All The Excitement... part 2

(Continued)

Ms. Stephanie is like an aunt around here, even though she's not related. The kids adore her, and so do we. She's one of my oldest and dearest friends and we would love it if she decided to live here forever.

During her visit, she stubbornly insisted that I give her MY camera and let her take some family photos. I protested for 100 good reasons, but that's the thing with friends that close. They will match your stubbornness and go one step further. So, we went to the desert (after a quick run to Target to get Violet something gray! The only color missing from her wardrobe!)

I was wrong. This whole experience was amazing and worth it - I LOVE having awesome shots of the four of us. It was great teamwork - she let me set up my settings and the shot however I wanted, and she executed it beautifully.

Anyway. Two weeks later, we are exhausted from all the excitement, but content and full of love (and great family photos!).

All The Excitement... part 1

It's been a really fun two weeks at the Amaro house. First, Gramma and Tex came to visit for nearly a WHOLE week (which is rare and precious time!). Violet just latched onto them both and thoroughly enjoyed their company.

They stayed just long enough for Daniel's 4th birthday party, which featured 1) a rainbow submarine theme, 2) a rainbow submarine cake, and 3) all the grandparents in one place, at one time. (And also 4) crazy windy rainy weather, but that's another story).

We dolled up Violet in a dress that Tex had made for me as a girl (he's a man of many, many talents) and managed to get a photo of the two of them together while she had the dress on... one of my favorite, most meaningful photos.

After the party, Gramma and Tex hit the road, Mommy ran to TWO bridal showers for ONE bride (and only locked her keys in the car once... still cold and rainy...) and Ms. Stephanie's flight landed a few hours later.

(Continued...!)

First Go Round

So... project attempt Violet's hair was a SUCCESS! It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I am pretty. stinking. proud. of us tonight.

She sat through a whole bath/conditioner/comb out with nary a whine and THEN moved straight into the high chair and munched on crackers and banana chips while I continued to mess with her hair for another 30 minutes. She was such a champ.

And I managed to do an actual style (other than her sweet little afro) for the FIRST time ever, really. We did flat twists (or something resembling them, anyway). She has six of them going halfway back and tomorrow we'll puff up the back so it's a bigger fro.

Lessons learned: TOO much shea butter right away is bad news. Slip-central. But we managed. And straight parts are way harder than they look on wiggly little ladies.

It might seem like no big deal, but for about ten thousand reasons, this is a big deal for me and Ms. V. Even if it falls apart overnight, this was huge. Little lady, I'm so proud of us.

Thank You, Ms. V

Violet, you know that you changed our lives. In about a million ways. But one of those ways is just pressing on my heart lately and I HAVE to thank you some place you'll see later in life.

Because of you (in a very literal way)

our family is becoming healthy. We, finally, eatwell now. We have changed our entire e

ating style - every single habit. That might seem small, but it's not at all.

Here's how it started.

Your digestive system hasn't been ok since April - lots of not ok stuff that the pediatrician just kept writing off ("Is she happy? Is she growing? Then she's fine.") And you are NOT fine.

Momma knows, child. Momma knows. (By the way - your father always says this when I have a hunch about something. It makes me laugh).

But I digress. When doctors don't acknowledge the issue, moms tend to go learn a whole bunch on their own. The journey we have started down has been incredible so far, and we're only at the start. We stumbled upon The Maker's Diet, and realized that God really knew what he was doing when He gave the Israelites their dietary laws. And then greensmoothiegirl.com made it into our frame of reference. Enter a bunch of other friends with tons of information and knowledge who were happy to share... it's a new day in the Amaro house.

In a nutshell, your digestive track has a disproportionate amount of bad bacteria. The good bacteria was obliterated by some serious antibiotics early in your life, and your gut never regained it's balance. I suspect you've had some overgrowth of yeast (candida) as another side effect, along with other stuff that we're still investigating.

The good news: After nine months of terrible diapers, you're on the mend. After weeks of the new diet, you're finally showing signs of healing. And the rest of us are changing out diets along with you - I cannot express to you in words how happy a HEALTHY home makes me. You'll understand someday when you have a family of your own.

These are the kinds of things that now appear in our kitchen (and bellies) on a regular basis: Raw local honey. Sprouted seeds. Soaked almonds. Kefir. Local organic eggs (we buy them off craigs list...!). Spinach smoothies. Kale chips. Wild caught Alaskan fish. Raw cheese. Goat's cheese. Goji berries. Sprouted grain bread. Tons and tons of produce. Coconut milk, unsweetened. Figs. Almond butter.

I am excited for the path we're on, and I'm beyond thrilled that this change is happening now, while you and Daniel are this young.

Violet, we would NEVER have been here if it wasn't for you. And for that, we owe you big time.