Toughin' it out!

I'm feeling much more calm writing this post on a Saturday afternoon.  Eli is napping and Micah is out with Dad.  As I was thinking of what to write this morning I was feeling pretty sorry for myself.  The past week, Micah has finished his extended school year at pre-school and is gearing up for the fall starting Kindergarten.  We are one week into our month long break and it is tough.  I am so very thankful for the pre-school staff that have invested so much time into my little man and have helped him make so many positive gains.  We love the routine of school; especially Micah.  Unfortunately, I don't have the resources to keep him entertained as much as he'd like.  So, were making due.


I often wonder what my life would be like without having a special needs child.  Would I change it? I do have to say that yes, I wish he was completely healthy.  It would be easier.  However, I know that God is strengthening me day by day.  He has been teaching me patience over the past 5+ years. You'd think I'd have it down by now, but I don't.  So all in all, I am okay with what the Lord has handed me.  It is difficult, but I know it was His plan. 


I often watch other moms at Target, restaurants, sporting events...etc., and I am jealous.  I admit it.  I am so jealous of their ability and ease to leave the house without the constant worry of disruption or the physical burdens of carrying a 40+lb child while 7 months pregnant.  What would it be like to go to a movie with your kids, or out to eat and not have to feed someone.  I am praying for complete healing for Micah, so I trust that one day we will get there.  That day will be sweet when it comes.


Micah actually has been doing awesome lately with walking and such. He completely surprised me when he walked most of the tractor museum today.  A span of about 20 mins, not a lot and I needed to help direct him but it was cool!

Micah is starting to walk!

I think I have been waiting for about 3.5 years to write this post!!!!!!!!!!  My friends from IL and AZ know me and my desire for our little man to start walking and to show some type of independency.  While we aren't anywhere near independency we are in the initial sages of comfortable supported standing and labored steps.

From the first moment I held Micah I knew God had a plan for him and that he was a special little man that God had his hand on.  A wonderful sentimental poem that Micah Grandma Hill received from God the day before he was born is as follows.

"Know that I am taking care of Micah
He is mine and I have a plan and purpose for his life
To walk before me strong and healthy in all his members
He is mine, I knit him in Crystal's womb
He is a mighty man of God
I have my hand on him and I will guide and direct his steps for my purpose."

This is helped me keep my focus on God and realize that his plan for Micah is so much more that learning to walk.  He has such great things planned for him.

Micah is such a hardworking and determined little guy.  Independent walking could be 3 months-3 years off.  We are trusting God to keep our eyes focused on him and continue to pray for complete healing for our little man.

Healthy Kids

I attribute a lot if not most of my children's health to chiropractic care.
Since having children of course we wish that they wouldn't be sick at all.  Being sick does unfortunately happen.  There are so many things that we can do to help our immune systems everyday.  We happened to do a lot of probiotics and vitamin d3 in addition to our weekly chiropractic care.

Since regular chiropractic care, I can count on my hand or fewer the number of times my eldest Micah has been sick in his five years of life.  He has had a few ear infections  (before finding regular chiropractic) and 1-2 bouts of the stomach bug.  Of course we have had a few colds.  But nothing that hasn't healed itself completely in 1-2 days.  Eli maybe has had a runny nose every now and again. Knock on wood, I know!  I know that there are some kiddos that get a cold and it keeps coming back and it keeps them down for over a week and then spreads to the entire family, that use to be us.  Those are the type of families I cannot wait to help.

I can't wait to start our practice one day and be able to show others that preventing instead of treating our illnesses is the preferred method!

Planes Trains and Automobiles! old post!

We had a great weekend as a family of four!  We made sure to stay busy and do lots of fun and exciting things to make good use of Matt's off weekend.  It started out nice and calm Saturday morning with a lazy wakeup (6:45am for Micah) and us as well.  Eli likes to sleep till 8.  We did breakfast as usual and decided to head to the Pima Air and Space Museum.  We live very close to it, however, in all 3 years living here we've never managed to go.  So we decided late in the morning around 11, very close to nap time.  We ended up having a blast!  Micah thoroughly enjoyed gazing at all the huge planes that hung overhead. He even got to touch a few.

They had indoor and outdoor exhibits of planes.  We even got to see an old Airforce one, that Kennedy used!  I have to say that as girly as I am, I really enjoyed myself with my 3 guys.  We headed hope for a late lunch and naps. 

When naptime was over we ended up getting a visit from Matt's parents (which is always nice).  Matt didn't want to do our usual errands to Costco or the mall so we decided to go down to Old Tucson.  I had never been there and it had been a while for Matt's family, so we packed up our double and headed down to the Wild West!  It was jam packed with fun things. We were able to see a little dancing and singing show, some donkeys, ate some BBQ and even rode some exciting things!

Matt Micah and I rode together on Micah's first choo choo train!  He was a little hesitant at first, but he ended up loving it!  We sat on benches during the 7 minute train ride and rode around the little town seeing some fun old building and remakes of what a Wild West town would look like. 

Then Matt and Micah and grandma got to ride on a gocart!  It was on a little track so it wasn't too hard to steer.  When Micah saw that wheel, he knew just what to do!  This was clearly his favorite activity of the day.  He had his hands on the wheel and was ready.  I saw them go around once and I had a sneak a ride with my little man as well.  Here's a pic of them getting ready to go...

There was a carousal as well, but it really went too fast and made me dizzy...Micah was not a fan riding the horse either. When daddy picked him up and just held him, he tolerated it.  However, it wasn't a favorite.

We even enjoyed icecream! 



30 year Reflection

Here I sit on my thirtieth birthday enjoying some quiet time during nap time.  Matt got home early from school to surprise me for my birthday, which was nice!  We enjoyed a date night last night and went to a new neat restaurant and ate some awesome burgers!  My friend was super sweet and brought me some wine and essential oils and sat for free! She know me so well...:)

I was really kind of not wanting to turn thirty.  It mark a new era of course.  Not being in my twenties anymore.  I do still feel young, but I am only getting older.  I have so much to look forward to in the next ten to twenty years and more. 

It becomes more and more clear that the path we have chosen has been truly etched out by God for us.  I use to look at people who were finished with this path and think, wow, they have it all! And some did, but some didn't!  Here we are, following our dreams going to Chiropractic school and trying to help lead others onto a path of health and wellness. That in and of itself is wonderful and I am so excited to share this wonderful alternative with others and help change lives.  Then, I started thinking...wait we have more! We have our faith and our Savior, Jesus Christ! How much greater can it get.  We have this awesome message of redemption and salvation that truly makes me feel like we do have it all.  We are going to be able to offer so much to others!  God has given us so much and I can't wait to start giving back!

Facebook Fast!

I've never really been any good at fasting.  See, I love food.  I'm sure most people do!  I just don't like the idea of restricting myself from something.  Especially something that I love.  Something else that I decided to try was a Facebook fast.

What occupies our time and what we think about is very powerful.  I really needed to wake myself up and realize what is important to me.  It is important, that I form true and real connections with people and work on the current relationships that I do have.  Here I am on day 4 of no Facebook.  I completely deleted it from my phone for the time being.  We also don't have a desktop, so that isn't another option.  At first, I was bored.  Then I started to get lonely.  Even a completely material media connection (if that makes any sense) was giving me some sort of companionship and making me believe I was engaging in real friendships.  So now I had to really think of what was important to me.  I didn't want to be staring at my phone and looking at other peoples lives and relationships as often as I was.  I'm not sure of when I will add Facebook back in, but it has helped me to reach out to true relationships rather quickly.

I will be starting a weekly bible study at my church this week and am finally going to be starting up with Mops soon.  Being a stay at home mom can actually be extremely lonely.  I am doing a very important job, but I am sitting on the floor all day long, changing diapers, feeding little ones and "talking" with them.  All in all, I am really pleased that I decided to take a break from Facebook and shift my focus for a while.  It is definitely helping me dig deeper into Gods word!

There are many great aspects of Facebook and I know I will use again, probably soon.  However, I am hoping that this will in a sense dull my minds taste buds for the "instant media friendship" and help me to see out true relationships.

Oh, one more thing I did notice during the time was how much happier my kids were!  Especially my oldest.  He normally has a really tough time going to bed at night.  For the past 3 nights he hasn't put up a fuss at all.  I think my face was glued to a screen way too much.  It could totally be coincident, but I think that could've been the reason.  So, one thing I will try when I do add Facebook back in is to try to only be on my phone during nap time and after the kids go to bed.  The first day Eli asked me where my phone was, since I wasn't clutching it.  And then he stopped asking!  Try it for a day or two and see how it goes for you.

Chiropractic School

Here I sit in my quaint Iowan living room.  A lot has changed over the past year or so.  My husband was an extremely hardworking manager.  Hours were long and holidays were rare for our family.  After moving to IL from AZ we were excited for a new adventure.  Looking back I laugh, because we had absolutely no idea what the Lord had in store for us.

Our oldest has special needs and throughout his 4 almost 5 years of life and countless doctor appointments and therapies we have found that the most beneficial therapy of all was chiropractic.  We were on a hunt for a wonderful family chiropractor in IL as soon as we moved.  Micah was used to getting regular adjustments, as were we.  We quickly found a great group of young and talented pediatric chiropractors.

Micah and the family received weekly care and Micah was the special one and often got adjusted 2-3 times a week.  We began seeing marked improvements with Micah.  Some days it was immediately following an adjustment.  We then were introduced with the whole lifestyle of wellness.  We couldn't just continue getting adjust and completely forget about two other core components of wellness. We needed to start moving and start eating clean.

We began our wellness lifestyle over a year ago and with a few glitches in the road haven't looked back.  Then one night Matt and I were having a conversation in our kitchen.  We were talking about how we were living this healthful lifestyle and how it was lining up with all areas of our lives.  Matt was worked to the bone.  He was amazing at what he did as a retail manager but it didn't reflect our views.  So...Matt decided he wanted to pursue ChiropracTIC!

I was as excited as ever.  I knew that we would begin to embark on an amazing journey.  Matt has such passion and drive and I know he will be an epic Pediatric Chiropractor, changing many lives!!  This journey will be difficult, believe me, it is.  However, I know the end result will be so worth it!  This son of ours may have special needs, but he is the happiest little guy ever, making huge strides.  I truly believe that regular and therapeutic chiropractic care helps him live optimally and that is what we want to help every child, special needs or not, to do!