to God’s Word.  Let me spend some time taking you through what my new wise friend, Toma, shared last week.

How to Discipline Your Child

Discipline Is Training

Discipline is consistent and continual. […]

By |July 29th, 2015|Brooke S., Mom, Natural Lifestyle|1 Comment
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Cloth Diapers 101: Prefolds

Cloth Diapers 101: Prefolds

Though the world of cloth diapers can seem overwhelming, I’ll try to make my explanation as simple as possible.  Tons of information exists about diapering with prefold cloth diapers, but I am going to cover the basics that will help you to get started.  Still, I will try not to miss anything helpful!  Please post a comment asking questions if I missed something.

Keep reading in this post to discover:

diaper sites, when to start, which prefold to use, how many prefold to buy, how to hold prefold together, what diaper covers to buy, and more!

Diaper Sites

I like two cloth diaper sites in general.

The green mountain diapers have prefolds that are color coded by size with shipping at $4.95 for orders up to $75.00. Abby’s Lane has free shipping.

When to Start

Starting to use cloth diapers right after a baby’s preemie stage is ideal.  Newborn diapers are used for a short time, but using the newborn size is a real money saver since they go through so many diapers.  This is also an investment if you will be having more children in the future.

Cloth Diapers 101: Prefolds | Boholistic Mom

Which Prefolds to Use

We used the orange prefolded cloth diapers (sold by Green Mountain Diapers) for our son as a newborn, then we transitioned to the yellow striped cloth diapers.  We decided on the unbleached Indian prefolds, the unbleached absorb more than bleached and the Indian are softer than the Chinese.

How Many?

Newborn Prefolds

Starting out with the orange prefolds, I went through plenty of diapers a day.  You will be able to diaper with 24 cloth diapers, but having up to 30 would be convenient. […]

By |June 10th, 2015|Brooke S., Mom, Natural Lifestyle|0 Comments
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Join Young Living Essential Rewards Program

Benefits of Essential RewardsEssential Rewards: Why Join?

When you sign up with Young Living as a Wholesale Member, you have the option of joining YL’s Essential Rewards Program.  When I first joined, this confused me so much!  As I filled out the information on the screen, Young Living had these Essential Rewards Kits that were upwards of $100.  I had so many questions!

“Do I need to buy these to be a part of the Essential Rewards program?”

“Why are the kits so expensive?”

“I thought I only needed to buy $50 a month to be in the Essential Rewards Program . . .”

In this post you will learn about . . .

essential rewards kits, how to join Young Living’s essential reward program, how to reach 50 PV, and why to reach 100 PV for essential rewards

Essential Rewards Kits

Young Living Offers three Essential Rewards Kits when you sign up with Young Living.

Everyday Oils Essential Rewards Kit

Essential Oil Kit

 

The NingXia Red Kit

Ningxia Red ER

 

The Thieves Kit

YL ER Kit

 

The purpose of immediately joining the Essential Rewards program with a kit is to jump start your Essential Rewards Points and to jump start your Young Living collection.

Do you need to buy this kit to be a part of Essential Rewards?  No.  You can join at ANY point after signing up.

Joining the Program

I chose to join the Essential Rewards Program after I signed […]

By |January 18th, 2015|Brooke S., Holistic Remedies, Lifestyle Tips|0 Comments
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Yearly Goal Sheet Printable For 2017

The new year is a fantastic time for reflecting and thinking about your next yearly goals.  Because of this, I am giving away a New Years Yearly Goal Printable.  You may not know this, but I am not just a Boholistic Mom, I also design printable PDFs over at Designing Life on Etsy.  In addition to eating well and teaching others how to cultivate a home full of traditions and real food, I love home organization and helping others get their lives in order.  Life is often more pleasant when you can be who you want to be on purpose.  Our houses and lives can become on a permanent pause when we have no idea where we are heading!

Thus today for the New Year’s holiday, I offer you a New Years Printable as a gift to get you started.  Start your goals out right this year by making intentional goals.  Enjoy!

New Years Yearly Goal Sheet Printable

Having trouble downloading?  Try this –> link.

Happy New Year!!!!

Tips for Planning Your Goals

  • Pray about your goals before you set them.  God’s plans are even better than our plans!
  • Consider the order of priority for your goals.  These are set in an intentional order, but is this the order you currently have these set in for your life?  Does God come first in your life?  Do you set your relationship with your husband before your children?  This can be very important for the survival of your marriage.  Do you set the condition of your home before other priorities in […]
By |December 31st, 2014|Brooke S., Home, Natural Lifestyle|0 Comments
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Companies Who Do and Don’t Ship FPO/APO/DPO

Ship FPO | Boholistic Mom

In 2012, my address was an FPO address.  I am a Boholistic Mom, but my husband wears a uniform.  He serves his country in the United States Navy.  I am a military spouse and I am proud to serve my husband as he serves the United States of America.

Many military members and military families become stationed overseas while they are a part of the military community.  Before we leave our home country to move overseas, we know that we are sacrificing time with our families and some of our American conveniences in order to stay together as a family.  We may have to buy transformers to make our appliances work, buy new bulbs for our lamps, and have to learn how to hang clothes out to dry because the electricity cost is so high in other countries.  These sacrifices we gladly make, but some we shouldn’t have to make.  We have access to the USPS through our local bases.  We live overseas, but we can send things home and we can receive packages from our families and from companies in the states.

We’ve found that many companies are fully willing to ship to FPO (Fleet Post Office), APO (Army Post Office), and DPO (Diplomatic Post Office) addresses.  These companies take the time to fill out the customs forms and allow us access to our American goods.  We can’t buy everything from the states, but these companies help us to get what we need to care for our families.  Unfortunately, not all companies are so kind.  We’ve found some companies that add hefty charges to FPO/APO/DPO orders because they will have to fill out customs forms and take their packages to the post office.  I’m glad they […]

By |August 24th, 2014|Brooke S., Natural Lifestyle, Travel|95 Comments
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Squatty Potty Review by Boholistic Mom

Squatty Potty Review | Boholistic Mom

Alright, let’s face it ladies. We all do it. While many of us prefer to do our business at home or at least do it in private, we all have to take care of it. Some of us try to hurry our business along by eating a little more fiber or trying a magnesium supplement, but it all comes out in the end. If you haven’t figured out the topic of this post . . . you are really inept in potty humor.  Today, I’m talking about . . .

poop.

Yeah. Not extremely glamorous, but hey it’s got to get done.

This is very much a sales post and I’m completely going to introduce you to something that if you buy, I’d make a little affiliate money from in the process. I’m just being honest. I have no problem with this, but if you do, now you know. Still, I don’t sign up to sell things if I hate them and really I only advocate products that I believe in.

I believe in this product.

About a year ago, I was surfing the web for different natural cures and solutions for . . . constipation. It was one of those days and honestly, I wanted solutions. Then I stumbled upon a post reviewing The Squatty Potty. Let me admit, I laughed for a good five minutes when I saw the picture of the squatty potty and thought in my head, “are these people serious?” But they are and it totally makes sense AFTER you finish laughing.

Say 200-500 years ago, we didn’t all have toilets. We either had a forest or a […]

By |August 23rd, 2014|Brooke S., Lifestyle Tips, Natural Lifestyle|2 Comments
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My Real Food Timeline – How It All Started

Real Food Timeline

My Real Food Timeline

I started this Boholistic Mom website in 2013 to reach out to my friends, family, and any of those who were interested in real food like I was.  Yet my real food timeline and journey started many years before that point.  So many people get bogged down and frustrated when they think about all the different changes they could made and maybe should make, but when you realize that life is a process it isn’t daunting . . . it’s about learning and growing.  Walk with me through my life and how I changed and grew into the Boholistic Mom I am today.

1992-1998Inhaler: My Real Food Timeline | Boholistic Mom

  • Suffered with asthma and allergies

2000

  • Realized I was lactose intolerant after having problems every day at 1 p.m. after having milk at lunch

2000-2006

  • Had vaccinations containing heavy metals before college and before going on a trip to South Africa

2006Boxed Meal: My Food History | Boholistic Mom

  • Married my husband, James
  • Picked up my husband’s Diet Coke habit
  • Started “cooking” for our family . . . by box and by freezer meals

2007

  • Diagnosed with IBS by a Gastroenterologist
  • She never was asked what I was eating or drinking . . .
  • Began to cut out high fructose corn syrup

2008Soda: My Real Food Timeline | Boholistic Mom

Modern Childbirth: My Story

Modern Childbirth: My Story | Boholistic Mom

7.19.2016 – Update to my story here – “Redeeming My Birth”

Before getting pregnant, going through nine months eight months of carrying a child, having my water break, and ending up in the hospital, I really thought that childbirth was straight forward.  You got pregnant, you grew a basketball, and you popped that sucker right out after 9 months.  I knew there was a little pain behind it at the end, but women have been “birthin’ babies” for centuries.  With all the medical knowhow that we have these days, why shouldn’t my baby’s birth go well?

Soon, I discovered something . . .

“I don’t know nothin’ ’bout birthin’ babies!” –  Prissy, Gone with the Wind

It all started with my water breaking.  I was getting ready to go to work at my Decorating Consultant job with JCPenny’s and I ran to the bathroom.

Basically, I heard water hit . . . then I peed.  My water broke!!!!  Of course, I had to be home alone that day.  My husband had to be at training a couple states over.  So I called the only friend who had offered to come drive me to the hospital (because no one else offered a whole month early, who would think of it?).

I happened to pack my hospital bag up two days prior.  Somewhere in my head I must have known.  Before I left I called my husband who was heading to his […]

By |June 16th, 2014|Brooke S., Natural Fertility and Childbirth, Natural Lifestyle|3 Comments
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The Unsettled Mom

The Unsettled Mom | Boholistic Mom

Settling.  What an interesting word, right?  Settling down, to settle, unsettling, or settling up.  As American’s we are even familiar with the term “settler”; the American pioneers who settled in the land west of the original colonies.  The original German work setle was literally a place to sit, a seat.  Yet with all these perfectly adequate definitions of the word settle, we have a definite malaise when we think of someone settling for something.  Such as a women settling for a guy who doesn’t treat her right or someone settling for second best.  It appears that taking a seat and settling can be a bad thing.

I think that we need to become unsettled moms.  Not because settling down is bad, but rather because we’ve been settling so long for things that are not God’s best that we do not even recognize what his best is.  The reason that I bring this up is not to forcibly upset your norm . . . but because I realize that my norm needs to change.  I need to become unsettled to follow God’s will for my life.

I want to talk with you about a trend in parenting that I’ve been seeing lately.  It’s parenting by excuses.  Not only that, it’s parenting by excuses and other mothers helping you feel excused by offering their own failures as examples to ease your conscience.  So really, you end up deciding that you are doing a good enough job because you’ve heard all the ways other people have done worse.

What a load of CRAP!  Do we really want to parent […]

By |May 29th, 2014|Brooke S., Home, Mom, Spirit|0 Comments
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