Jotham's Journey, Prudence and the Millers, 1 Peter, The King's Daughter
Our Curriculum:
Horizons Math Grade 4 and K,The Reading Lesson, Sequential Spelling, Lifepac Language Arts 4, Apologia Astronomy, Veritas Press New Testament/Greeks/Romans
Prima Latina, Contenders for the Faith and various Winters Promise books, Live Mocha Spanish, Plants Grown Up
So since much of my family thinks I'm nuts I may as well expose my readers now to some of the parenting choices we have made along the years.
First off I am amazed, that it was 8 years ago that I was first in this position. Wow I feel old! I was a young mommy (17 years old, but yes I was married) and was so excited. I read every parenting/baby care book I could get my hands on, took college classes on child development (while finishing high school!), I was determined to know EVERYTHING! I really think my lack of a mother (she decided she wanted drugs instead of a baby and walked away) made me feel I had something to prove.
And I thought I had it down. But then 3 years later I'm pregnant with Andrew, and I begin to dig deeper and learned all these things I had learned were OK, really were not!
Formula being an equal option to breastfeeding... That is the biggest lie fed to use from greedy formula companies who fund the training of pediatricians. I did end up using formula after Peter was 6 months old. I figured I had done my fair share of breastfeeding and it was just as good. I regret that decision horribly! Knowing what I know now I wish I had never done it, but I was educated to believe it was just as good! This irks me, how many other moms out there really have no idea that it isn't? And I will not even get started on soy.
As he grew we moved onto gerber, then table foods, and he became picky! All the books said he would outgrow it, it was normal for all children, and at the time I had no clue what was healthy. Packaged food was normal, as long as we gave him fruit and veggies sometime...Sadly, at that time my main source of nutrition information was WIC, and their foods they give are for the most part anything but healthy!
So as I was saying I got pregnant with Andrew and found message boards. This opened up a whole new world to me! I found a board with 100 other women all due the same month I was! All these women from different walks of life all having babies at the same time! And it was there I started to get exposed to what real healthy eating was, and I learned some lifesaving tips about pregnancy!
I had never been to a chiropractor before reading how these other moms were going regularly! I had needed one during my pregnancy with Peter because of a car accident I was in, but I assumed anything they would do was unsafe and put it off 4 years! Around the same time I started learning that not only was chiropractics safe during pregnancy, it was healthy and beneficial! A chiropractor can align your body to make labor smoother, and help with many pregnancy discomforts and ailments! My labor went from 2 days of complications, to less than 4 hours and virtually pain free. I thank my chiropractor for MUCH of this (he was in Lake Elsinore if you want his name, but I have an awesome one here in Oak Harbor too!)
I also learned about Pregnancy tea. Made of red raspberry leaf, it is so great for pregnant women. It is full of calcium in an absorbable form (we cant absorb calcium well from pasturized dairy products), it tones your uterus making contractions more efficient and helps greatly with healing afterwards. http://www.traditionalmedicinals.com/?title=women%27s+teas
I also learned about cloth diapering! At first I thought of the old prefolds and pins that had been used on my husband. In fact my in laws offered to pay for those if I'd use them on Peter. NO WAY! Why would women submit their babies to that when disposables were so much more "normal". But these women were EXCITED about cloth diapering! And there were lots of options out there besides those old prefolds (which I STILL hate!). This took me some warming up to, but once the babies were born and I started seeing pictures of these babies in CUTE diapers made of comfy fleece and cotton I started to be won over. Then I learned about the chemicals in disposables, that lead to much of the infertility American's deal with today. I made the switch! We went with Fuzzi Bunz for Andrew. They were a pocket diaper that worked similarly to disposables. You take off a dirty diaper and snap a new one on. Toss them into a dry pail, then toss int he wash. It was SOO much easier than I could have ever imagined, even my dad (who I wonder how I survived my childhood with just him) was able to change it! And they came in adorable colors, and even prints!
And as soon as we made the switch we were all in love. In fact we went camping and Andrew screamed when I tried putting him in disposables, he said they were ouchy! Who would want crumply paper over fleece? I dont blame him! We switched on his 1st birthday and he was in size large. Those diapers lasted us almost 2 years until he potty trained, and when I sold them I got 100% of my money back. So I diapered my child for FREE for 2 years!
He even loved to cuddle his diapers!
So I am amazed that any of you read this far, I got a bit long winded..I'll type a part 2 shortly!
Currently reading : 
