Almond milk...instead of Cow milk...

A few days ago, I mentioned that I was going to make some drastic changes in what i ate...
Well, the first of those changes is switching from Cows milk to Almond milk.
I have always kind of had issues with cows milk...
Jeremy is lactose intolerant, and it gives him the runs..
and my older girls always complained it made them feel bloated and sick.

About 20 years ago it started making me feel kind of sick and gassy,
and I have just never felt quite right about drinking it,
but the alternatives didn't do much for me.
At least I liked the taste of Cow milk...
but Soy milk really discusted me..
(and I have since researched and come to believe that Soy isn't really great for us...)
I tried Rice milk as well... It had a much milder taste, but I still couldn't do it...
Then... a few weeks ago, we had a lady at our church
come in and talk about foods, and what they could do for us,
and what she believed we probable should and shouldn't eat.
I found it pretty interesting... and although I don't think I can go as far as she did
with the health food thing... I was already planning on making some serious changes
so she gave me "food" for thought... (Hehe bad pun...)
She offered up Almond milk as an alternative...so I tried it...
and I liked it!!! I haven't touched milk since... (except in my coffee...)
Then I heard something on TV about what is in Cow milk...
and that kind of made my decision final...
(after it made me sick...)
The best part?
My kids LOVE it! Jeremy BEGS me for "Nut" milk as he calls it...
We have it on cereal, and by itself..
It is great!! They also make it in vanilla and Chocolate..
which might make my kids happy...

You can buy Almond milk at Superstore,
or if you live in Regina you can buy it cheaper by the case
at a really cool store called
Body Fuel Organics..
Check out their website...
They sell Almond Breeze.... Good stuff!
They also have all kinds of other organic foods and vegies...
and some cool Bin programs going on.

Check in with us on Tuesday
When I will be comparing the benefits/ Negatives
of Almond milk vrs....Soy

Have a great weekend, and Happy Turkey Day!

Help for family and friends...

If you are reading this on behalf of someone else, here is some advice on how to help them deal with the pain and loss of their miscarriage....

• Do let your genuine concern and caring show.
• Do be available... to listen or to help with whatever seems needed at the time.
• Do say you are sorry about what has happened and about their pain.
• Do allow them to express as much unhappiness as they are feeling and are willing to share.
• Do encourage them to be patient with themselves and not to expect too much of themselves, nor to impose any 'shoulds' on themselves.
• Do allow them to talk about their loss as much and as often as they want to.
• Do reassure them that they did everything they could and that it wasn't their fault.
• Don't let your own sense of helplessness keep you from reaching out.
• Don't avoid them because you are uncomfortable. Being avoided by friends may add pain to an already painful experience.
• Don't say that you know how they feel (unless you have experienced their loss yourself, and then you can be particularly supportive).
• Don't say 'you ought to be feeling better by now' or anything which implies judgment about their feelings.
• Don't tell them what they should feel or do.
• Don't change the subject when they mention their loss.
• Don't avoid mentioning their loss out of fear of reminding them of their pain (they won't have forgotten).
• Don't try to find something positive about the loss (eg. a moral lesson, closer family ties, etc).
• Don't point out that at least they have their other....
• Don't say that they can always have another.... (they wanted this one).
• Don't say that they should be grateful for....
• Don't make comments which in any way suggest that the loss was their fault (there will be enough feelings of doubt and guilt already).

For more information on Women's Health and Miscarriage... check out this link...

http://www.womens-health.co.uk/miscarr.asp

They have some great information....

Now what do we do..that baby is gone....

First of all, I would just like to thank all of you who had words of condolence for Kendal and I after this last miscarriage...
I am doing better now...sort of....
I am done with the miscarriage...
I have to go in for more blood work to make sure my hcg levels are back to normal...
Emotionally...well....I guess we will deal with that.

My point for telling people about the miscarriages is to get women talking about it.
It is a really touchy subject...

For those of us who have miscarried..as one woman put it to me recently...
"It's like those babies didn't exsist...
no one wants to talk about it.." Her baby was in the second trimester.

I myself have friends who when I miscarried...completely avoided the subject..
never asked me how I was..or how I was dealing with it.
It left me feeling very angry, and alone.
...and also like i really didn't have any friends....
I am very fortunate to have a husband who stands by me,
and grieved with me.

There are also those who just don't get it...
I was told once last year... "Well, at least you have some healthy children..."
Don't get me wrong... I am VERY thankful that I have been fortunate enough to have children...'
but that doesn't lessen the pain of losing the one you are carrying...

I have many friends...but if one of them dies...I don't rejoice that I still have many who are alive..
I grieve for the one who died...

Sometimes the medical community isn't very sensitive about it either..
I know a lady who had a miscarriage about the same time as me..
The doctor asked her what she was crying about anyways...
after all..she was only five weeks along....
(I should add however, that my doctor was amazing...
she has been extremely supportive, and also ordered tests
to see why this happened...I am so glad to have a doctor who
doesn't just consider me a number...)

So again...I thank those of you who sorrowed with us...
I may not have responded well... but I really did appreciate it...
we are doing much better...

So.... What to do now...

Well...
I have decided that if nothing else, this loss has indicated to me that my body needs some changes...
so I will be changing some massive things in my diet
and hopefully also getting into some kind of more regular excercise program.
When I was tested it was determined that I was low on iron...
and also folic acid...
I suspect I also am having trouble with my Progestrone levels...
And since Progestrone controls all aspects of a womans health..
I will also be checking into that one as well...
I will be sharing some of those changes in the next while...

In the meantime... Please feel free to comment,
share your experience, or your healthy ideas...
Also feel free to tweet this, or link to it on facebook...


blessings... Have a great day!

Miscarriage... :(

It happened again.
The unexpected excitement when we found out we were expecting ...
even though we hadn't been trying...
The short wait...
The feeling that something was just not right..
and then...
the moment of truth.. loss of symptoms...not enough symptoms...
and then bleeding...
today an ultrasound confirming what I already knew..
more sad blood tests following the dropping HCG levels...

My second miscarriage in two years...

I know that there are people out there who don't understand.
Why would I want yet ANOTHER baby... #6 it would have been...
Aren't five enough?
Yes.... five were enough...
I LOVE... ADORE my kids...
and our choice to have Jeremy and Gracie after so many years with no kids?
We have loved every moment of it..
Even the bad ones...and there have been those.
And the tired days. And there have been TONS of those.
But...once the pregnancy was there...
we wanted that baby too.
we wanted that little one to join the family,
no matter how surprised we were that it was there..
and now.. there is a baby shaped hole,
that no one else can fill.

and now once again...in May...
I will remember that two babies could have been with us...

and I will try to understand what God meant when He told me
that I have "two little pearls waiting for me in Heaven"... treasures I can't have now."
and that "Life is His to give, and His to take away"
I wanted to hold them now instead....
I want to not feel sad all the time...
and I want to hold my youngest two all the closer,
because I am so thankful that God allowed me to have them with me now...

I did not want to go to church on Sunday,
and watch another lady be healed of her sore knee
when I was watching a dream slip away...
and I didn't want to feel very angry at God....
so angry I slammed a door hard enough to shake a wall
so angry that I didn't want to pray.
(He is big enough...He can handle our sadness and anger)

I did appreciate my OB and his wife,
who prayed with me, and said they will continue to do so at home.'
I know they will.

so for now...these words are my hope and comfort...till I feel better....
and I will.

though he slay me, yet will I trust him." .... "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

I struggled as to whether or not to share this, as we didn't really tell many people we
were expecting this time,
but I feel that more moms need to know it is ok to talk about death...
about loss.... miscarriage at all stages....
It is ok to grieve... and No...you never really get over it..
or forget. That is ok too.

so many avoid talking about it because it is uncomfortable...
but those babies were real to us, even if they were with us for a short time...

Please feel free to share your story.. or e-mail me  if you like. I would be happy to pray for you..or just talk...

Whether you feel it or not...God will walk with you.

A new blog...

Just letting you all know, that I am still alive and kicking...
I haven't abandoned our family blog,.
but have been kind of overwhelmed with the photo work I got this summer..
on that note...
I also haven't had much of an exciting life lately...so not much to share...LOL!
Please feel free to check out and follow our new photo blog

One of the Jones Photography!

Also feel free to visit us on Facebook, under the same name!
Blessings everyone....

The Real Food Movement

I'm not really a "granola" kind of girl... I kill everything I have ever tried to grow in a garden,  and I am more for convenience then "making it myself..." But... lately I have been thinking a lot more about the kinds of food we eat, and how good they are for us.... I have been shopping in some of the Farmer's markets in our area trying to support our local economy, and hopefully avoiding some of the crap that gets sprayed on the veggies in big farms... What am I discovering? Well... Cheap doesn't equal Good...that's for sure... So I have decided to try and change the way I shop this year... More food from farms..and from closer to home.Here is an article and a video if you are interested...

Is the price of cheap food worth it?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/egg-recall_b_687882.html

Wordless Wednesday!

For more Wordless Wednesday

click here!

The Wedding...and excuses....

Sorry for the lack of posts lately...

My summer was hijacked!

Between bad weather, which has literally prevented us from going to the beach,

Kendal's change of jobs,

and all of a sudden being paid for some photography work....several times over...

(unplanned by the way) We have ended up being very busy....

not to mention how long editing takes...

We are hoping to at least make the beach once this summer...

but the way it is going...I don't know...  :(

At least we aren't in BC this year...

Where they are having something like 55 forest fires...

They aren't having much of a summer either... 

That all being said...

Here are some more pics of the beautiful bride...

The Wedding...

Talking with Pastor Doug while waiting 

for the wedding to start....

Ashley

Vanessa

Chelsea

Proud daddy walks his girl down the aisle...

tearing up....  :)